Service Quality Assessment of Eastern University Library Using SERVQUAL

Abstract

The major purposes of this study are to determinate the overall service performance of Eastern University Library (EUL), evaluate the impacts of service quality on user satisfaction, and to assess the differences in perceived service quality by gender categorization. The quantitative approach was applied to achieve the objectives and test the hypotheses based on primary data. A survey was conducted among 235 respondents of EUL including teachers and students using a modified SERVQUAL instrument with a seven-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics measured the overall service quality. Five dimensions of service quality were computed through multiple regressions analysis where the five dimensions were used as independent variables and user satisfaction was applied as the dependent variable. The responses for perceived services were computed by gender through ANOVA. The Cronbach's Alpha and Bartlett's test indicated good reliability of the overall questionnaire items. Moreover, the discriminant validity, commonalities, factor analysis, multicollinearity, VIF, and KMO values supported the validity of this study. The overall service quality (5.24) achieved positive acceptance, and the overall satisfaction (5.57) ensured favorable appreciation from the users. Among thirty statements, library hours attained the exclusive recognition of the users, while existing collections formed the lowest perceived mean of fulfilling the need. The regression model was established as significant (P<0.001) and explained 56.2 percent of the variation in user satisfaction. The model revealed that the tangibles facilities (P<0.001), the responsiveness of the staff (P<0.001), and the resources (P<0.046) of the library influenced the user satisfaction but, the demeanor and reliability of the library staff did not have a significant impact. The overall service quality was a significant difference (P<0.001) between female and male users. Staff members and part-time faculty members were not included in the survey as they comprise a small proportion of the library users. Based on the findings, this study suggested four recommendations which are to emphasize procuring books based on user’s need, keep up-to date physical facilities, focus on the responsiveness of library staff for delivering services, and orient the existing services of the library to the users. An effort has been made to assess the service quality of EUL for the first time. The modification of the SERVQUAL instrument has been made cautiously as per local arrangements focusing on user perceptions that will prompt further research on continuous evaluation of library service quality and its impacts on user satisfaction.