LibQUAL+™ at Rhodes University Library: An Overview of the First South African Implementation

Abstract

When Rhodes University Library closed its LibQUAL+™ survey on 29 August 2005, it became the first of seven university libraries in South Africa to complete this Web-based survey, which measures library users’ perceptions of service quality and identifies gaps between desired, perceived, and minimum expectations of service. This paper focuses on the Rhodes Library’s implementation of the 2005 LibQUAL+™ survey. Results are looked at within the broader context of aggregate scores and score norms from the South African cohort. The library’s first efforts to address areas where perceptions of service quality differed from users’ expectations are described and plans for future efforts are indicated. The paper also details some lessons learnt by other LibQUAL+™ participants, as documented in published case studies.