Measuring the impact of Technology on Quality of Services and Operations in an Academic Library Ashok Kumar Sahu Senior Librarian, IIMT Gulam Rasul Asst. Librarian, IIMT Dr.R.K.Mahapatra Reader, S.M.I.T, Berhampur University NACLIN 2009 Institute for International Management and Technology (IIMT)

Contents Introduction Trends in usage of information technology in academic libraries Application of information technologies Impact of information technology on library services Quality in library Objective of the study IIMT library- a case study Data analysis, & findings Conclusion

Introduction This study is to measure the impact of Information Technology (IT) on quality of service as perceived by IIMT Library users and to understand the status of IT supported resources, facilities & services in IIMT Library. The research was carried out among the students and faculty members of the IIMT. A questionnaire was used as the data gathering instrument. SERVQUAL was used as tool for data collection. The result of the study observed gaps in customer’s perception of quality of library resources and services against their expectations. NACLIN 2009

TRENDS in usage OF INOFRMATION TECHNOLOGY IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES ……….(1) The advances in science and technology has made a tremendous improvement and changed the way all activities are done in the present society. Revolution in information technology, tremendously increased demand, consumption, and importance of information in the present society. Since 1960s libraries worldwide have been using technology in general and computers in particular to automate the administrative and technical tasks of the library (Raman,1998). NACLIN 2009

Internet brought the biggest change in libraries as 1990s saw the rapidly increasing availability of access to computers in general. In India, computerization of libraries had started in the year of 1955 at Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta. During 1970s DRTC, BARC, TIFR, IIT-Madras, and BHEL- Hyderbad have used production of information products and services (Raman, 1998). INFLIBNET has played major role in bringing IT culture and establishing IT infrastructure in Indian Universities. TRENDS in usage OF INOFRMATION TECHNOLOGY IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES ………..(2) NACLIN 2009

To determine the impact of IT on library operations and services as perceived by the students and staff of IIMT. To access user expectation, perceptions of service quality and gaps in perceived service quality in IIMT Library. To know the status of use IT IIMT Library. To make recommendations on how to improve the level of quality. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY NACLIN 2009

IIMT Library is fully computerised & equipped with multimedia facilities. It uses Libsys Software. It is a lively place of the institute providing a safe, comfortable and friendly environment that enables learning and advancement of knowledge, and promotes discovery and scholarship. It has a rich collection of over 10,000 books, 200 video/audio cassettes and 1000 DVD/CD-ROMs on different subjects. It subscribes 200 national and international journals. Library users can browse the library collection through online catalogue-OPAC system. Library has also been providing internet and online databases access facility. IIMT Library is connected with Wi-Fi network. It has a total of 700 users-both students, faculty. IIMT LIBRARY NACLIN 2009

The study is based on a sample size of 80 (Total: 100 questionnaires were issued - 75 students and 25 faculty members). The samples were randomly selected from the regular users of IIMT library. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. This study used survey method to approach the respondents through questionnaire as an instrument for data collection. The framework (SERVQUAL ) was developed using the variables suggested by Parasuraman and his team (Parasuraman, 1988). The questionnaire consists of four parts such as respondent’s demographic features, expectations, perceptions, overall ratings. All the closed ended questions were designed to be responded to on a five point Likert scale to measure both respondent satisfaction and perception of service quality. METHODOLOGY & QUESTIONNAIRE NACLIN 2009

DATA ANALYSIS, & FINDINGS From 100 questionnaires, 80 responses were received. This represents an effective response rate of around 80% of the total sample. Statistical methods are used to give a general picture about the result of this study. FREQUENCY OF LIBRARY VISIT AND TIME SPENT IN LIBRARY As per the table-1, it is observed that 53.75% of the respondent's visits library daily and 30% visit once in 2-3 days. Further, 11.25% users visit library once a week and 3.75% users visit library fortnightly. Table-1 shows that 1.25% users visit library occasionally. The statistical data (Table-1) has proved that maximum users visit the IIMT library daily. NACLIN 2009

FREQUENCY OF LIBRARY VISIT & TIME SPENT IN LIBRARY The statistical table-1 shows that 47.50% of respondents spend less than 1 hour and 28.75% spend 1-2 hours in the library. It means a majority of Respondent’s spend less than 2 hours during their library visit. And 15% respondents spend 2-3 hours in library. It indicates that, in the age of Internet & E-resources the library can be accessed from anywhere. Now a day’s maximum library resources are available in electronic form. Availability of photocopying and scanner facilities, helps the users in photocopying or scanning their required material without spending much time in the library. USER EXPECTATIONS In table-2, the individual features are arranged on descending order and their mean score indicates priorities in user expectations. The overall average expectation score (4.26) indicates user’s high level expectations on library resources and services. As per table-2 some features are high expected (mean > 4.26) and some less expected (mean < 4.26). NACLIN 2009

USER PERCEPTION ON LIBRARY SERVICES The respondent’s overall perception score (mean) is This average perception scores (mean) is below the expectation score (mean) It indicates that low perceptions about IIMT Library services. As per Table-3, the maximum perceived items are better in the mean score (mean > 3.709). And few items have least perception scores (mean < 3.709). It indicates that the library staff should give more attention to least perceived items such as electronic resources, IT equipments & services. NACLIN 2009

GAP BETWEEN USER PERCEPTIONS AND EXPECTATION ON SERVICE QUALITY The service quality measured as difference between user perceptions and expectations on library services. The table-4 presents the mean gap scores for individual features in descending order. The overall gap score (mean-0.563) is below the median score (-0.453) indicate the shortfalls in existing library resources and services against customer expectations. As per the table-4, all features have experienced noticeable gaps, about 14 features experienced high gaps (> ) and 15 features experienced low gaps (< ) by users inviting attention of service providers. The features that Experience high gaps are related to IT Supported resources and facilities. The high gap features indicate the need for immediate attention by the library staff and Management.

OVERALL RATINGS OF USER PERCEPTIONS ON LIBRARY The current research uses two approaches to assess the overall service quality of IIMT library from user perspective. The first approach is to measure the service quality as the difference between user perceptions and expectation. The second approach is the direct measure of overall user satisfaction through a question. NACLIN 2009

CONCLUSION Libraries are using the information technology to automate a wide range of administrative and technical processes, build databases, and network, and thereby provide better services to their users. The overall assessment of service quality and user satisfaction is moderate indicating wide scope for improvement. The following three features 1. Adequacy of print resources, 2. Electronic resources, and 3. IT Services are rated good and adequate by around 60% users and 40% users rated as very poor. Consequently the library staff should give more attention to these three features. NACLIN 2009

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