Specific objectives:
The objectives of the questionnaire are:
- To identify a members profile
- To establish a if members are satisfied with the current level of the service in the Library
- To identify particular areas of value
- To explore if members are satisfied with the service received from Librarians.
- To define areas for future improvement
The specific objectives of the interview are:
- To establish the existence / non-existence of a customer service policy
- To establish the value placed by management on providing efficient customer service
- To identify main customer groups
- To identify the additional services available to members
- To identify current customer service training policies
- To establish intended areas of improvement
Limitations:
- I hoped to carry out a survey on 50 members altogether, but it was extremely busy time before Christmas. I hand out around 25 surveys before that time and left the rest 30 surveys in the library over Christmas to be filled up until ten of January for having enough time to analyse all those data. By that time I’ve got another 15 surveys done, so finally I could analise 40 surveys.
- I tried to question an equal amount of different age group: students between the age of 12 to 20 and over the age of 20 to adults to get an adequate analysis.
- I did not put any questions for non-speaking English group for some reasons in my survey, because it is required special attention and additional information but the theme will be mention it the further below.
- I hoped to get an interview with the any executive librarian and I was very happy to make an interview with Deirdre O Dea.
Methods of Procedure
I started off this assignment by gathering secondary data, as it can be obtained more quickly at a lower cost that primary data. My first source was the internet site . This site gave me a detailed organization’s profile and what the Library has to offer to its users.
To measure the current level of customer satisfaction I have chosen two methods of procedure. I used a personal interview as my first source of primary data. I organized the interview with the one of executive Librarian Deirdre O Dea. When I set out the visit to the library she was extremely helpful in answering of the all questions presented to her. Appendix 1
Interview is a formal meeting and discussion with someone, in my case to obtain information to investigate the current level of customer satisfaction. There are some advantages and disadvantages of interview.
Advantages:
- Detailed information can be collected because it is an open discussion on specific theme
- Further expansion and clarification can be given
- Immediate reaction can be observed
- Specific information can be obtained
- Interviewee can fully understand and answer each question
Disadvantages:
- It is time consuming method of research
- The interviewer may bias the interviewee through leading questions
- May be difficult to find potential interviewees
- It may be difficult to analyse the result
My next source of primary data was obtained through survey research as it is the approach best suited for gathering descriptive data. A survey provides he means to fid out the people’s opinion on your chosen topic. Questionnaires are often used in survey. They involve asking each person the same set of standard raised questions. I have approached a sample of members at the Library who were happy to complete my questionnaire. The survey included 12 questions which measure the overall current service, the friendliness and helpfulness of the librarians and importance of the library to users. Appendix 2
The major advantage of using survey research is its flexibility. The advantages of questionnaire include:
- Cheapness and easy to complete
- Respondents can complete it at their leisure
- The are anonymous-no pressure to impress of deceive
- Can target a large amount of people
Disadvantages:
- Poor response rate-you may expect 30-50% return of questionnaires
- Leading questions only provides a snapshot view
- May not to be completed accurately
Questionnaire design
I used a dichotomous type for the first five questions, because they are fast and easy to answer, while still obtaining the accurate data needed. For example:
- Are you male or female?
- Are you member of this library?
- What is your age group? Etc.
Then I started the questionnaire with multiple-choice types of questions. They were easy for respondent to answer and at the same time beneficial to me as I found them quite simple to analise. For example:
- What is your primary use of this library?
- How often do you visit this library?
- How important is this library to you? Etc
The last question type I used was the Semantic Differential Scale which I converted to a numerical measure so that responses could rate the library service from 1(Poor) to 5 (Excellent) indicating their “minimum” and desirable expectations, then how satisfied they were with actual performance. For example:
Please rate the following items.
1 2 3 4 5
Adult book
Internet access
I asked also users to give any suggestions for future improvement.
Findings
A total of 40 questionnaires were distributed and findings are as follow:
- What gender are you?
17 males (42.5%)
23 females (57.5%).
- Are you member of this library?
35 (87.5%) responded- Yes; 5 (12.5%) – No.
- What age you are?
13-17 18-24 25-45 46-64 other
8 (20%) 5 (12.5%) 19 (47.5%) 6 (15%) 2 (5%)
- What category do you belong to?
Student - 8 (20%)
Adult - 29 (72.5%)
OAP - 3 (7.5%)
- How often do you visit this library?
Weekly -28 (70%)
Monthly – 10 (25%)
Rarely -2 (5%)
- What is your primary use of this library?
Personal pleasure – 14 (35%)
Personal research -9 (22.5%)
School related -7 (17.5%)
Work related – 4 (10%)
Children’s use – 3 (7.5%)
Social purpose – 3 (7.5%
- How important is this library to you?
Not important -1 (2.5%)
Fairly important -26 (65%)
Extremely important -13 (32.5%)
- How easy is to find what you are looking for?
Not easy -2 (5%)
Less easy – 6 (15%)
Extremely easy – 32 (80%)
- Overall, how satisfied are you with this library?
Fairly satisfied -26 (65%)
Extremely satisfied – 14 (35%)
- What service do you particularly value?
Areas for reading – 12 (30%)
Security – 3 (7.5%)
Convenient hours – 5 (12.5%)
Parking – 2 (5%)
Staff courtesy -18 (45%)
- And final question was-“Please rate the following items:”
1(Poor) 2 3 4 5
Adult book 10% 7.5% 17.5% 38.5% 32.5
Children’s book 12.5% 7.5% 17.5% 38.5% 27.5%
Reference book 12.5% 10% 12.5% 35% 30%
Films 27.5% 17.5% 32.5% 17.5% 5%
Audio tapes 15% 22.5% 32.5% 12.5% 17.5%
Internet access 22.5% 32.5% 30% 12.5% 2.5%
Analysis
The analysis is based on the results of this research.
In order to get a profile of users, those surveyed were asked to state their gender and age. There was a range in age from high school, undergraduate and graduate students (20%) to adults (72.5%). Age group was an approximately equal e.g. male (42.5%) and female (57.5%). Appendix 1
As many of the questionnaires were completed in the library, it was not surprising that (87.5%) respondents stated that they were members of the library. Those (12.5%) who were not members of the library stated that newspapers were cited as the principal source of information by this group. The 70% of respondents said that they visit the library a weekly, 25% -monthly and just 5% visit the library rarely.
The primary uses of the library refer to respondents are: personal pleasure which topped the list (35%), followed by personal research (22.5%) and school related (17.5%). More less percent use the library for work related purposes (10%) and an equal amount for children’s and social purposes (7.5%) Appendix 2
The 80% of users declared that they always found what they were looking for when searching for materials. The 15% indicated that was less easy and for the rest 5% of users it was not easy at all. Appendix 3
Question № 10 was asked in relation to staff and services of the library. These related to staff helpfulness, security, convenient hours, areas for reading etc. The overall response to this was very positive with 45% of respondents offering favourable opinions on staff helpfulness, knowledge and friendliness. 30% of users indicated a good level of satisfaction with areas for reading. The rest of respondents were not satisfied with existing library services such as: security (7.5%), convenient hours (12.5%) and parking (5%). Appendix 3
Finally, the list of comments was analysed, using five main categories, into positive and negative comments. These are displayed in Appendix ?
A high level (32.5%) of adult and children’s books (27.5%) was rated and confirmed by the survey. The 30% were satisfied with reference materials. Some respondents identified a need more for audio tapes. The areas where lowest satisfaction levels were recorded were: films (5%) and internet access (2.5%).
The 65% of members indicated that the library is fairly important to them and for the 32.5% is extremely important. Overall the 65% are satisfied with existing library services and the rest of respondents (35%) are extremely satisfied. Appendix ?
On the other hand people were asked what improvements they would like to see in the public library services. The respondents included a wider selection of books and audio materials and improvement of internet facilities. Some of them said the weekend hours are too short.
Some respondents called for extended range of events and exhibitions.
Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be summarised as follows:
Barriers to public library service included a lack of suitable stock and limitation on library budget. The major issues also flagged as a barrier to further use were: opening hours, stock, internet access and parking. The survey suggests that if they were improved in these areas, use of the library services would increase.
The arrival in Ireland of significant numbers of foreign nationals has provided a new challenge for public library services. The survey of foreign nationals also indicated a need for newspapers. A lot of foreigners use the internet facilities were the service must used in public library. The majority used them to communicate by e-mail with family and friends back home, to learn new languages and to look up general information queries. Lack of language skills is a barrier to library access.
Recommendations
The results of these evaluations served as a basis for the final recommendations.
They need improve their stock. This included: quality and quantity of books, reference, historical and archival publications, magazines, video/tapes, audio books.
To identify and meet the needs of growing culturally diverse population that communicates in an increasing variety of languages the management should provide an appropriate training for staff to enable them to interact more effectively with foreigners. Translated materials on library service should facilitate it.
The library needs to update commercial relationships with suppliers of library books. More use of new technology to enhance the efficiency of traditional library services such as book issues, access to library catalogues and provision of reference information.
The staff needs to be honest with library users in educating/informing them as to what libraries can or cannot provide. Therefore I would recommend the library to improve the methods to learn about the library resources and services in future: e-mail links to (in-depth), short notices about resources and services.
It is desirable that specialised services relevant to local, regional, national or global communities should be developed.
Copy of a questionnaire and an interview
Interview
Q1. What are your name and your position in the library?
My name is Deirdre O Dea and I am executive librarian.
Q2. Do you have a costumer policy, if not why?
Yes we do, and you can find the all policies and procedures in the Customer Care of Limerick City Council.
Q3. Which of the following would you consider as your main customers group…Working people, Students, Pensioners etc.?
I would say the mix of all, included foreign nations.
Q4. Do you have any literature for non-English speakers?
Yes. Books, magazines in French, audio/tapes for learning English, we would like to have more, but it is difficult to find suppliers on a regular basic. Our branch (Roxboro centre) has an Open Learning Centre for whom wish to practice their conversation skills in English.
Q5. How many computers the library has, do you think it is enough?
In summary we have 12 computers and unfortunately wireless is not good. We could have more and better IT facilities but the finance is a problem. The increases in investment in the library service are on a low base.
Q6. Do you provide any additional service to people with different disabilities?
The library is housed on the one level which allows for:
- Accessibility for disabled users
- Various CD-ROMs for people with a different degree of hearing
- Security/supervision and
- Service delivery from a single control desk
Q7.What type of customer service training is provided for your staff?
We provide additional courses, training courses on how to deal with people who has a mental disability, for instance. Meetings and trainings are provided and take place in Limerick City Hall every month to educate our staff and to delivering the best possible service to our customers.
Q8. Do you intend to improve your service for users in the future?
The library has an open-plan, so now we are not good example of the maximum use of light and space. We would like to improve of interior/exterior of the library to get more space for art and painting exhibitions. More Informational and Communication Technology:
- Internet access
- On-line internet access
- On-line ordering books, more CD-ROMs,etc.
It is desirable that specialized services relevant to local, regional, national or global communities should be developed---------recommendation???
We would like to have better stock, this included: quality and quantity of books, reference, historical and archival publications, magazines, video/tapes, audio books, etc.
We need to improve the provision of appropriate language materials. We will be making an additional investment in and developing the future library’s plans. We also will be reviewing the information provided on the library website to highlight the content and services that are available.
Appendix 1
Response to question: What is your age group?
Response to question: Are you member of this library?
Response to question: What is your primary use of this library?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_satisfaction
Customer Care(Limerick City Council)
