AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF MEASUREMENT ON REFERENCE SERVICES AMONG MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITIES LIBRARIES WITH MS ISO 9001:2000 CERTIFICATION.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore on the measurement of reference services used by university libraries in Malaysia with MS ISO 9001:2000 accreditations. The aim is to explore the quality criteria used for reference services and how it helps the reference services in achieving their goal and mission. It studies the procedures and methods used to implement these measures. The sample used in this research is ten university libraries which have acquired their MS ISO 9001:2000 accreditation. Data was collected using a questionnaire which was distributed via mail. The main findings of this study are that face to face, telephone, email and written communication was the main medium used in reference services. User education is a popular service in university libraries but there was a lack of quality monitoring for this service. Comparison of performance indicators were made to service dimension of CAVAL. It is revealed that not all CAVAL quality indicators matched against the university library’s quality indicators. The findings also show that the performance of reference service were mainly measured using the number of reference queries received and the time taken to answer the queries. Majority of the library use user survey as a method to judge quality outcome of the reference services. ICT and information skill was highlighted as an important factor in continual improvement. University libraries reported experiencing some form of improvement as an evidence of improved performance since MS/ISO 9001:2000 accreditation. Benchmarking was unpopular among the university libraries but the concept is well accepted as a future effort in improving quality of reference service. Malaysian university libraries are moving to the right direction in developing quality of reference services and are committed to continually improve the service.