Service perceptions of internal and external postgraduate users of academic libraries

Abstract

This is a comparative study of possible relationships between internal and external postgraduate academic library users and their respective perceptions of service quality. The researcher sought to determine whether external students are disadvantaged in the provision of library services when compared with their internal colleagues. The SERVQUAL model for measuring the service quality construct was employed to generate comparative data. An emailed questionnaire was used to gather data from the target population. The overall response rate was 33%. Results suggest that for the respondents of this study there is a positive correlation between internal and external student perceptions of selected library services. The analysis of SERVQUAL 'gap scores' suggests that there is a relationship between internal/external status and perceptions of service quality. The researcher concludes that for the respondents to this study, external students do appear to be comparatively disadvantaged.