Evaluation of users’ perception and satisfaction with reference services in Olusegun Oke Library, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper evaluated users’ perception and satisfaction with reference services in Olusegun Oke Library. The aim of the study was to evaluate users’ perceptions of reference services with a view to ascertain their satisfaction level. A questionnaire based cross-sectional survey research design was employed. The data were analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies.

The study revealed that users’perception on reference services did not rank highly satisfied to any category of reference service. The study maintained that majority of users rarely or never used reference resources. Also, the level of user satisfaction with the reference resources and services were not satisfactory with apparent limitations in good internet facility for searching online reference resources, inadequate printed reference collection and overall quality of reference services. The constraints faced by users in using reference services included the need for reference staff to be willing to help, ease of retrieving reference materials, and training and retraining of users on use of reference resources. It is recommended that there is need for short courses in customer  care to be conducted for all library staff to improve service delivery. Also, periodic user satisfaction surveys should be carried out and results acted upon by the Library management.

Keywords: Users, perception, reference, services, Satisfaction, Library, Nigeria