TOC 188 College & Research Libraries May 2000 Editorial A Closer Look at User Services Is there anything performed by an academic library that is more important than service for its users? Because service encompasses nearly all aspects of the academic library, it is difficult to argue the importance of high- quality service. The students, faculty, ad­ ministration, staff, and library staff all ex­ pect excellent library service. Moreover, user expectations continue to rise each year. Technology has been the central thrust to many of the changes in academic libraries and it will be likewise in the future. A few years back, when I was dean of university libraries at Arizona State Univer­ sity, the university administration regularly conducted a campuswide survey focusing on the satisfaction level of the users (i.e., stu­ dents, faculty, administration, and staff) of various campus units (e.g., bookstore, com­ puting services, food services, libraries, dif­ ferent units of student affairs). The ASU li­ braries always received the highest score on the survey; that is, more users responding to the survey were satisfied or very satis­ fied with the services received from the li­ braries than any other unit included in the survey. Naturally, the results of this survey were well received by our dedicated library staff. When I mentioned this high satisfac­ tion level to a colleague at a major research university library, he gently reminded me that libraries, in general, tend to get high ratings from their users. Thus, I concluded that users of academic and other types of libraries apparently expect a high level of service from their respective libraries and normally receive it. Changes and More Changes Coming On our campuses, the library has under­ gone some dramatic transformations in re­ cent years. Perhaps it has changed more in the past five years than any other unit on the campuses of America’s higher education institutions. And as the expres­ sion goes, “And you ain’t seen nothin’ yet, baby!” Technology has been the central thrust to many of the changes in academic librar­ ies and it will be likewise in the future. Today’s, and even more so tomorrow’s, students hold/will hold much higher ex­ pectations of libraries. Common questions that students are asking or thinking about include: “Why aren’t more books accessible online?” “When is the library going to have all of its journals in electronic format?” “Why is the teaching faculty so unin­ formed about the library’s electronic re­ sources?” Even though we librarians un­ derstand the issues involved with copy­ right and other obstacles standing in the way of a total electronic library, students express little patience with our explana­ tions of the real world. Notwithstanding their lack of knowledge of many of the technical and barrier issues, they know the technology capabilities exist for their per­ ception of the “ideal” library world. Virtual Libraries The virtual library matches the expectation of our students and some of our faculty. These users nod favorably when they lis­ ten to the possibility of accessing the ser­ vices and contents of other libraries via a technological infrastructure. Some faculty are obviously worried about the existence of a virtual library due to their lack of in­ terest in or ignorance of the new technol­ ogy. The virtual library serves to fulfill that oft-spoken goal of “bringing together hu­ man beings and recorded knowledge re­ gardless of place or time.” What new user 188 Editorial 189 expectations does the virtual library bring? Greater access to the global resources, faster document delivery, and the librarian with more in-depth knowledge of informational resources are a few of the challenges im­ posed by the virtual library. Distance Library Services For many years, the academy has delivered instruction in the traditional classroom set­ ting. However, this practice is changing sig­ nificantly. All types of institutions of higher education (from community colleges to the ivy leagues) now are engaged in distance education. As expected, accrediting associa­ tions are insisting that sufficient library ser­ vices be provided at these distant sites. Gen­ erally speaking, it is practically impossible to offer library services of equal quality to those received on the local campus. How­ ever, comparable library service must be provided to the distance education students. These users must be provided access to pa­ per and online resources, dependable and fast document delivery, and bibliographic instruction of the highest quality. Librarians who participate in distance library services for the first time will quickly realize that extra effort is required if high-quality ser­ vice is to be provided to these distance us­ ers. It is quite common for librarians to travel to distant sites to teach students how to use/ access the home-based library. Agreements are established with academic libraries where the distance education courses are taught; these include access to collections and may include library instruction for dis­ tance education students. Effectiveness and efficiency are two key words that must be kept in mind while providing library ser­ vices for distance education students. Evaluation All library services, including distance library services, must be evaluated. The assessment process may include ques­ tionnaires, interviews, observations, fo­ cus groups, or other survey methods. As Peter Hernon and Charles R. McClure reminded us: Evaluation embraces change and encourages libraries to treat change as a positive force. By en­ gaging in planning and research, librarians have a better idea of the future and they can meet that fu­ ture with relevant, effective, and efficient services.1 The library must know what its users think of the services being offered, know where it is on its planning cycle, and be certain that the future will continue to fo­ cus on the needs and expectations of the users. Conclusion Academic libraries will continue to play a significant role in supporting their respec­ tive institutions’ missions. Traditional user services will continue and innovative ser­ vices will be added. The library will be judged principally on how well it is serv­ ing its users. Many challenges must be ad­ dressed by the “value-added” services brought forth by the evolving technology. We can expect user expectations to expand, and we should never get in a reactive stance regarding user needs. In closing, I share with you Harry I. Forsha’s perspec­ tive on users’ expectations: People want what they want when they want it. They don’t want some­ thing else, they don’t want less than they want, and they certainly don’t want it at some other time.2 DONALD E. RIGGS Editor Notes 1 . Peter Hernon and Charles R. McClure, Evaluation and Library Decision Making (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1990), 238–39. 2 . Harry I. Forsha, The Pursuit of Quality through Personal Change (Milwaukee: ASQC Quality Pr., 1992), 3. << /ASCII85EncodePages false /AllowTransparency false /AutoPositionEPSFiles true /AutoRotatePages /All /Binding /Left /CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%) /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2) /sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Warning /CompatibilityLevel 1.3 /CompressObjects /Tags /CompressPages true /ConvertImagesToIndexed true /PassThroughJPEGImages true /CreateJobTicket false /DefaultRenderingIntent /Default /DetectBlends true /DetectCurves 0.0000 /ColorConversionStrategy /CMYK /DoThumbnails false /EmbedAllFonts true /EmbedOpenType false /ParseICCProfilesInComments true /EmbedJobOptions true /DSCReportingLevel 0 /EmitDSCWarnings false /EndPage -1 /ImageMemory 1048576 /LockDistillerParams false /MaxSubsetPct 1 /Optimize true /OPM 1 /ParseDSCComments true /ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true /PreserveCopyPage true /PreserveDICMYKValues true /PreserveEPSInfo true /PreserveFlatness false /PreserveHalftoneInfo true /PreserveOPIComments false /PreserveOverprintSettings true /StartPage 1 /SubsetFonts false /TransferFunctionInfo /Apply /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve /UsePrologue false /ColorSettingsFile () /AlwaysEmbed [ true ] /NeverEmbed [ true ] /AntiAliasColorImages false /CropColorImages false /ColorImageMinResolution 151 /ColorImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleColorImages true /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /ColorImageResolution 300 /ColorImageDepth -1 /ColorImageMinDownsampleDepth 1 /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold 1.10000 /EncodeColorImages true /ColorImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterColorImages true /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /ColorACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /ColorImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000ColorImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasGrayImages false /CropGrayImages false /GrayImageMinResolution 151 /GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.10000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /GrayImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000GrayImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasMonoImages false /CropMonoImages false /MonoImageMinResolution 600 /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.16667 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict << /K -1 >> /AllowPSXObjects false /CheckCompliance [ /None ] /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName () /PDFXTrapped /False /CreateJDFFile false /Description << /ENU (IPC Print Services, Inc. Please use these settings with InDesign CS4 \(6.x\). These settings should work well for every type of job; B/W, Color or Spot Color. Contact Pre-press Helpdesk at prepress_helpdesk@ipcprintservices.com if you have questions or need customized settings.) >> /Namespace [ (Adobe) (Common) (1.0) ] /OtherNamespaces [ << /AsReaderSpreads false /CropImagesToFrames true /ErrorControl /WarnAndContinue /FlattenerIgnoreSpreadOverrides false /IncludeGuidesGrids false /IncludeNonPrinting false /IncludeSlug false /Namespace [ (Adobe) (InDesign) (4.0) ] /OmitPlacedBitmaps false /OmitPlacedEPS false /OmitPlacedPDF false /SimulateOverprint /Legacy >> << /AddBleedMarks true /AddColorBars false /AddCropMarks true /AddPageInfo true /AddRegMarks false /BleedOffset [ 9 9 9 9 ] /ConvertColors /ConvertToCMYK /DestinationProfileName (U.S. Web Coated \(SWOP\) v2) /DestinationProfileSelector /DocumentCMYK /Downsample16BitImages true /FlattenerPreset << /ClipComplexRegions true /ConvertStrokesToOutlines true /ConvertTextToOutlines true /GradientResolution 300 /LineArtTextResolution 1200 /PresetName ([High Resolution]) /PresetSelector /HighResolution /RasterVectorBalance 1 >> /FormElements false /GenerateStructure false /IncludeBookmarks false /IncludeHyperlinks false /IncludeInteractive false /IncludeLayers false /IncludeProfiles true /MarksOffset 9 /MarksWeight 0.250000 /MultimediaHandling /UseObjectSettings /Namespace [ (Adobe) (CreativeSuite) (3.0) ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfileSelector /NA /PageMarksFile /RomanDefault /PreserveEditing true /UntaggedCMYKHandling /LeaveUntagged /UntaggedRGBHandling /UseDocumentProfile /UseDocumentBleed false >> << /AllowImageBreaks true /AllowTableBreaks true /ExpandPage false /HonorBaseURL true /HonorRolloverEffect false /IgnoreHTMLPageBreaks false /IncludeHeaderFooter false /MarginOffset [ 0 0 0 0 ] /MetadataAuthor () /MetadataKeywords () /MetadataSubject () /MetadataTitle () /MetricPageSize [ 0 0 ] /MetricUnit /inch /MobileCompatible 0 /Namespace [ (Adobe) (GoLive) (8.0) ] /OpenZoomToHTMLFontSize false /PageOrientation /Portrait /RemoveBackground false /ShrinkContent true /TreatColorsAs /MainMonitorColors /UseEmbeddedProfiles false /UseHTMLTitleAsMetadata true >> ] >> setdistillerparams << /HWResolution [2400 2400] /PageSize [612.000 792.000] >> setpagedevice