E-service Quality Criteria in University Library: A Focus Group Study

Service quality and new electronic services are strategic issues for academic libraries to find better ways to support learning and research at the universities. In the age of self-service technologies, library specialists need to understand what criteria are used by customers to evaluate library services. This study contributes to the literature by identifying the major e-service evaluation criteria from the point of view of users of the largest university library in Estonia. Focus groups were used to identify the most significant criteria of e-service quality, and participants brought out 15 quality criteria. The list of criteria is explained and discussed. The study has shown that technological and marketing approaches for studying e-service quality may be complemented by another one – a social approach, based on communication, user participation and feedback.