Users' perceptions of university library websites: A unifying view

University libraries have invested a large amount of resources into digitizing information for the Web, yet scholars and practitioners question the value of this investment due to a lack of use of university library website resources (ULWR). Addressing this concern, researchers have investigated the use of ULWR and offered insights into the problem. However, studies have employed a single perspective rather than a comprehensive approach; as a result, the findings shed light on only part of the use issue. Also, existing studies have consistently reported that users with different academic roles have distinct usage patterns of ULWR and information sources. But they have not considered a wide range of users or systematically investigated such differences. This study examines these differences. This study examines (a) the user perspective, derived from technology adoption literature; (b) the website design perspective, embedded in human computer interaction literature; and (c) the library service quality perspective, based on information science literature. The second area is addressed by surveying a wide range of users, categorizing them based on their academic role differences, and then comparing their use of ULWR and information sources, thereby highlighting distinctive usage patterns. Research based on the responses of 315 participants shows that while users favorably rated factors derived from the perspectives of user and library service qualities for ULWR use, they perceived university library websites as somewhat difficult to use. Also, distinct user patterns are observed in this dataset.