A study on the evaluation of University Library Service Quality using the Kano model

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the service quality of the university libraries using the Kano model and to analyze in detail the relationship between the user expectation and satisfaction. While the traditional service quality evaluation models (such as SERVQUAL and LibQUAL+) primarily measure the gap between the user expectation and actual experiences, the Kano model classifies service attributes into the five categories of Must-Be, One-Dimensional, Attractive, Indifferent, and Reverse, thereby enabling a more nuanced analysis. A survey was conducted to assess the university library user expectation and satisfaction levels. Based on the responses, the Kano classification and Timko coefficient analyses were employed to determine the relative importance of each service attribute. The results revealed that the attributes such as the completeness of digital collections, promptness of staff responses, and provision of personalized information services were recognized as Attractive Quality. In contrast, the ease of information retrieval, intuitive homepage design, and accuracy of search results were identified as One-Dimensional Quality. Additionally, the Better-Worse index analysis, highlighted key drivers of satisfaction and the main sources of dissatisfaction, offering insights into which improvements would have the greatest impact on the user experience. These findings provide a practical guidance for prioritizing the service enhancement and developing the user-centered, innovative strategies for the university libraries. Future research should expand the scope to include various types of libraries and aim to develop a more sophisticated service quality evaluation model by integrating the objective performance indicators.