A service quality and success model for the information service industry

This study proposes and tests a model of library success that shows how information service quality relates to other variables associated with success. If service quality affects success, then it should be possible to compare service quality to other variables believed to affect success. A modified version of the SERVQUAL instrument was evaluated to determine how effectively it measures service quality within the information service industry. Instruments designed to measure information center success and information system success were evaluated to determine how effectively they measure success in the library system application and how they relate to SERVQUAL. Responses from 385 end users at two US Army Corps of Engineers libraries were obtained through a mail survey. Results indicate that service quality is best measured with a performance-based version of SERVQUAL, and that measuring importance may be as critical as measuring expectations for management purposes. Results also indicate that service quality is an important factor in success. The findings have implications for the development of new instruments to more effectively measure information service quality and information service success as well as for the development of new models that better show the relationship between information service quality and information service success. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.