Quality Management in the Information Units at the University of Zulia: Paradigm of Innovation in the Knowledge Society

Ideally, it has been called the information and knowledge society, which has full access and capacity to use information for the individual and collective development of citizens. Since the XIXth century, information units (IU) have worked in favor of public access to knowledge with both theoretical and practical bases; therefore, contributions and concrete answers to informative and social challenges arc found in its history, especially at crucial moments when the use of information-knowledge that current society demands has become an indispensable ingredient for its development, leading the IU to gradually incorporate the quality concept. However, the philosophy that presides over achieving quality is not based on the premise of a simple improvement in products and services offered, but on their adaptation to the users' needs. The purpose of this study was to determine to what degree the total quality (TQ) management technique is applied to managing information units (libraries and archives) at the University of Zulia, in order to discover management problems that these services might present. To achieve this, a documentary investigation was made based on a bibliographic review of contents of a theoretical order, which reflected coinciding and contradictory positions in the approaches or tendencies analyzed, as well as in the study of strategic plans for the information systems at the University of Zulia (SAILUZ and SERBILUZ). Results showed that TQ is applied in the IU and is used on a high average at a theoretical level; however, weaknesses were found in its performance. Conclusions were that using TQ guides the decision-making process, helps with the integration and cooperation of individuals and foments teamwork.