Are there common academic library customer values?

This paper endeavours to provide answers to the following questions: Is there a correlation between what library customers value and the questions asked in benchmarking satisfaction surveys? Is there a core set of academic library customer values? Are there differences between what academic library customers value in Australia when compared to their counterparts in England? Do library customer values change over time?

The results of two similar university libraries' customer value discovery research are compared with each other, and also with the question set in the LibQUAL+™ survey. As the customer value discovery research was undertaken six years apart, the results are compared to see if there has been change over time.

Academic library customers identified a core set of values, and these values mapped reasonably well to the LibQUAL+™ instrument. However, there were unique value factors identified by the various customer segments that did not map. Some questions in LibQUAL+™ were more detailed in their exploration of library staff attributes than customers identified in their value proposition. Customers identify their values +without reference to library jargon.

The paper shows that customer value discovery and LibQUAL+™ are both valuable management tools that identify services and resources of importance to library customers.