The role of the document delivery service at an evolving research library in Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Purpose
This purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the document delivery service according to user perception, and a usage analysis was done to inform collection building and refining. This is especially important in a high-calibre research community, where the usage, interests and research groups and disciplines are still evolving.
Design/methodology/approach
To collect the responses of document delivery service users, an online questionnaire was used with 12 multiple-choice questions and two open-ended questions. The questionnaires were sent only to the users of this service, and the responses were collected anonymously. Two surveys were conducted, in 2010 and 2013, with the same questions. The responses are displayed graphically prepared to compare the results. There were 71 responses in 2010 and 95 in 2013.
Findings
In both surveys, the majority of users rated the service, staff behaviour, speed, quality, etc. with a high satisfaction level. Document delivery order statistics are a major decision-making tool, in addition to usage analysis, for developing a better, economical and highly utilized collection in brand new libraries.
Originality/value
This is the first published study of user perception of document delivery in Saudi Arabia.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The articles derives from a paper presented at the 13th IFLA Interlending and Document Supply (ILDS) Conference in Beijing China 16-18 October 2013.
Citation
Vijayakumar, J.K. and Al Barayyan, F. (2015), "The role of the document delivery service at an evolving research library in Saudi Arabia", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 41-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILDS-01-2014-0011
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited