The Perception of the Library Staff Regarding the Implementation of a Quality Management System

Abstract

The quality of the services provided by a library, as well as of any kind of service, depends on several factors: The user requirements (as defined in ISO), prior knowledge about the service, computer systems reliability, availability of resources, personnel qualifications, etc. But when providing the service, the willingness of the staff is essential, because they will be well motivated if the working conditions are adequate. The intent of this research is to investigate how staff perceives the implementation of a Quality Management System (QMS). To that end, two university libraries –one public and one private– that implemented QMS in the city of Cordoba between 2005 and 2013 were studied. The research asks whether the implementation process meant an adequate or excessive effort; how staff assesses the maintainability of the system in operation; if there is noticeable improvement in the quality of service, in the internal work of each library; if in general it is viewed as positive. This paper first presents a bibliographic inquiry on related work and then the application of a survey of the people involved in the implementation in both libraries. It is concluded that employees perceive the application of the Quality Management System as positive even if there were difficulties during the implementation face. Management however has a different view.