Service quality is becoming an important performance measurement in libraries. Managing service quality improvement is dependent upon routine assessment and requires the preparation of staff to understand the concepts and the techniques that foster the generation and application of customer-based data to decision-making. What are expectations for staff development to prepare librarians to embrace such a management approach to delivering services? What is the perceived readiness of library organizations to support a culture of assessment? How effective are web-based teaching and learning technologies in developing the requisite skills among library staff to manage service quality? The study reported here begins to explore these questions based on the authors' experiences in designing and facilitating a 6-week online course on Measuring Service Quality in Libraries, offered three times since November 2000 through the Association of Research Libraries' Online Lyceum program. A total of 85 library staff have registered for these sessions. Through analysis of their course activities, including responses to three questionnaires, their opinions sought during the course chats and bulletin discussions, and a post-course e-mail survey, the authors have gained insights into the need and expectations for staff development to foster a culture of assessment in libraries and the implications of utilizing web-based teaching technologies toward meeting such needs.
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