SERVICE QUALITY IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: AN ANALYSIS OF LibQUAL+™ SCORES AND INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS by

iii This exploratory study considered the problem of assessing quality in academic libraries. The research question that framed the investigation asked whether service quality scores from the LibQUAL+ ™ instrument were related to the following college or university characteristics: institutional type, enrollment level, or the level of investment made in libraries. Data regarding Carnegie classification, FTE enrollment, and library expenditures were collected for 159 college and university libraries that participated in LibQUAL+ ™ during 2006. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and regression analyses were calculated and the Bonferroni adjustment was applied to significance levels to compensate for errors caused by repeated calculations using the same data. Several statistically significant relationships were found; notably, negative correlations were found between each of the LibQUAL+ ™ scores and total library expenditures. The study suggested that higher expectations among library users in large, research libraries led to slightly lower LibQUAL+ ™ scores. Implications for practic