Providing Customer-oriented Services in Academic Libraries

In higher education a climate of efficiency gains and decreasing units of resource has led universities into unfamiliar commercial territory. Few universities can now afford to ignore their actual and potential customers and not ensure that what they offer is appropriate to what is demanded. Academic libraries must also operate within the context and constraints of their parent organization. In this collection, middle and senior managers in academic libraries in the UK consider strategic and practical approaches to reconciling the diverse number of academic library users and their demands with the desire to provide a quality service within a period of budgetary restraint in HE. Each paper considers a key area in determining the type and quality of service that is offered including user empowerment, organizing libraries for customers, the IT literate user, defining the customer in a unique service, marketing and promotional techniques and staff training and developing a shared culture.