An appraisal of the Kenya national library reference service

·!

AN APPRAISAL OF

THE KENYA NATIONAL LIBRARY

REFERENCE

SERVICE

BY:

MACHARIA

BEATRICE

W ANGARI

A PROJECT

SUBMITTED

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

FOR

THE AWARD

OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION,

(LIBRARY SCIENCE)

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

APRIL

2002

DECLARATION

This is my original work and has not been presented for a degree award in any ;'other University in part or whole.

Candidate . L ..

MACHARIA BEATRICE WANGARI

This work has been submitted with my approval as the University Supervisor

Supervisor .~\ ..: : .

MICHAEL KITETU MUKUVI

.

-Department of Library and Information Science Kenyatta University

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to my late father Mr. Macharia Rung' are for his, tireless efforts and persistence in seeing me through my education, and to my son Kahiga, Sister Margaret and my niece Kendi for their ..»encouragement and cooperation during the writing of this project.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The production of this work could not have been possible had itnot been for the assistance I received from various individuals.

My thanks go to my Supervisor Mr. Michael K. Mukuvi for his invaluable suggestions, constructive criticisms, guidance, advice, encouragement and patience, which helped greatly shape this work to what it is.

I am also grateful to my lecturers in the two years of the course. These are Mr. P.G. Mwathi, Mr. E. W. Muya, Mr. J.R. Njuguna, Mr. Thuku, Mrs M. Mathu and Dr. S.K. Kaane.

Special thanks to go to Mr. James Muturi and Mr. Moses Boro for their commitment and dedication in getting this work typed.

To Julia who made my home comfortable for everyone at home while I was busy with this work, and last and not the least my brothers and sisters for their understanding and prayers that saw me through this course.

ABSTRACT

A reference service is one of the services offered in any type of a library. It's role in the library is that of maximizing utilization of a library's resources. Due to this important role, it is an essential service that should be recognized as an important and inseparable part of the

library services.

This reference service prOVISIOninvolves not only fmding the

answers to queries but performs other functions; i.e. inter-library loans,

location of documents, outreach services, compiling of bibliographies and indexes among others.

The main purpose of this research was to evaluate the quality of this service in K.N.L.S. The objectives were; to establish the philosophy

of this service, identify services offered, and establish through user satisfaction the quality of this service.

The sample for this research was obtained through simple random sampling method. This was done from three categories of users i.e; from primary school level, secondary school level and above secondary school level. This was to ensure that all users of the library were well represented. There was also a sample representing the staff which was also acquired through the same simple random sampling.

Data collected was through questionnaires, direct observation and reference service records at the K.N.L.S.

On analysing and interpreting the data, conclusions were made by the researcher.

From the findings of the study, it was established that the reference service although not extremely poor, it is below average. Various factors established which down play the quality of this reference service are, lack of policies, inadequacy of services and resources, and lack of marketing of services provided.

The recommendations given by the researcher were that, the reference service personnel come up with policies, improve on the collection, enter into formal inter-library services, sensitize their users and potential users on services provided and automate all services.

TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

Declaration .i .

D_edi_ication. ₁₁..

Acknowledgement " iii

Abstract .iv

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Historical Development Of Reference Services 2

1.2 Kenya National Library Services 3

1.3 Statement Of The Problem .4

1.4 Research Questions 6

1.5 Hypothesis 7

1.6 Limitations 7

1.7 Purpose Of The Study 7

1.7.1 Objections 8

1.8 Significance '" 8

1.9 Definition Of Terms 9

CHAPTER

T

WO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction 11

2.1 Quality 12

2.1.1 What Is Quality 12

2.1.2 Quality And Reference Service .13

2.2 Importance Of Quality Appraisal.. .13

2.3 Measurement Criteria .14

2.3.1 User Satisfaction With A Service .: 15

2.3.2 Failure Analysis .16

2.3.3 Performance Measures .17

2.3.4 Standards Of Quality 18

2.4.0 What To Evaluate And Criteria For Each Service 21

2.4.1 Document Provision Service 21

2.4.2 Inquiry Service 23

C

H

A

PTE

R T

HR

EE

3.0 Methodology ..~ 29

3.1 Introduction 29

3.2 Sampling ; 29

3.3 Research Instrument 31

3.4 Data Collection Procedure 32

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Data Analysis and Presentation 33

4.1 Introduction 33

4.2 Presentation of Data Collected From The Staff of Reference

service 34

4.2.1 Questionnaire Response Rate 34

4.3.0 Background Information 34

4.3.1 Philosophy 35

4.3.2 Reference Service and Resources 38

4.3.3 Documents Provision' .41

4.3.4 Current Awareness .43

4.3 Presentation of Data Collected From the Users

of The Reference Service .45

4.4.1 Questionnaire Response Rate , .4~

4.4.2 Background Information 46

4.4.4 Enquiry Services 52 .

4.4.5 Document Provision 54

4.4.6 Current awareness 56

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Summary of Findings I Conclusions and Recommendations 61

5.1 Introduction 61

5.1.1 Summary of Findings of the Data Collected

from the Reference Service Staff 61

5.1.2 Academic and Professional Qualifications of

the Reference Service Staff 61

5.1.3 Philosophy 62

5.1.4 Documents Provision 63

5.1.5 Reference Service

I

Resources 64

5.1.6 Current Awareness 65

5.2 Philosophy 66

5.2.1 Document Provision 67

5.2.2 Enquiry Services 69

5.2.3 Current Awareness 70

5.3 Summary of Factors Responsible for Quality of This Service 71

5.4 Conclusion 72

5.5 Recommendations 73

5".5.2 Collection 75

5.5.3 Automation 76

5.5.4 Marketing of Reference Services 77

References 79

Bibliography 81

Appendix One: Reference Service Librarian / Assistants Appendix Two: Users of the Service

Appendix Three: Listof tables, bar graphs and pie charts

.

.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0

INTRODUCTION

A reference service is an essential service in any library as it plays

a great role of maximizing utilization of a library's resources.

Reference services offered by one library differ widely in the

number and kind of services offered, depending on the size and

type of library. However, the quality of reference service is mainly

determined by the understanding of what a reference service means

and its value.

Literature in librarianship presents a lot of suggested definitions of

reference service. Quoting Edward's Katz, (1989: P:9) says

"Reference work is not only, as the phrase suggests, the use

of books on the premises as against borrowing them for

home reading, but an individual and personal service to

each reader, to enable him to obtain the information he

requires with the greatest ease, and the least possible delay.

"

Kumar (1978), Grogan (1979) and others agree that reference

services is personal assistance given by the librarian to users

individually.

Katz (1989: P. 9) goes further and adds that

This is the definition that the researcher finds most appropriate. A

library must recognize this service as inseparable from other library services.

1.1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

The history of reference service is not as long as other services of a library. Acquisition, circulation, cataloguing amongst others, have existed as long as the library has. Reference services emerged later. History has it that libraries once performed the duties of a storehouse. As providers of information they were passive, and

acted more like archival institutions. Activities were few, hence required services of only a few people with good house keeping

skills. This idea that the library was a storehouse, the librarian a

custodian, and the fact that the idea of research was remote, led to

delays in reference service inception.

Another reason for this, according to Kumar (1978), library users were scholars who'needed no help, as the collection was small.

Quoting Ranganathan, Kumar (1978; P 30) says,

"If the number of books in a library is very small, there would be no need perhaps to provide any reference service. "

Library instruction which is also part of library reference service

however existed as far back as 1650, when John Durie, wrote a

According to Katz (1989) and Kumar (1978), reference service

begun in 1876, when Green is said to have presented a paper in a

librarian conference in Philadelphia. In the paper he pleaded for,

establishment of personal intercourse and relations between

librarians and leaders.

From this date, it took 15 years before any serious reference service

was implemented. In India the service is said to have taken place

only as late as 1930. This was in Madras State University, with

Ranganathan being its pioneer.

In England, although reference service was taken up after Green's

paper in the U.S., Grogan (1979) says that there had been a

mention of this concept of reference service, as far back in 1859.

Edward's "handbook of library economy" had this mentioned.

1.2 KENYA NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES

In recognition of information as a vital resource for the growth and

development of the country, the Kenya government like other

nations of the world established an information system to provide

this basic resource to her citizens. K.N.L.S. was then established by

an act of parliament in 1965.

It is governed by a board of directors who are answerable to the

Ministry under which it serves.

According to

the

Act Chapter 225 of the laws of Kenya, the board is mandated to promote, establish, equip, manage, maintain, and

develop library and information services in Kenya.

This organization begun with a few branches among them

headquarters at Nairobi, but today the network of branches has

spread countrywide. These are:- 8 provincial libraries, 7 district

libraries, 8 community-based libraries and 8 mobile-based libraries

(which include camel and donkey libraries).

The services offered by these libraries are amongst others, adult

and children lending services, postal services, book boxes, advisory

services to schools and organizations, and the reference services,

which is the researcher's concern in this paper.

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

According to Mcleod, Whitehall (1987; P. 2)

"Quality is the degree of excellence. " It is the worth or value of a product or a service.

In a library, quality is what users feel about a service. The ease

they have in accessing the right library resources. To Whitehall

(1994 P.177) quality is "how good is the service. "

In the reference service, the quality will be determined by the

understanding of what reference service means and its value to

This understanding will help in the choice of approach and services

to be provided that are necessary in exploiting a library's potential

to the full. Kenya National Library has expanded its network of

branches countrywide. Access to the system is almost within reach

of everyone.

More services have also been launched; Braille services, Aids

awareness, adult literacy campaigns and others.

However, provision of these facilities can be futile, if the users are

unable to effectively use them.

A recent survey conducted by K.N.L.S. / Carnegie Corporation

(2002: P.22) revealed that reference service is under utilized. This

depicts a problem. Either the service is seen as irrelevant, difficult

to use, or not known or understood. This researcher attributes this

to deficiency in the quality of the service.

According to Kumar (1978: P.7)

"The impact of reference service leads to increased demand

for library services including reference services. "

In this case, low reference utilization presented a need to be

investigated.

This investigation. on quality comes in handy now, as the

government recently sent a directive to all public institutions. The

These institutions must generate some income as a way of cost

sharing, which means that K.N.L

.

S. must enter into competition

with other information providers now. In this front, quality will

determine the income share for K.N.L.S. in the market

.

To ensure quality of a product of a service, constant checks of its

quality level

against given quality

standards

is of major

importance. The researcher is aware that this is rarely done at

K

.

N

.

L

.

S.

The objective of this study therefore was to subject the K.N.L

.

S.

reference service to a test of quality

.

This was to help establish

areas that are wanting in terms of quality.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study attempted to solve the following questions.

1

.

Is the approach of the K.N.L

.

S. reference service appropriate

for its diverse clientele?

2.

Are the services provided adequate; quantitatively and

qualitatively in meeting the needs of the users?

3.

What do users feel about its general quality?

1.5 HYPOTHESES

1.

There is a relationship between approach of reference

service and its quality.

2.

There is a relationship between the choice of reference

services offered and the users ease of use of library

materials.

1.6 LIMITA TIONS

Research

concentrated on one library; the Nairobi area branch.

This is due to its large size in. comparison with other branch

libraries.

Nairobi area library also acts as a referral centre for other branches,

as most of other branches lack a designated section for elaborate

reference service. This made it a good choice.

Time was also a limiting factor.

The research was done alongside

coursework, making it difficult to visit other branches as they are

far from Nairobi.

1.7 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study was to do a case study of the K.N.L.S.

reference service. This was to establish its current practice in

approach, services offered, and what users think of the quality of

its reference service. This was then measured against established

1.7.1 OBJECTIVES

- Determine Kenya National Library Service reference service

philosophy.

- Identify the services provided.

- Assess K.N.L.S. reference service against established reference

service standards.

- Make recommendations from the findings.

1.8

SIGNIFICANCE

People in our community have large variety of information needs;

ranging from health to personal enrichment. The amount of

information available on the other hand is enormous.

In response to the call for skills to locate and avail this information,

there has been a rise in information providers, invisible colleges,

information brokers, cyber cafes and many more.

However most of these services are concentrated in urban centres,

and their prices are unaffordable to the majority of the community.

Kenya National Library remains the one place where information

for everyone may be provided in this country.

This study was intended to act as an eye opener to K.N.L.S.

management, to the weak and strong points of its reference service.

It is hoped that, this will help them recognize the need for

Quality reference service will enhance use of library's services and

.resources.

The researcher is optimistic that the research recommendations

once implemented will go a long way to making the library popular

as an information provider. The facilities and the services already

established will also be effectively utilized.

The library too will have its share of gains. Its popularity will lead

to its support and sympathy in times of need. Kartz (1989: P. 20)

believes that;

"The more freely a librarian mingles with readers, and greater the amount of assistance he renders them, the more intense does the conviction of citizens also, become, that the library is a useful institution, and more willing do they grow to grant money in larger and larger sums to be used in buying books and employing additional assistants. "

This study will also add to the existing literature in this field and

will benefit information providers, librarians and researchers. To

the researcher, it is a source of information and knowledge

building.

1.9 DEFINATION OF TERMS / ABBREVIATIONS

Library resources: Collection of books and non-books materials

. of all kinds, which are relevant sources of

Mobile Libraries:

Camel Library:

Donkey Library:

Book boxes:

Collection:

Library Role:

Vehicle devised equipped and operated to

provide a service comparable to a part time

branch.

An animal (Camel) used as a means of

transport to deliver materials to nomadic

people of North Eastern Kenya.

An animal (Donkey) used to deliver library

materials to remote areas of Kenya.

Boxes in which books are transported.

A number of books or other items collected

by the library.

Part played by the library in aiding the users

in use of library resources.

1.9.1 ·ABBREVIATIONS

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

This literature review is an analysis of related studies on appraisal

of quality of a reference service. Emphasis is placed on the

reference collection and user satisfaction for the simple reason as

in the words of Bawden (1990: P40)

that:-"

Satisfaction of u

s

er

s

need

s

i

s

th

e

ultimat

e

and o

n

l

y

s

atisfaction for the existence of an

y

information

s

ervice

,

and

obtaining information as to the wa

y

in which it i

s

u

se

d and

the degree of succe

s

s achieved b

y

it

s

u

s

ers i

s

good indeed

,

a

fundamental part of its evaluation."

.

User satisfaction will however be difficult to achieve without

proper or quality resources. To use the words of Lancaster

(1993: P 311)

"The quality of any reference activity depends largely upon

library's total resources

.

"

Of these resources are the aid tools such as the catalogues and

bibliographies. These are at the centre of the reference service and

therefore a must for a quality reference service.

The major task for this literature review was to establish the approach, criteria and methods used in assessing reference service quality that was to help in this research.

2.1 QUALITY

Literature in the field of reference service evaluation presents us with the information that, for many years, libraries were largely free from any type of performance assessment. Today however, the

importance of quality control has become widely accepted due to

the current interest in quality assurance, hence the need to evaluate.

2.1.1 WHAT IS QUALITY

Several authors have defmed quality as earlier mentioned. To

Mcleod (1987) it is the degree of excellence, while to Whitehall (1994) it is "How good is the service. " Collins dictionary on the

other hand defmes it as the degree or standard of excellence,

especially a high standard.

From these definitions, it is clear they agree on the concept of

"goodness ", and the Whitehall definition of "how good is the

service," in this case is most appropriate. It describes how we

perceive a product or a service which we use; how we describe the

impact we feel from such a service or a product.

2.1.2 QUALITY AND REFERENCE SERVICE

Quality has two basic

aspects:-(i) How good is the service; (the effective quality)

(ii) How much good does it do (value or benefits)

How good is the service, in the reference service, is about criteria

more useful to the users reaction to the service. A good example

here is the coverage of a reference collection, or the response time

of an online search. It is also connected with the outcome of a

service, this is because it is the user who feels the impact of the

service.

On the other hand,

how much good does it do

is about value or

benefits. A user of a reference service may gain something from

use of information from this service. This user feels the services

value.

Although it is difficult to separate the two aspects in evaluation, the

main emphasis in this research was on how good is the service as

perceived by the users.

2.2 IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY APPRAISAL

"Quality is

a useful bargaining counter in negotiation

with

the funder,

if

it can be

shown that a

service falls

below

accepted quality

standards in

some particular

areas,

a

request for money to

restore

it may

be

granted.

"

Evaluation procedures can help in a reference service or

a library

as a whole in improving the quality of the services offered.

It may

also help in the allocation of resources more efficiently. If the

evaluation procedures are easy and do not place too much of a

burden on the users of the service while asking for their

co-operation in the exercise, they can be good for public relations;

they indicate some sense of genuine interest in improving the

services.

It is also a good reminder to the staff that the quality of a service is

important in an information centre.

2.3 MEASUREMENT CRITERIA

In the words of Katz (1982: P. 265)

"There is no single measure, method or set of rules which will help to evaluate reference service. There are several approaches which when identified and employed, do serve to give the librarian at least a fairly accurate· idea of the success or failure of the service. "

This same sentiment of there lacking a clear cut measure for

reference services is shared by Katz (1989) who also laments that,

although evaluation presupposes measurement against a specific

standard or yardstick or goal, reference service has been most

deficient in such standards than in any other area of the library

Talking of the measures that could however be useful in assessing

the quality of a reference, the two Katz (1989) and Katz (1982)

agree that reference service like other areas of the library should be

concerned with measuring the ultimate product; the performance,

and that the best indicators of their level of performance are, or

should be based on user data such as satisfaction. This is supported

by Clair, (1997: P.67) who says,

"Quality is in the eyes of the beholder and although it sounds like a cliche it is literally true.

2.3.1 USER SATISFACTION WITH A SERVICE

Reference service quality has been attempted severally by asking

users whether they were satisfied with an act of use.

According to Lancaster (1993), Katz (1989), of the approaches that

have been made to the measurement or analysis of reference work,

users have been categorized by occupation or academic ranks.

Public awareness of reference service has been measured, and also

the degree of user satisfaction has been determined through

interviews or questionnaires.

To Katz (1982) this approach of user satisfaction has been tried

several times and has worked extremely well.

This then means that to determine users satisfaction one would

require to give some education to the users or select users who are

conversant with this service.

Its success according to Whitehall (1995) stems from using the

right questions to people who are known to have used a service. He

further adds that it also requires an invitation to the user to be

critical, and concentration on one service at a time rather than the

general service gives better results; Enquirer service, document

delivery service, reference referral.and so on.

He also suggests that comments, criticisms or suggestions be

•

solicited form the users on each separate service. To Whitetakker

(1993) satisfaction is the ultimate service criterion. Using this

user-derived criteria, to him, is only the first step towards better

services. Evaluation he adds, must be backed by identification of

the reason or reasons for unsatisfactory services.

2.3.2 FAILURE ANAL'ySIS

Another measure of quality is failure analysis. Here quality is

measured through observation or simulation of an act of use. Any

diversion of service from what is perceived as right, an attempt is

made to find out why. Shortcomings of the service are easily

revealed. This has been most successful in checking of books and

accuracy of answers to enquiries.

This measure entails identification of success and failures. Here records may be maintained of proportions of questions that the reference staff are able to answer and the proportion they are unable to answer.

Where this approach has been used, reports according to Lancaster (1993) have been high, rarely below 90%. However the validity of this figure is questioned by Childers (1986 P. 5) who points

out:-" ...Records of the unanswered questions are usually by the people responsible for answering them which casts doubt on

the objectivity of that measure. "

Of the studies using this approach is that of Quigley, Katz (1989). It was done by noting down references that were said to be good to consult. These references were then looked for in the reference department to see what percentage were in the library and those not available were noted. This measure on failure analysis is however said to be too time consuming by Whitehall (1994).

2.3.3 PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Of the most important performance measures are those concerned with individual criteria as they can provide useful information on quality directly without further enquiries being

(ii) Percentage of database done on the same day of request and

on the following day; percentage of inter-library loan

requests filled after two weeks, after three weeks.

(iii) Measure of relevance of stock turn over rate.

(iv) Measure of accessibility: proportion of the target population

who live or work more than a certain distance from the

library; access to books owned and time at which

professional staff are available at the desk.

(v) Measure of collection coverage: Percentage of journals,

monographs, fraction of books in the field.

Of the other performance measures undertaken, good examples are

the number of enquiries per head of population served; average

loan per capita an inter-library materials used per capita.

This measure is wanting in that, it does not give adequate detailed

information about what is wrong with a service to allow corrective

measures to be taken.

2.3.4 STANDARDS OF QUALITY

Standards is one of the known indicators of quality. However, in

the field of library profession, standards have not been designed as

aids in evaluation. They do not guarantee quality service but serve

well, as guidelines for libraries seeking assistance in drawing up

According to Whitehall (1994) standards should be based on

research into effectiveness and not on subjective opinion. Of the

standards already established is "Standards for reference services in

public libraries. These standards provide recommendations on the

range of services offered, size and organization of the reference

service, facilities and staff salaries. For example the State Library

of Queensland, gives reference guidelines and standards for

Queensland public libraries. The collection standards given are

that:- The minimum reference collection a library should posses is,

>

-

An international almanac, for example Whitaker's almanac.

>

-

An international yearbook; for example statesman's yearbook..

>

-

Atlases

>

-

Biographical dictionary

>

-

Core statistical material

>

-

Dictionaries for example, English language, biographical,

medical

>

-

Gazetteers

>

-

General encyclopedias

>

-

Specialists encyclopedias for example, social sciences, physical

sciences, technology and literature.

>

-

Specialist subject material of local interest, for example

~ Telephone and fax directory. ~ Yearbooks.

In larger libraries an inclusions of the following is important.

~ Bibliographies

~ Comprehensive statistical materials ~ Government directories

~ Guides to the legal system

~ Indexing, abstracting and other bibliographical services ~ Language dictionaries

~ Newspapers local and international ~ Specialist dictionaries

~ Specialist encyclopedias ~ Statues

~ The means to access electronic resources ~ Year books of other countries

The actual size of the reference collection has not been specified. It is normally dependent on a number of variables; the size of the population served and funds amongst others. However, recognising that no library can economically meet all its users demands, it should possess sufficient stock at least to ensure its normal operation requirements.

Convenient as these standards may be they do not go beyond broad

quantitative statements, which makes them only useful in

developing guidelines. Their importance according to Lancaster

(1977: P. 77) is that they

"Provide useful guidelines on mtntmum requirements for collections, facilities and staff. The counting of reference facility, .users and the analysis of requests are valuable criteria for determining how reference services are used, by whom and for what purpose. Interviews, questionnaires can indicate user satisfaction in broad subjective terms. "

Lancaster 1978 however

feels:-"...Because of the diversity existing in the modem information services standards of quantity, quality extent level or correctness are virtually impossible. "

2.4

WHAT

TO

EVALUATE

AND CRITERIA

FOR

EACH

SERVICE

There are of course a great many activities which could reasonably

come under the heading of reference service for the purpose of

evaluation but a simple categorization will give us the

following:-(i) Document Provision

(ii) Enquiry service

(iii) Current awareness

2.4.1 DOCUMENT PROVISION SERVICE

This service covers all means a librarian may employ to provide a

user with specific documents that he may request.

The documents may be available or may not be in the library.

According to Mbae (98: P.17). this service,

"Includes

circulation of local collection,

inter-library

loans,

photocopying, providing referral services to appropriate

sources, be it

individuals

or other libraries.

"

On its evaluation, she says the document provision from users

point of view should be reliable.

Adequacy of reference tools, availability and adequacy of i

nter-library loans and the collection coverage are the main issues in user

satisfaction.

(i)

Adequacy of reference tools

Adequacy of finding aids is very important-in a reference service.

Failure to trace books known to be in stock may indicate a problem

with the finding aids. Users should be made aware of any

conventions used in the sequences, print or microfiche catalogue.

There should be consistence in the conventions applied by

cataloguers.

(ii)

Availability of materials

Missing materials should be investigated to avoid inconveniencing

the users. Materials known to be in high demand should be put in

short loan or extra copies provided. Lost materials in high demand

too should be replaced if possible. All materials returned to the

(ill) Adequacy of inter-library loan arrangements

Arrangements for inter library loan for a document should not exceed three weeks. The time of a request for a document, time of requesting it from an outside source, time of receiving it and time of delivering it to the user should always be noted. Three weeks should never be allowed before the whole procedure is over. On delivery of the.document it is important and courteous to enquire if the user is still in need of it.

2.4.2 ENQUIRY SERVICES

This is where specific information required to answer users questions in contrast with referring them to'a document that may contain the answer. There are several questions that are asked. These questions are normally grouped according to the complexity of the information required. The following is one of many such groupings that has been found useful to purposes of study.

(i) Author/title enquiries

The enquirer here is seeking a particular work for example "Have you a copy of A grain of wheat by Ngugi wa Thiongo or do you subscribe toparents magazine?

(ii)

Factual

enquiries

These are also called fact finding enquiries. Answers required are

• usually specific item of information, but they may require a lengthy

search. This is apopular enquiry in

m

ost

libraries

(iii)

Subject

enquries

These are material finding queries and many such enquiries come

from readers who are well versed in the literature of their own but

require the librarian's help when starting reconnaissance reading in

a newfield.

(iv)

Research enquiries

According to Grogan (1987) looking in one book is reference

while looking in two books is research. The librarian participates in

material finding while the user evaluates them to form the

conclusion.

The other types of enquiries less common are, mutable enquiries,

curious enquiries, and readers advisory work..

Collection coverage of the reference collection; the relevance and

the quality of the answers; the speed of response; and the

accessibility and ease of use of the service are the main issues for

(i

)

Cove

ra

ge o

f th

e re

fer

e

n

c

e col

le

ction

.

A good indication of failure in collection coverage is the number

of unanswered questions. This is a failure analysis which points

that the system requires outside sources which as earlier stated, too

much reliance on outside sources indicates failure in the

collection.

(ii)

Relevance a

n

d qua

l

ity of

an

swer

s

To get a complete picture of quality of this service in some library

one should need to know the number of questions received in a

given period of time. Users reaction to the material or answers

provided can be obtained.

Simulation is the best approach in checking the outcome as well as

observation of staffs knowledge and use of sources.

The more sources the staff seem to consult the better. It is an

indication of ability.

(iii)

Accuracy of answers

In assessing the accuracy of answers provided, questions requiring

up to date information or queries known to be difficult to answer

accurately may be used.

(iv)

Speed of response

Unobtrusive testing can be used to establish the speed at which

enquiries are handled.

Depending on the urgency the ma

xim

um p

e

riod should be 24

hours

.

Staff s

k

nowledge of sources help optimize on re

s

ponse

t

im

e

.

(v)

Ac

cess

ibil

ity a

nd

ease of use o

f

service

Unobstrusive testing can be used here to obser

v

e the staff s

attitude. Users can also be counted upon to tell about their ease of

use of the sources

2.4.3 CURRENT AWARENESS

According to Kemp (1979

:

P12)

"Current awareness may be defined as knowledge of recent developments. In particular, it relates to those matters which are of special interest to an individual. "

It is then correct to sa

y

that current awareness services are the

systems concerned with newly available documents

,

selecting those

items of relevance to suit the needs of an individual or group and

sending notifications to those individuals or groups whose needs

these articles are related. The main issues for this group of peoples

satisfaction are adequate coverage of the area of c

l

ients interests

:

relevant items, timeliness of the service and adequate content of

notifications together with adequate back-up service and ease of

(i) Coverage of clients interests

Few or no notifications are an indication of poor coverage. Users

finding relevant materials in the library not notified about which

are of interest to them is also an indication of failure.

(ii) Selections of relevant items

If notifications sent to the users are sent back as irrelevant and if

the number of received items which to the user are irrelevant items

too could indicate poor selection.

(iii) Timeliness of service

If it is discovered that the user receives by himself materials of

interest to him before notification, it is important to enquire how he

received them otherwise it may be an indication the system is slow.

(iv) Content of indication.

If clients ask for copies of many of the items about which they

have been notified, the notification may be scanty in information

for clients to judge' the relevance of the items

(v) Adequacy of back up service

A copy of the original source should be available to the client soon

after notification. It should also be established also how long it

(vi) Ease of use of service

The formula of notifications should be arranged to clearly show the

authors keywords. Arrangement such as possibility of ordering or

borrowing of a copy should be easy for users.

In conclusion, the methods of current awareness according to

Whitehall (1986) must suit the environment in which it is to be

provided and must relate to the information resources; staff,

equipment, materials, and finance.

From this literature review, it is clear that user satisfaction criteria

for quality measurement of reference service is supported by most

if not by all cited authors.

It has full support of remarkable authors of reference works who

have given related studies carried out using this criteria, and the

concluding words are, that is has worked well, and given reliable

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This study covered K.N.L.S headquarters reference department.

It targeted the reference librarian and the "known" users of this

department who were identified by the researcher with the

assistance of the reference librarian.

The issues pursued on were the quality of the services offered in

this reference department, which have been discussed in the

literature review in the previous chapter.

3.2 SAMPLING

Users were chosen by stratified random sampling i.e. from primary

educational level, secondary school educational level and above

secondary school educational level. Each strata was as follows

Up to primary school level 10

Up to secondary school level 10

Above secondary school level 20

To get primary school level strata, systematic sampling was used.

The researcher visited the K.N.L.S children's section on a Saturday

when attendance was highest as children were off school.

A list of twenty names of those identified through an interview by

the researcher that they were able to read and answer the

questionnaire was be made. From the list every second child

picked.

The secondary school level and above secondary school level

groups (stratum) were selected through systematic sampling. The

researcher listed down twenty names of users at the reference

department who were of secondary school level and thirty of those

above secondary school level on another list, and numbered them.

All names falling on even numbers on the secondary level list were

picked, while every third name was picked from the above

secondary school level list.

The purpose of this stratification was to have a good representation

of the population under study. K.N.L.S is meant for users of any

educational level and a good representation was to cater for all.

Reference services are however more used by those above

secondary school level and it is for this reason that this group was

The staff sample consisted of the reference librarian and four

assistants. These assistants were identified through simple random

selection. Names of the assistants were obtained from the staff

register. They were written on pieces of paper, which were then

folded and mixed well. Four were then picked, and together with

the reference librarian they represented the reference staff

population for this study.

3.3 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

The researcher used the following tools for data collection:

(1) Questionnaires

(2) Observation

(3) Library statistics and other records "'~ obtained from the reference librarian

(4) Collection checklist

(1) Questionnaires

The questionnaires were of two types. There was one

questionnaire filled by the users and the other by the reference

department staff.

The two questionnaires had open ended and closed questions.

The questionnaire to the staff tried to establish what services are

It was also to determine the philosophy of this department and the

general perception of the staff of these services they offer in terms

of quality. Their recommendations were also sought.

The user was the main focus in this study. The questionnaire tried

to establish his/her level of satisfaction of this service which then

helped make conclusions about its quality.

(2) Observation

Observation was undertaken by the researcher personally on issues

related to what the survey had covered.

This method was used on reference collection to determine the

condition, currency and accessibility to : users of these very

important resources.

Observation was also on the services being offered: the records on

transactions on document delivery, special dissemination of

information (SDI). All these observations in conjunction with the

questionnaires were to draw the conclusions.

3.4 Data collection procedure

The researcher visited the library to deliver the questionnaire to be

filled by those selected as samples, administered and personally

collected them.

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter is on presentation and analysis of data collected on the

reference service of the Kenya national library services. The data

was from the users of the library and the reference service staff,

which .was collected through questionnaires, observations and

library statistics. Frequency tables, percentages, bar graphs and pie

charts have been used to present the data.

The study set to investigate the quality of the KNLS reference

service through user satisfication criterion. The areas under

investigations were;

• Philosophy of the reference service

• Enquiry services

• Document provision

• Current awareness service.

4.2

.

0 Presentation

of data

c

ollected from the staff of the reference

.

s

ervice

.

4.2.1 Questionnaire respon

s

e rate

The questionnaire response was very good. The researcher herself administered the questionnaires. One questionnaire was issued to the reference librarian and four to the reference service assistants who had been randomly selected. The questionnaires were filled while the researcher waited and collected them on their completion.

The response rate was 100% as shown on table 1.

No.

Pe

rcent

ag

e

Questionnaires

distributed 5 100%

Response received 5 100%

Table 1:

Reference service librarian/reference service assistant's

response rate.

4.3.0 Background information

For a better understanding of the response from the respondent, background information of respondent is important.

Their academic qualifications as indicated in the questionnaire also reveals that they are all above 'A' Level. Professionally one has a

field, two have diploma and one has a certificate level in the same

field.

This is encouraging as it means that the staff assigned this very

demanding service in terms of knowledge and skills are well

equipped as they all have undergone the essential training in the

field.

On the experience that the staff have, the questionnaires revealed

that all the staff have worked for over two years in Kenya National

Library.

At the reference department under study, four of the staff have

worked for. over two years while only one has been at the

department for at least one year. This is ample time III the

department to gain enough experience in the service. The staff

should then be aware of the users needs and the right tools of trade

in this service.

They are also well aware of their sources and how and where to

find them within the library or outside the library or information

centres.

4.3.1 Philosophy

To establish what the philosophy in this service delivery is, the

respondents were asked to state whether a written policy on the

Two of the most qualified respondents, the reference librarian and

one assistant answered in affirmative while the rest indicated that it

was non existent.

For further investigation on the philosophy for this department, the

researcher asked the respondents whether user education was given

to users on their first visit to the library. 3 (60%) indicated that they

gave while 2 (40%) stated they did not.

They .all however agreed that. they search and deliver the

documents the users require for their information.

From observation made on this issue by the researcher at the

department, it was established that users normally search for the

information they need, but sometimes request the staff for help.

Those staff 3 (60%) who indicated giving user education, gave the

following skills as those given to the users. This is summarised in

the table below. Percentages are worked to the nearest whole

Skills

ta

u

ght

Response Total

Yes No No % Number % Number %

How to look

for materials 2 670/0 1 33% 3 100%

relevant to

their needs

How to use the 3 100%

-

-catalogue

How to use

other reference 1 33% 2 67% 3 100%

tools

Others 2 67% 1 33% 3 100%

Table 2: Skills given to users of the service.

On other skills given as indicated on the table 2 (67%) said they

also give the following skills

~ Finding what is in the library

~ How to refine a search in the internet

~ Personal service.

Asked what their opinions were for a better way of serving the

users. The majority 3 (600/0) indicated educating the users and

providing the information when requested. 2 (40%) however were

for the user education only. None was for the opinion of direct

provision of information on its own. This shows that, although not

all the staff give user education, majority 60% feel it is important.

4.3.2 Reference Services / Resources

The researcher also wanted to fmd out what reference services

were offered and resources available. There are several reference

services offered in different libraries but the type of library has

certain services that are important which can be used as a quality

measure. The sources available in a library too can help in

evaluating the quality of a service.

From a list of given services, the staff were asked to list those they

offered and the response was as the following pie chart displays.

o

o

EJOutreach

m

Document delivery

o

Enquiry Services

o

User education • Current awareness • Postal services Gathers

Pie Chart 1: Reference services offered

The "others" services offered as indicated by 2 (20%) are,

reproduction services and press cuttings.

From the pie chart it is clear that current awareness and enquiry

services are offered. This is agreed upon by 100% of the staff.

Document delivery, and outreach services are lacking as services

offered in this department.

Although one staff 1 (10%) indicated offering postal services,

from observation made by the researcher, this too was lacking.

Asked whether the services were adequate, 4 (80%) felt they were,

while 2 (200/0) felt they were inadequate. The latter is what the

researcher agrees with.

A public library should also serve those who are unable to do so for

whatever reasons; for example, distance, disability, imprisonment

and many others. From these results it is clear that only those who

visit the library are served.

A reference service must also have at least the basic tools, and it is

for this reason that a list of the basic tools was given for the

The response was as follows.

Sources Response Percentage

Encyclopedia 5 100%

Dictionaries 5 1000/0

Directories 5 100%

Year book, almanacs 5 100%

Biography 5 100%

Maps, atlases, globes 5 100%

Handbooks and manual 5 100%

Table 3: Basic reference tools available

Reference staff are also users of the sources and would therefore be

beneficial for this study to solicit their views on the quality of the

resources. This was done by asking them how much the resources

in this section met their day to day needs.

They were to answer by stating one of the following, below 500/0,

only 50%, more than 50% and meets all their needs. 1 staff (20%)

said it meets only 50% where 4 (80%) claimed it met above 50%

and 1 (20%) claimed to meet below 50%.The reason given by this

respondent is that most materials are outdated.

From the response it is clear that the resources available are useful

to the reference staff as the majority indicated it met above 50% of

4.3.3 Document Provision

The library should acquire information materials to meet the needs and demands of the users. What is not available in the library may

be available in other libraries. It is then important to liase with

other libraries in order to give a wide coverage of information for

their users.

It is in this understanding that the researcher sought the information on whether this reference department is in cooperation with other libraries. In general, the respondents gave local, regional, national, international academic, special and public

libraries as the libraries they are in cooperation with.

On time needed for this inter library service, only 1 (20%)

respondent felt that documents could be received through

inter-library loan within a day. The others 4, (80%) felt they would take even a month to' receive documents through inter-library loan.

While asked to rate the services in terms of quality, the table below

V

a

lu

e

o

f

In

ter

-libr

a

r

y

Response

P

e

r

c

ent

a

ge

lo

an

.

_;

Very good 0 0%

Good 4 80%

Poor 1 20%

Very poor 0 0%

Total 5 100%

T

able 4:

Value of Inter-library loan.

One staff felt the quality was poor and supported his answer by

saying that the time taken to receive the materials was very long

making this service of little value.

The indication here is that there may be a wide collection of

resources but the time the documents take to be received through

inter-library loan indicate a problem in this service.

In another question, the researcher asked the respondents whether

they experienced problems in retrieval services.' From their

response 5 (100%) revealed that there are problems in retrieval

services which the majority respondents (80%) attributed this

to:-• Mishelving

• Lack of spine markings on books

Above problems indicate either staff inadequacy or laxity.

The researcher also asked for recommendation from the

respondents and the recommendations given are as below.

• Have a clear policy on inter library loan

• Entering into formal inter-library service

• Library automation

• Use of electronic books

• Use of databases

4.3.4 Current awareness

Current awareness service keeps its users well informed and up to

date in their fields of basic interests as well as in their subject areas.

Of the methods used in current awareness is special dissemination

of information (SDI). This is very important in any reference

service.

The researcher then wanted to know whether this service SDI was

offered. The respondents were then asked to state the number of

users they have for SDI.

The response varied greatly but through observation it was clear

the service does not exist however some were bold enough to say

Current awareness requires a good number of magazines, journals

and newspapers of which all members of staff agreed they keep.

The following are some of these magazines, journals and

newspapers listed by members of staff

• All local daily newspapers

• Newsweek

• African review journal

• African journal of medical practice

• Journal of food and technology

• Times

• Guardian

• Readers digest

• Finance

• Regional Springs

• Kenya gazette

• Parents magazines

The list portrays concentration on only local materials. Few

international materials are available, and few subject journals.

Finally the researcher asked the respondents to give

recommendations that would help alleviate the quality of this

service, and of the major recommendations that all respondents

gave (100%) is as follows.

• To strengthen SDI by providing proper means of

communication e.g. telephone, computers etc to the reference

staff.

• Make available enough funds to enable purchase of current

reference materials

• Put a policy in place with a provision for all services offered

• Training on reference services through seminars, workshops,

etc

• More staff to enable them to give abstracts and indexing

services to the users.

4.4 Presentation of data collected from the users of the reference

service.

4.4.1 Questionnaire response rate

This too was very good 100%. The questionnaires were administered by the researcher herself with the help of the reference service staff. They were collected immediately they were

filled. .

This user questionnaire was administered to users from three

academic categories; primary school level; secondary school level,

and above secondary school level. The table below presents the

Category of users Total No. of questionnaires response 0/0 distributed

Primary school level 10 10 100 %

. .

Secondary school level 10 10 100 %

Above secondary 20 17 85 %

school level

Total 40 37 92.5%

Table 5: user Questionnaire response rate.

4.4.2 Background information

This was intended to collect background information of the

respondents. K.N.L.S is a public library where users of any

academic level must be served.

As the users are of different academic levels it is important to

understand those chosen as sample in order to understand their

responses.

The frequency of use of the library by the users gives one an idea

of how much they may know of the library's functions and

activities. The users comments and criticisms must be informed

based on a reasonable knowledge and understanding of the

services. This is acquired through regular use of the services . •

The researcher then set to know how long a user visited the library,

and how many times they used it in the recent past; at least in the

last three months. This was to help the researcher evaluate the

validity of the responses. In the table below the findings are

summarised.

Frequency Primary Sec. School Above Total 0/0 Sch. Level level

S

ec

. S

c

ho

ol

Everyday

2

2

10 14 37%

Twice a 4 3 3 10 28%

week

Once a 4 5 4 13 35% week

Total 10 10 17 37 100%

.Table 6: Frequency of visits by users to the library.

From the above table it is clear that at least 14 (37%) have been

using the service everyday. 10 (28%) use it twice a week while 13

(350/0) use it everyday.

This implies that the respondents are regular visitors of the library

and their responses should be appropriate.

These users of the library visit the library for various reasons. The

main reasons for coming to the library as given by the users from

all academic level categories are that 17/37(46%) visit the library

to read textbooks, 5/37 (14%) visit the library to read newspapers,

15/37 (31 %) visit to do research, while 9 (24%) visit for personal

information.

Some of these respondents however, have more than one reason for

coming to the library which explains why the percentage will not

add up to a hundred.

Another reason given for coming to the library, is to study ones

own books. These results are summarised in the following table.

Primary Secondary Above Total 0/0

level level secondary

level

Reading text 8 3 6 17 46%

books

Reading

-

1 4 5 29%

newspapers

Research 1 5 9 15 40%

Looking for

personal 1 3 5 9 24%

information

Table 7: Users reasons for coming to the library.

From the above results the majority of primary level users use the

library to read text books while those from the secondary and

above secondary school levels visit the library mainly for research

purposes.

However the general picture is that the majority of all the users that

come to the library come to read text books. The results also

indicate that reading newspapers is not a reason that most users

It is for more serious reading that they come to the library, and so

their needs should be met efficiently and adequately.

4.4.3 Philosophy

The researcher asked the respondents whether they were given user

education on their first visit to the library.

From Primary school category, 8 (80%) stated they were not, while

only 2 (20%) stated having been given the user education. Of the

secondary school category only 1 (10%) had not received user

education while only 4 (23 %) of the above secondary school level

category had been taught and 13 (76%) had not. This is presented

in the table below.

Response Primary Seco Above Total 0/0 School secondary

level ndary school level

Yes 2 9 4 15 40.5%

No 8 1 13 22 59.5%

Total 10 10 17 37 100%

Table 8: user education.

Those who had been given user education 15 (40.5%) were asked

to rate the value of this education and their response revealed that it

was helpful. 9/15 (70 %) stated it was very helpful while 4/15

(30%) felt it was just helpful and none stated it was not helpful.

To further clarify the importance of user education and its

usefulness to the users, the researcher asked the users how many

times they used the catalogue. This is a tool that requires

knowledge of its use, and only through user education is one able

to use it.

It was established from the users responses that the majority 18/37

(49%) of the library users never used the library catalogue in their

search for materials and only a small number 6/37 (160/0)used it

always. Those that never used the. catalogue also revealed that the

maj ority 10/18 normally request the librarian for help while the

8/18 browse the shelves.

Reasons given for not using the catalogue are that, the users found

it difficult to consult or don't know how to use it. This clearly

indicates lack of user education or poor user education. This also

supports the reasons why there is heavy reliance on the librarian to

search for documents needed by the users since he only, knows

how to search for them.

To find out whether the users were served to their best interest,

they were asked to rank in terms of quality how they preferred to

be served. This was to be compared with what is currently in

practice.

A sum total of results from all categories of the users gave the

following results, as indicated in the table below.

Ra

nks

1st _{2nd 3rd}

User education 113 (35%) 14(38%) 10(27%)

Direct prOV.I.SIon of

information 7 (19%) 10(27%) 20 (54%)

Both user education

and prOVISIOn of 17(46%) 13 (35%) 7 (19%)

information

37 37 37

Tab

l

e 9:

Preferred order of the methods used in the reference

service by the users.

The above results indicate that the highest percentage of the library

users prefer to be given user education and to be provided with

information. This opinion is also shared by the staff. Direct

provision of information is not preferred by the majority.

This means that users feel better to search for information

themselves and only consult the librarian for only quick references