Abstract:
Within the ambit of libraries, library user education is a vital service that serves as a conduit for users to gain the fundamental skills and information needed for efficient information access, evaluation, and usage. Notably, guided library tours are an effective way to introduce new patrons to the library's wealth of resources and provide insightful advice on how to utilize them wisely. The primary objective of this survey was to assess the ability of 2965 newcomers to use the library services of the University of Kelaniya after taking part in a tour of the facility. It also aimed to determine how satisfied these beginners were overall with their guided library tour experience. A complex research strategy included qualitative and quantitative approaches in the quest for a complete understanding. The distribution of structured questionnaires using Google Form was used to collect data, and the outcome was the compilation of a sizeable dataset comprising 343 replies. The distribution of responses across faculties was as follows: The Faculty of Humanities attracted 87 responses (25.4%), the Faculty of Science attracted 81 responses (23.6%), the Faculty of Social Sciences attracted 78 responses (22.7%), and, proportionally, the Faculty of Computing and Technology contributed four responses (1.2%) via the Google Form. Both male and female students demonstrated unwavering pleasure with their library tour experiences across various faculties. In conclusion, this study's results unambiguously support the library-guided tour's effectiveness in providing newcomers with the necessary skills and information, as seen by their noticeably higher satisfaction ratings.
