Evaluation and Assessment of E-Service Quality of University Libraries in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the quality of e-services provided via Sri Lankan University library websites to examine their current status and issues related to services. The study employed web-based survey method to evaluate the quality of e-services. Purposive sampling method was used to select 15 university libraries from the population. We adapted a 62 itemed checklist which was organized into 6 categories; core e-service, e-reference service, facilitating e-service, supportive e-service, currency, accuracy and speed quality, and website features examined by the survey. The study was limited to the 15 university library websites offering e-services in Sri Lanka by the expert judge approach which examined how well they performed during the study period. The data revealed that, although university libraries are offering more e-services via the websites, development of e-services is still in its infancy stage as compared to those of international experience. However, suggestions for future improvements are given. The results of this survey should assist in the evaluation of e-services and promote the services in an attractive way, enabling designers, and policy makers to improve upon future websites. In addition further studies are required to understand the user perception of the e-services to meet the specific needs of different types of users including the faculties and the students utilizing the university libraries.