Customer care services and strategies in academic libraries in KwaZulu-Natal

The aim of the study was to investigate customer care services and strategies in academic libraries in tertiary institutions in KwaZulu-Natal. The study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect data from academic staff, students and library staff. The population targeted was sampled using a stratified random sampling technique. Three hundred and eighty six (386) questionnaires were distributed to academic staff and students (library users/customers), and interviews were conducted with fifteen (/5) library management, unit and/or committee responsible for customer care. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) was used to analyze quantitative data collected from the library users/ customers, and Microsoft Excel was used to analyze data collected from the library staff of the five academic libraries studied. The libraries revealed by the users to have customer care policies in place were Mangosuthu Technikon and the Durban Institute of Technology. In contrast the University of Durban Westville has no customer care policies while at the University of Zululand, there is no difference between those aware and unaware. Interviews with the library staff of the five academic libraries revealed that only two (Mangosuthu Technikon and the University of Natal) have a unit/person responsible for customer care. Furthermore, the results revealed that academic libraries do not have proper methods and strategies for conducting customer care. The findings revealed that library users/customers are generally satisfied with knowledge resources offered to them by their libraries. Subsequently, the study recommends that academic libraries incorporate a unit/person or committee responsible for customer care. Library staff should also be given regular training regarding customer care.


I. Introduction
Customers form the structural foundation upon which both public and private sector enterprises are built.The old adage, "the customer is always right" is a necessary tool for the prosperity of any enterprise.Concerns surrounding this issue were expressed by the government in "What is Batho Pele", a policy document or White Paper for Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele, 1999).Broadly speaking, the focus of the White Paper is encapsulated in eight principles/ guidelines that include consultation, service standards, access, courtesy, information, openness and transparency, redress, best value, innovation and reward, and customer impact.This study was informed by both the above guidelines, and related customer care studies and concepts Broadly speaking, academic libraries exist to serve mandated students, academic staff, researchers and the community.Hence, they are expected to ensure that all knowledge products and services available are well known and used effectively.However, experience has shown that some service providers, for instance librarians reluctant to improve customer services and strategies, end up having no customers.This study was governed by the notion that if academic libraries take into consideration the importance of customers, there would be tremendous improvement in the use of knowledge resources.The aim of the study was to investigate customer care services and strategies in academic libraries in KwaZulu-Natal.This involved: finding out the composition of customers served by academic libraries in tertiary institutions; establishing whether there are customer care policy structures within the libraries under study; identifying customer care knowledge products and services; verifying whether customer care surveys are conducted in academic libraries; establishing whether library customers are satisfied with library services; and comparing customer care services and strategies in academic libraries in KwaZulu-Natal in order to suggest better practices.

Literature review
According to Simmonds,Andaleed and Sead (200 I) academic libraries are described as the "heart" of academic institutions, providing a base venue from which students and faculty members can conduct research and advance knowledge.The authors deduce that customers of academic libraries can be grouped as either primary customers, consisting mainly of students and staff, or secondary customers, such as alumni, the community and stakeholders.The Empowerment International Customer Care Po!icy (200 I) regards customer care as a tool for solving problems and delivering quality services and products to users.St Martin's College (2004) argue that customer care policies aim to deal with complaints regarding services provided by the public and private sector enterprises in a prompt, fair and positive manner.The authors wish to specify that customer care policies and rules and regulations are complementary.
This means that without policy, there would be no rules and regulations.As pointed out by Schuman, (2004) a policy is a general statement supporting library operations, rules, regulations and use.In other words, customer care policies are not specific but general, while rules and regulations are specific.The table below depicts how a customer ':are policy is related to rules and regulations (St Martin's College, 2004).The use of trained and skilled staff to advise, promote and Use of premises and equipment: library users are urged not to make noise in organize learning resources -accessible to all -both off and on the library; animals such as dogs are not allowed to be brought into the library; campus users; smoking is not allowed in the library; eating and drinking are not allowed in the library except for bottled water; and the unauthorized removal of items from the library is forbidden.
Physical and virtual learning environments tailored to the needs Vandalizing: it is essential that good care of library materials, prop.erties and of users; equipment is observed.
Putting customers/users at the centre of the service and Use of Resources: use of resources is limited to the user's membership period.responsiveness to users' needs; High quality information products and services; User Satisfaction: the library ensures that it meets and exceeds customer expectations.
Aim to provide a helpful, friendly and effective service within Charges: fines are charged for the late return of all library items.the constraints of available resources; Lost material policy Providing users with the means to submit comments and Consultation: the library users are at liberty to consult with library staff suggestions and undertake regular surveys of their opinions; whenever they need assistance.Additionally, the suggestion box is a!ways available for comments from library users.
Provide training to a sample of users ensuring that the service Educating: the library provides the highest quality products, training and services rendered is of a high quality; at all times.
Being aware of and assisting users with special needs, providing Disability: the library ensures that it is aware of and assists users with disability.a service free of discrimination Publicize services and opening hours and keeping users Opening Hours: the library operates during the time stipulated.informed of changes; and The right to ask customers Refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and using personal stereos in the library.users to leave the library if they are causing any disturbance to other users.
With regard to customer service, Mason (2003: 15) defines it as a means of having the knowledge and ability to explain important points to both potential and existing customers.According to Banwet and Datta (2003:539) the quality of library services can be divided into two dimensions: the technical (outcome) dimension and the functional (process) dimension.Technical quality, or tangible quality, is expressed primarily through the quality and volume of literature available in the library.Functional quality, or intangible quality, refers to the manner in which library services are rendered.Services achieve quality in perception when levels of performance meet or exceed the level of consumer expectations (Banwet and Datta, 2003:539).According to Leonicio (200 I: 53), the underlying philosophy of quality service consists of identifying the customer's power in an age in which ideasare the medium of exchange.This meansthat within a library organization, the quality of customer service should be a culture of shared values.Banwet and Datta (2003:540), Hernon (2003: 18) and Peter (200 I) point out that service quality focuses mainly on the interaction between the customer and the service provider (such as a library), involving an evaluation of specific attributes.Leonido (200 1:53) affirms that customer service has seven characteristics which include: a written statement of customer service

Methodology
The study was conducted in two phasesusing a survey design following a pilot study conducted in May 2003.The pilot study garnered experience used to refine the questionnaire, conceptual framework and methodology in the main fieldwork.The main study occurred between June and August 2003.The study covered a representative sample of 386 library users/customers, and 15 library staff.The target population of the study consisted of students, academic staff and library staff from five libraries.The stratified random sampling technique was used to enable the researcher to divide the population into sub-strata.As such, students and academic staff were differentiated according to their levels of study, and constituent faculties.Within selected libraries, random sampling was applied to obtain the actual sample of cases.This method was used to elicit the responsesof three hundred and eighty six (386) library users in the University of Zululand, University of Durban Westville (now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal), Mangosuthu Technikon and the Durban Institute of Technology.Interviews with library staff were consequently undertaken in the University of Zululand (3 library staff members), University of Natal (3 library staff members), Durban Westville University (3 library staff members), Mangosuthu Technikon (3 library staff members) and the Durban Institute of Technology (3 library staff members) in KwaZulu-Natal.The selection of libraries was purposively done as they were the only academic libraries in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal.
A multistage sampling approach involving three stages was used for the investigation.The first stage entailed conducting a census in the tertiary institutions under study, constituting forty one thousand, four hundred and five (41 405) students and 1536 academic staff.Besides stratified random sampling, judgmental sampling was used to select all professional librarians in the five academic libraries under study.The researcher believes that the students and the academic staff population is homogenous because their characteristics and their use of the library are similar.Following this, views of a small sample of the two groups was likely to be fairly representative.Subsequently,the researcher drew one percent (1%) from the target population with the aid of the following formula n/x*IOO (Leedy 1994: 205).This provided the researcher with a total number of four hundred and thirteen students (413) and two hundred and forty four (244) academics.In the library staff category, three professional librarians per library were selected.Data on library customer care was collected using questionnaires and interviews administered to library users/ customers and library staff.These instruments were expected to provide precise and adequate data meeting the requirements of the objectives of the study.Items in the questionnaire had a possible response continuum, measured SAJnl Libs & Info Sci 2006, 72(2) using the Likert-scale.The respondents in all four tertiary institutions amounted to a total of four hundred and four (404).
In order to ascertain the reliability of the research instruments, a pilot study was conducted to gauge the internal consistency of the items.The pilot study helped to determine the reliability of the instruments by estimating how well items reflecting the same construct yielded similar results.Additionally, the pilot study was conducted with 20 library users: five constituting academic staff while 15 were students.Two of the academic staff were senior librarians at the University of Zululand.The questionnaire was then refined in light of the pre-study experience.Descriptive statistical methods were used for data analysis.These were facilitated using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel.The outcome of the analysis is reflected in the results section below.

Empirical results
The results responded to the following research questions: a) Which persons constitute library users/customers?b) Does the library in question have a customer care policy?c) Is there any unit and/or person responsible for customer care?d) Are library users/customers satisfied with available knowledge products and services?e) Does the library conduct customer care research?f) What are the strategies of customer care used in the library?These questions formed the main focus of the paper.

The academic library customers
Experience has showed that not all members of the academic community within an academic institution use the library.
This notion was verified by asking the respondents to ascertain whether they use the library or not.It was also felt that this study would make more sense if the academic community being investigated as library customers do use the facility.The results indicate that 257 (66.5%) respondents consider themselves users/customers of the academic library, 30 (7.7%) do not consider themselves as users/customers of the library and 99 (25.6%) are sometimes users/customers of the library.These findings suggest that most students and academic staff consider themselves users/customers of the academic library, even though a few feel that they are not library users/customers.

Awareness of customer care policies
Respondents were required to indicate whether or not their library had a customer care policy.This question allowed respondents to indicate the rules and regulations abided by when using the library.Findings are summarized in the bar chart below.4.3 Familiarity with customer care policies in the library among the academic staff and students This item on policy familiarity required respondents to indicate the policy familiar to them when using the library.Table 3 shows the results of respondents regarding policies familiar to them in the library.In the undergraduate category, a high rating of 269 (93%) alluded to using student/staff cards to borrow books.An average rating, that is 125 (43%) respondents, found that their libraries provide quality products, training and services.The results indicate that I I% of postgraduate students believe that their libraries provide quality service to customers.In the academic category, a high rating, constituting 76 (96%) respondents, use student/staff cards to borrow books from libraries.An average rating of 39 (49%) was recorded for the policy stating that the library provides the highest quality products, training and services at all times.The overall results indicate that more than 50% of customer care policies are well known by users, as only a few recorded less than 50%.These results suggest that library customers are familiar with customer care policies within their libraries.Above half, that is 214 (55%), were unaware of any unit/person/committee responsible for customer care services and strategies, while 172 (45%) revealed that they were aware of a customer unit/person/committee in the library.Additionally, the results reveal that library users were aware of the unit/person/committee responsible for customercare services and strategies at Mangosuthu Technikon and the Durban Institute of technology.

Frequency of visiting the library by users
Respondents were requested to indicate how frequently they use the library.They had to choose between regularly, sometimes weekly or monthly, and never.The results are summarized in Table 4 below.One hundred and twenty three 123 (38%) undergraduate respondents stated that they visit the libraries regularly, 169 (58%) sometimes (weekly or monthly) and 7 (2%) never visit the libraries.In the postgraduate category, I I (61 %) revealed that they visit the libraries regularly and 7 (39%) sometimes (weekly or monthly).20 (25%) respondents from the academic staff category were found to visit the libraries regularly, while 56 (71 %) indicated sometimes, and 3 (4%) never visit the libraries.The results show that the majority of library users/customers visit the library regularly.

Awareness of knowledge products and services offered
The empirical results of respondent's awareness of knowledge products and services offered by their libraries are shown in the bar chart below.The findings reveal that most, 220 (57%), respondents were aware of knowledge products and services, while 117 (30%) indicated sometimes, and 49 (13%) stated that they were unaware.These findings suggest that most respondents are aware of knowledge products and services offered by their libraries.

Identification of knowledge products and services in the libraries
Table 5 shows the results of knowledge products and services familiar to library customers.More than 50% of postgraduate and undergraduate students were able to identify knowledge products and services in the libraries.In contrast, less than 50% of the academic staff were familiar with knowledge products and services.These findings conclude that the more library user/customers visit the library, the more they become familiar with knowledge products and services offered.

Awareness of customer care survey and methods
Respondents were required to indicate whether they were aware of library customer care surveys.The purpose of this item was to observe if respondents were aware of or have been involved in customer care surveys.The results are summarized in Bar Chart 4. Bar chart 4 above, shows that most, 292 (76%), respondents were unaware of any customer care surveys in academic libraries.Only 92 (24%) stated that they were aware of customer care survey methods.These findings suggest that customer care survey methods are generally unknown to library users/customers within their respective libraries.However, at Mangosuthu Technikon, the library users/customers were aware of customer care survey methods.This may be alluded to the fact that there is a unit/person responsible for customer care.4.9 Customer satisfaction on knowledge products and services Bar Chart 5 summarizes the findings on customer satisfaction with regard to library products and services.The above results indicate that 108 (28%) respondents were satisfied, while most, 237 (61 %), respondents were sometimes satisfied with knowledge products and services offered, and 41 (I I%) were not satisfied at all.Even though the results reflect that library users/customers are generally satisfied with knowledge products and services, findings at the University of Durban Westville indicate that there is no difference between those who are and those who are not satisfied.

Awareness of strategies of customer care
The bar chart below summarizes results regarding the awareness of strategies of customer care in libraries.The empirical results indicate that 15 (23%) respondents from the University of Zululand were aware of customer care strategies, while 49 (77%) were not aware of any customer care strategies within their library.Eighteen 18 (41 %) respondents from the Durban Institute of Technology revealed that they were aware of customer care strategies, while 129 (59%) were not aware.Only 5 (7%), respondents from the University of Durban-Westville were aware of customer care strategies within their library, while 63 (93%) indicated that they were not aware.Twenty two ( 22) 59% respondents from Mangosuthu Technikon indicated awareness, while 15 (41 %) were not aware of any strategies.These results indicate that strategies of customer care are unknown by the majority of respondents, even though they are known at Mangosuthu Technikon.

Results from interviews with library staff
This section provides interview results obtained from management staff in the libraries cited.As mentioned earlier, students and academic staff from the University of Natal were excluded, the researcher was able to interview library staff of the aforementioned institution.The study sample consisted of 15 professional librarians from all the academic libraries.
This selection was based on results from the pilot study that revealed internal consistency in the instruments used for data collection.Thus it was felt that the sample size was adequate as a tool for providing accurate information.The results indicate that academic libraries serve the same customers as those identified earlier, meaning students, academic and administrative staff, researchers and external students from other institutions, other University staff or Technikon staff aswell as library colleaguesand the businesscommunity.
5.1 Customer care policies Nine (60%) respondents from the University of Zululand, the Durban Institute of Technology and the University of Durban Westville indicated that there were no customer care policies in place at their libraries.6 (40%) respondents from Mangosuthu Technikon and the University of Natal reported that they have customer care policies in place.
Nevertheless, the rules and regulations of the five academic libraries were found to be similar, despite the fact that the latter three do not have customer care policies in place With regard to the unit or person responsible for customer care/services within the library, again the University of Zululand, the Durban Institute of Technology and the University of Durban Westville reported that there is no unit/ person responsible for customer care within their respective libraries, and that all librarians are, in some way, responsible entities.However, at Mangosuthu Technikon and the University of Natal, all 6 (40%) respondents revealed that there is a unit/committee/person responsible for customer care within their libraries, including the head of the circulation desk, and the special projects librarian, who is in charge of user education, information literacy and customer services.
5.2 Recognition of knowledge products and services offered by the library Libraries generally own similar knowledge products and services, identified by library customers as: books; newspapers; reference sources; magazines;video cassettes; radio cassettes; microfilm; electronic databases;government publications and reports; theses; books on CD ROMs; electronic books; and library newsletters.Responsesto knowledge services included: reprographic/photocopier; renewals of user cards; user education; orientation; displays and exhibitions; serial librarian services; subject librarian services; and binding.Mangosuthu Technikon was found to have additional knowledge services in graphic design, media, lending equipment such asvideo cameras, OHp, and teaching masters.

Methods of conducting customer care surveys
Librarians identified the following methods, arranged in order of popularity: • Opinion polls (suggestionboxes); • Customer care surveys; • User education; • Interviews and • Orientation and focus groups.

Library staff perceptions of customer satisfaction
The library staff offered interesting perceptions on how they ensure customer satisfaction using available knowledge products and services.Again, respondents from all the academic libraries had similar perceptions regarding this issue.
They reported the following: most staff work through lunch and tea time; staff come to work even during vacation to put everything in place; the staff provides options to library users/customers offering training when necessary; and contact information is availableto customers ensuring that they can always be reached whenever the need arises.Furthermore, respondents from the Universities of Zululand and Natal were found to be ahead of other libraries in satisfying library customers through resource sharing, searching and retrieving information for customers, and printing.

Discussion
The study found that academic libraries have and serve similar customers.Most (66%) students and acad~mic staff felt that they were customers of the academic library.Their responses are in agreement with findings from the library staff that students and academic staff are viewed as customers of the academic library.The views of library customers and library staff are similar with those of Simmonds,Andaleed and Sead (200 I), in which they observe that it is "almost a universal acknowledgement that academic libraries are the hearts of the institutions.This is because who ever works, learns or visits the institution depends heavily on the library to get relevant information".
With regard to the awareness of customer care policies among library users/customers, above half (52%) of the respondents revealed that they were aware of customer care policies within their libraries.To indicate their level of awareness, students and academic staff had to identify customer care policies (rules and regulations) familiar to them within the library (see Table 5).It is necessary to point out that the awareness of the availability of customer care policies varies from institution to institution.At the University of Zululand, the findings from the library users/customers indicated that there is no difference between those who are aware and those who are not aware of the availability of customer care policies.The library staff also indicated that there is no customer care policy in place within this particular library.The researcher observed that the library users/customers from Mangosuthu Technikon and the Durban Institute of Technology were aware of customer care policies.However, with regard to library staff at the Durban Institute of Technology, they all revealed that there is no customer care policy in place, whereas at Mangosuthu Technikon, the library staff revealed that customer care policy does exist within the library.On the other hand, it was noted that of the 68 students and academic staff assessed from the University of Durban-Westville, the majority, 54 (79%), stated that they were unaware of customer care policies.The results gathered from library users/customers at the University of Durban Westville library concord with those of library staff that customer care policy is not in place in the library.Hence, this study suggests that there is an urgent need for library staff to be trained in customer care, particularly regarding policy issues, especially in academic libraries that rated very low in policy availability The study found that 214 (55%) students and academic staff were unaware of a unit/person responsible for customer care within their library.Their views concur with the information gathered from the library staff respondents.Some argued or suggested that all of them are both directly and indirectly involved with customers.Of the 37 respondents from Mangosuthu Technikon, most (25; 68%) revealed that there is a unit/person responsible for customer care.Their responses also are similar with results from the library staff, both reporting that there is a special project librarian and a committee responsible for customer care.The results from the library users/customers in the Universities of Zululand and Durban Westville proved negative.The library users/customers could not identify a unit/person, responsible for customer care in their respective libraries.The researcher notes that even if library users receive search and orientation training, endeavours such as these would be futile without a proper unit/person responsible for customer care to whom queries can be voiced.
The library users/customers had also been asked if they were aware of knowledge products and services.The results revealed that the library users/customers are aware of knowledge products and services offered by their libraries.The study observed that the knowledge products and services scored high ratings, above 50%.Also noted was the fact that the awareness of knowledge products and services among students and academic staff is dependent on the currency of knowledge resources for user needs.Broadly speaking, currency of information brings about stability and greater use of knowledge resources as it makes the library user-friendly.The findings revealed that 271 (70%), respondents access knowledge resources which are 5-10 years old.At the University of Durban Westville library, 47 (69%) respondents were of the opinion that the knowledge resources were not current or out dated (10-20 years old).This suggests that the library resources at the University of Durban-Westville are somehow outdated.The majority (237; 61 %) of library users/ customers revealed that they were sometimes satisfied with knowledge products and services offered.The responses obtained from the library staff concur with those of students and academic staff.Most library users were found to fully appreciate the services offered to them.This was revealed when the library staff respondents stated that training is offered to students and academic staff whenever necessary (see section 5.4).This information is similar with the Marriot Library User Satisfaction Survey (1999), in which it is affirmed that customers/users feel satisfied when library staff demonstrate genuine focus and interest in customer needs and wants.Furthermore, the library staff respondents from Mangosuthu Technikon mentioned that they organize reading competitions among library users, thus encouraging them to use the library (e.g. a user who finishes reading within a stipulated time obtains first prize).
Pawling (200 I) points out that customer care strategies help an organization solve problems faced by users/customers whilst increasing satisfaction, in addition to empowering customers with self service capabilities and access to real-time information.Even though customer care strategies solve problems faced by users in increasing satisfaction, most (256 or 66%) students and academic staff indicated that they were unaware of customer care strategies within their libraries.& Info Sci 2006, 72(2) These findings stipulate that almost all of the students and academic staff could not identify customer care strategies familiar to them in their libraries.Pawling (200 I) identifies customer care strategies as: customer care technology, utility call centers, sales and marketing, customer service and tactics.Half of the customer care strategies indicated by the library staff respondents do not concur with those mentioned by the two sources cited above.Evidently, academic libraries either do not have proper customer care strategies in place, or existing structures are unknown among library staff members and users/customers.

Conclusions
The study points out that academic libraries have and serve similar customers who rely heavily on the use of knowledge products and services offered.257 (65%) student and academic staff respondents revealed that they are library users/ customers.Their views concur with Mgobozi (2002:6) that the purpose of academic libraries is to serve students, academic staff, administrative staff, library staff, the neighbouring community and researchers with knowledge products and services.With regard to customer care policies, the study recommends vigorous training for librarians, equipping them with dynamic service delivery skills as indicated by the Batho Pele (White Paper).The aforementioned view would attune academic libraries with the literature ofthe Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (2002:7), which states that customer care policies set the standards against which individual users and communities can measure their needs, rights and expectations.Thus it covers all aspects of accessibility to library services including location, opening hours, physical access, furniture and equipment, stock and services, access to staff and adequate space".
The findings of the study indicate that there are sufficient knowledge products and services offered by academic libraries.Thus, the majority 220 (57%) of library users/customers are generally satisfied with knowledge resources offered.These findings reveal that academic libraries generally fulfill information requirements.This suggests a paradox:that despite inadequacies in customer care policies and the lack of a unit/person/committee responsible for customer care, library users/customers are generally satisfied with knowledge products and services.In essence, the findings reveal that these academic libraries lack proper methods and strategies in dealing with customer care.However, improper methods and strategies do not prevent library users/customers from being aware of available knowledge products and services.
It is viable to point out that the unavailability of these proper methods and strategies bring down the image of academic libraries.Academic libraries are not exempt from the eight principles of Batho Pele, involving: consultation; service standards; access; courtesy; information; openness and transparency; redress; best value; innovation and reward; and customer impact.The researcher would like to propose that customer care strategies and the eight principles of Batho Pele be put in place in academic libraries.I believe that this would enable academic libraries in KwaZulu Natal and South Africa as a whole to win the hearts of customers, since satisfied customers are returning customers.
I. Petros N. Dlamini is a PhD Student at the University of Zululand as well as a Temporary Lecturer at the Durban Institute of Technology, South Africa SAJnl Libs & Info Sci 2006, 72(2) Bar Chart I Awareness of customer care policy (N=386) SAJnl Libs & Info Sci 2006, 72(2) 123Above half of the respondents 202 (52%) were aware of customer care policies, whilst 184 (48%) were unaware of customer care policies within their libraries.At the University of Durban Westville, most 54 (79%) respondents were unaware of a customer care policy.It was observed that in three tertiary institutions, namely the University of Zululand, Durban Institute of Technology and Mangosuthu Technikon, there are customer care policies in place.In contrast, the University of Durban Westville library could not produce any handbook in which rules and regulations are written.This tallies with the response of library users, most of whom are unaware of any rules and regulations.
of knowledge products and services offered (N = 386) SAJnl Libs & Info Sci 2006, 72(2) of customer care survey methods (N=386) Customer satisfaction (N = 386) Customer care strategies were important to obtain from librarians.It was found that all academic libraries have customer care strategies, which include: sales and marketing (displays and exhibitions); user education and training; library guides; profiles regarding current awareness; and the library news letter.Respondents from Mangosuthu Technikon added that they have competitions (e.g.poetry, speed-reading and design signage).The University of Natal also mentioned that seminars are often conducted, educating academic staff and new staff on library use.SAJnl Libs & InfoSci 2006, 72(2)

Table I
Customer Care Policyand Rulesand Regulationsof Libraries

Table 3
Familiarity with library customer care policies (N=386) 4.4 UniUperson responsible for customer careRespondents were required to indicate whether or not they were aware of a customer care unit/ person within the library.The purpose of this question was to find out if the library had a unit or person responsible for customer care services within the library, and whether such a unit/person is known to customers.Bar chart 2 below shows the results.SAJnl Libs & InfoSci 2006, 72(2)

Table 4
Frequency of using the library by users (N=386)

Table 5
Identificationof knowledge products and services in the library (N=386)