Establishing clients’ satisfaction levels with automated library based service

Abstract

Purpose – Library automation is required in academic libraries to meet the dynamic demands of clients. Thisstudyaimstoinvestigatethelevelofclients’satisfactionofSamJonahlibraryautomation. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilized the descriptive research design by using an exploratory case study research method. A disproportionate stratified random sampling was used to select 322 respondents (undergraduates, postgraduates and lecturers/researchers) who consented to participate in thestudy.Questionnaireandinformalinterviewwereusedforthedatacollection. Findings – The study showed that more than half of the clients of Sam Jonah library were moderately satisfied with the library’s automation. Clients mostly access internet/Wi-Fi andreference service.Patronage of the services including photocopying, borrowing of books (circulation), e-resources/academic databases, institutional repository, library website and the OPAC was not encouraging. Increase in user education was recommendedtoimprovetheirusage. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to only one academic library, namely, SamJonahlibraryoftheUniversityofCapeCoast,Ghana. Originality/value – The study provides insight into a case study of satisfactory level of clients in accessingautomatedservicesofSamJonahLibrarytoserveasabasisforfurtherresearch.