1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910811933503321

Titolo

Customer service in academic libraries : tales from the front line / / edited by Stephen Mossop

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Waltham, MA : , : Chandos Publishing, , [2016]

�2016

ISBN

1-78063-439-0

Edizione

[1st edition]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xxii, 129 pages) : illustrations (some color)

Collana

Chandos information professional series

Disciplina

025.1977

Soggetti

Academic libraries - Management

Academic libraries - Customer services

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. "Customer service" : what's the big deal? -- 2. Staffing the frontline -- 3. Marshalling a century of experience : customizing services for the next generation of users -- 4. Customer service in a 24/7 environment : the exeter experience -- 5. Customer service at Victoria University, St. Albans Campus Library -- 6. Innovations in user services a Sabanci University Information Center -- 7. Library services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter, Penryn Campus : listening to our customers in a shared services environment -- 8. Where next for the "front line"?

Sommario/riassunto

The term 'customer service' is not new to the academic library community. Academic libraries exist to serve the needs of their community, and hence customer service is essential. However, the term can be applied in a variety of ways, from a thin veneer of politeness, to an all-encompassing ethic focussing organisational and individual attention on understanding and meeting the needs of the customer. For customers, the library’s Front Line team is the ‘human face’ of the library. How well they do their job can have a massive impact on the quality of the learning experience for many students, and can directly impact upon their success. The importance of their role, and the quality of the services they offer, should not be underestimated - but in an increasingly digital world, and with potentially several thousand



individuals visiting every day (whether in person or online), each with their own agendas and requirements, how can the library’s Front Line team deliver the personal service that each of these individuals need? Customer Service in Academic Libraries contributes to what academic libraries, as a community, do really well - the sharing of best practice. It brings together, in one place, examples of how Front Line teams from libraries across a wide geographical area - Hong Kong, Australia, Turkey and the United Kingdom - work to ‘get it right for their customers’. Between them, they cover a range of institutions including research-intensive, mixed HE/FE, private establishments and shared campuses. All have their own tales to tell, their own emphases, their own ways of doing things - and all bring their own examples of best practice, which it is hoped readers will find useful in their own context. Discusses ‘customer service’ in a library setting Translates ‘management theory’ into useful practice information Examines building relationships, meeting customer needs, and marketing and communication Provides examples of practical experience grounded in recent, transferable experience