PurposeThis study aims to evaluate students' satisfaction with university library services in southern Punjab, Pakistan, emphasizing their perspective on service quality (SQ).Design/methodology/approachA LibQUAL+® survey with 22 core items was conducted within university settings using convenience sampling. In total, 345 usable responses were returned through Google Forms. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, ordinal logistic regression test, Pearson and Deviance statistics and chi-square test to assess the satisfaction status of library users.FindingsThe study found that libraries generally meet SQ standards. However, there were minor gaps in information control (IC) and library as place (LP).Practical implicationsThe study provides library administrators with actionable insights to enhance services, encouraging stakeholders to adopt optimal library practices for heightened efficiency and user satisfaction.Social implicationsIt highlights the crucial role of libraries in shaping future societal progress by emphasizing the need for elevated user services. Librarians can use this knowledge to modify their planning and take impactful initiatives that align with the evolving needs of their users.Originality/valueWhile many studies have utilized LibQUAL, this research is unique for its focus on addressing university library services in underdeveloped regions facing economic challenges. It attempts to fill the information gap by offering a transferable approach for strategic priorities in similar settings.

PurposeThe findings are based on experience at Aberystwyth Universities libraries using surveys and user experience (UX) activities to identify and understand user requirements.Design/methodology/approachThis paper was initially conceived and developed as a presentation for the LibPMC Conference in July 2023. It is included in this special conference issue for this conference.FindingsThere are challenges to successful integration of UX into user engagement processes across the library and IT services. To improve shared analysis and collaborative ideas generation we developed an interactive data dashboard.Originality/valueThe research is based on practical approaches to improving our understanding of student use and requirements at Aberystwyth University libraries. It explores mechanisms used to collect findings from all areas of UX, including library surveys, focus groups and UX activities to be able to analyse and share all student experience data – to be able to analyse themes and generate ideas and actions for development.

PurposeAlthough a significant share of undergraduates, first-generation college students (FGCS) remain difficult to characterize. Consequently, academic libraries are challenged to identify the services most important to FGCS. This study measured the perceived importance of and satisfaction with library services among undergraduate students at an R1 land-grant university. The study further compared FGCS’s perceptions of library services with those of their non-first generation peers.Design/methodology/approachThe authors measured importance and satisfaction using the Measuring Information Services Outcomes (“MISO”) Survey. They further analyzed responses according to first-generation status. The authors then compared mean scores and used the Wilcoxon rank-sum test to find statistical differences in perceived importance and satisfaction between first-generation and non-first-generation respondents.FindingsThe difference between first-generation and non-first-generation student responses was statistically significant for 35% of library services. FGCS rated library services higher than their non-first-generation peers for both importance and satisfaction. FGCS perceived library services related to physical spaces and access/discovery as most important. Library services that provide student support or access to technology showed strong evidence of difference between first-generation and non-first-generation student responses. The authors also determined the MISO Survey is a measure for assessing FGCS perceptions of library services.Originality/valueThis study adds quantitative evidence to research on FGCS and academic libraries, further demonstrating the importance of library services to FGCS.

PurposeThe main purpose of this analysis was to demonstrate the value of predictive modeling of student success and identify the key groups of students for which library instruction could provide the most impact.Design/methodology/approachData regarding the attendance of library instruction associated with a first-year writing course were combined with student demographic and academic data over a four year period representing over 10,000 students. We applied supervised machine learning methods to determine the most accurate model for predicting student outcomes, including course outcome, persistence and graduation. We also assessed the impact of library instruction on these outcomes.FindingsThe gradient-boosted decision tree model provided the most accurate predictions. The impact of library instruction was modest but still was second only to the previous grade point average (GPA). The value of this metric, however, was greatest for students who were struggling, especially those who were first-generation students, regardless of ethnicity. More notably, the impact of library instruction was substantially greater for specific student demographics, including students with lower cumulative GPAs.Research limitations/implicationsFeatures of the models were limited to high-level academic metrics, some of which may not be very useful in predicting outcomes. Measures more closely related to learning styles, the course or course of study could provide for greater accuracy.Practical implicationsPrediction modeling could allow for a more selective approach to outreach and offers information that the librarian can use to customize instruction sessions and reference interactions.Social implicationsTargeting students who may be at risk of not succeeding in a course has ethical implications either way. If used to bias the subjective assessments, these predictions could produce self-fulfilling prophecies. Conversely, to ignore indicators of possible difficulties the student may have with the material is a disservice to the education of that student.Originality/valueThere are few studies that have incorporated library instruction into models of predicting student outcomes. Library resources and services can play a major role in the success of students, particularly those who have had less exposure to the resources and skills needed to use these resources.

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to describe how assessments informed changes to library spaces to improve students' experiences.Design/methodology/approachThe article describes three changes to the library to improve students' experience within the library. For each change, describe the reason for the change, assessments prior to the change to inform decision-making and follow-up assessments to determine value.FindingsIn each instance, the assessment prior to the changes informed decisions that expedited the changes. The results were spaces that improved library spaces to improve students' library experiences and better meet their needs.Originality/valueThe purpose of the article is to describe the importance and use of assessment to assist with changes to library spaces and inform the value of those changes.

PurposeThe library is one of the critical foundations of informing and educating the public, and it should fulfil its function in the community, which is disseminating knowledge effectively. The library must have a dynamic space and an appropriate atmosphere to do this. Also, librarians should assist clients outside of stressful work environments. This study aimed to examine the association between organizational climate and job burnout in the hospital and college libraries of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a cross-sectional survey. The population includes all librarians working in the college and hospital libraries of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Two questionnaires, including organizational climate “ClimateQUAL” and job burnout “Maslach and Jackson”, were applied to collect data. It was hypothesized that there is a correlation between the organizational climate and the burnout of librarians.FindingsThe findings revealed that the organizational climate and job burnout are not in a favourable situation, with average scores of 4.70 and 2.50, respectively. Furthermore, there is a significant statistical relationship between organizational climate and job burnout (p-value<0.001).Originality/valueKnowledge of the significant relationship between the organizational climate and job burnout in medical libraries may encourage policymakers to make more efforts to provide their staff with a better climate and less burnout. Regarding that it is crucial to enhance the existing condition in medical libraries, the findings of the present study suggest that policymakers should be conscious of improving the current condition, which could lead to promoting patrons’ satisfaction and productivity in the mentioned libraries.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to share the process, findings and conclusions from one library’s iterative usability study of its website design to inform other libraries as they perform their own assessments.Design/methodology/approachA task-completion usability study was conducted with eight undergraduate students across two iterations: the first gauged the usability of a redesigned library website and the second gauged the effectiveness of the first iteration’s findings.FindingsWe found that users performed better when the site provided multiple access points to the same information, displayed a prominent chat feature, limited the amount of text on a given page and avoided library jargon. Not only was the second round of testing important for confirming that first-round recommendations were effective but also it proved useful in catching a problem with the site that was unintentionally created during the time between tests.Research limitations/implicationsNo demographic data were collected during the study, thus hindering our ability to analyze our users through these data points.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates the value of iterative usability testing, especially when untested changes made between site versions may produce usability issues.

PurposeThis paper evaluates the precision of four metasearch engines (MSEs) – DuckDuckGo, Dogpile, Metacrawler and Startpage, to determine which metasearch engine exhibits the highest level of precision and to identify the metasearch engine that is most likely to return the most relevant search results.Design/methodology/approachThe research is divided into two parts: the first phase involves four queries categorized into two segments (4-Q-2-S), while the second phase includes six queries divided into three segments (6-Q-3-S). These queries vary in complexity, falling into three types: simple, phrase and complex. The precision, average precision and the presence of duplicates across all the evaluated metasearch engines are determined.FindingsThe study clearly demonstrated that Startpage returned the most relevant results and achieved the highest precision (0.98) among the four MSEs. Conversely, DuckDuckGo exhibited consistent performance across both phases of the study.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only evaluated four metasearch engines, which may not be representative of all available metasearch engines. Additionally, a limited number of queries were used, which may not be sufficient to generalize the findings to all types of queries.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study can be valuable for accreditation agencies in managing duplicates, improving their search capabilities and obtaining more relevant and precise results. These findings can also assist users in selecting the best metasearch engine based on precision rather than interface.Originality/valueThe study is the first of its kind which evaluates the four metasearch engines. No similar study has been conducted in the past to measure the performance of metasearch engines.

PurposeThe study showcases the social impact (online attention) of funded research compared to nonfunded for the BRICS nations. The key themes achieving online attention across the funded and nonfunded publications have also been identified.Design/methodology/approachA total of 1,507,931 articles published across the BRICS nations for a period of three (03) years were downloaded from the Clarivate Analytics' InCites database of Web of Science (WoS). “Funding Acknowledgement Analysis (FAA)” was used to identify the funded and nonfunded publications. The altmetric score of the top highly cited (1%) publications was gauged from the largest altmetric data provider, “Altmetric.com”, using the DOI of each publication. One-way ANOVA test was used to know the impact of funding on the mentions (altmetrics) across different data sources covered by Altmetric.com. The highly predominant keywords (hotspots) have been mapped using bibliometric software, “VOSviewer”.FindingsThe mentions across all the altmetric sources for funded research are higher compared to nonfunded research for all nations. It indicates the altmetric advantage for funded research, as funded publications are more discussed, tweeted, shared and have more readers and citations; thus, acquiring more social impact/online attention compared to nonfunded publications. The difference in means for funded and nonfunded publications varies across various altmetric sources and nations. Further, the authors’ keyword analysis reveals the prominence of the respective nation names in publications of the BRICS.Research limitations/implicationsThe study showcases the utility of indexing the funding information and whether research funding increases social impact return (online attention). It presents altmetrics as an important impact assessment and evaluation framework indicator, adding one more dimension to the research performance. The linking of funding information with the altmetric score can be used to assess the online attention and multi-flavoured impact of a particular funding programme and source/agency of a nation so that necessary strategies would be framed to improve the reach and impact of funded research. It identifies countries that achieve significant online attention for their funded publications compared to nonfunded ones, along with the key themes that can be utilised to frame research and investment plans.Originality/valueThe study represents the social impact of funded research compared to nonfunded across the BRICS nations.

PurposeThis paper aims to uncover characteristics of physical spaces that evoke feelings of welcome and belonging in a diverse student population in an academic library.Design/methodology/approachThe photovoice method was used to allow research participants an active role in shaping research questions and collecting and analyzing data.FindingsThe research reveals that space design significantly influences students' feelings of physical safety, emotional well-being and safety and ownership (or sense of belonging) in academic library spaces, thereby emphasizing the importance of considering space design in promoting student well-being and inclusiveness.Originality/valueThis research used photovoice methodology to engage underrepresented student communities in providing input into the design of library spaces.