A medical library seen from the perspective of a user satisfaction survey and performance indicators

Abstract

The Medical Library of the Zala County Hospital conducted a survey among the hospital staff. The survey consisted of a series of performance indicators and a questionnaire measuring user satisfaction. As part of the quality management process, the survey aimed to bring to light the strong and weak points of the functioning of the library in order to determine the directions of the urgently needed changes and further improvements. The following aspects were evaluated with the help of the survey: the user community of the hospital library; the physical access to the library; the library environment and library staff; the ICT infrastructure of the library; the accessibility of the print journals; the quality of services, from general to customized services; the own publications of the library and the exhibitions of medical books organized by the library. The results of the survey pointed out that in order to improve the performance of the library, the ICT infrastructure needs to be improved, the access to electronic documents needs to be extended and new, value-added services need to be introduced. These actions will contribute to the achievement of the overall strategic goal of the library: becoming an efficient information centre for academic staff, researchers and health professionals.