The Study of the Services for Blind and Visually Impaired Digital Library

The aim of the present study was to categorize the public services of the Central Library of Ferdowsi University based on Kano’s model.
This was an applied study. Survey method was used as a methodological technique. The population of the study was postgraduate students at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad comprising 120 randomly selected individuals as the main participants. A researcher-made questionnaire was designed based on Kano’s model for the data collection. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by the faculty members in Knowledge and Information Science and Management departments. For the data analysis, Kano’s table of evaluation model, Excel software, and descriptive statistics were used. Cranach’s alpha was used to estimate the reliability index (α = 0.83)(
FINDINGS:First, the vital and provided public services in the public parts of Information Center and Central Library of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad were identified. Hence, services were classified based on 5 criteria (including must-be, one-dimensional, attractive, indifferent, and reverse) depending on Kano’s model and the students’ viewpoint. From 85 identified services, 37 services were must be (e.g., Information counseling and research counseling), 24 services were one-dimensional (e.g., current awareness), 13 services were attractive (e.g., translation services), 11 of them were indifferent (e.g., interlibrary loan like Ghadir system), and no service was classified as the reverse one.
All services provided by the library were desirable and expected, however, many services are classified as indifferent. Finally, some suggestions were provided to improve the planning of the library services based on the categorization of users.