The Rate of Correspondence of References and Information Desks of the National Library of Iran with the Indicators Affecting the Performance of Service Desks

The purpose of this research was to identifying indicators affecting the performance of service desks and the rate of matching the National Library of Iran (NLAI) service desks with these indicators. The present study was conducted in two phases. The first phase of the study was extraction of design indicators for service desks with library method, and the second phase of the study were surveyed by a questionnaire. The extracted indices were: accessibility and visibility, the distinction of information sections (the ability to identify for the user and the distinction of its employees), the proper place of desks, familiarity of users with the names of sections and adaptation of these names to user's literature (attention to the differences of linguistic terminology of the users with librarians), getting the user fast to the goal (updated information, novelty of environment, precise guidance and signs, and automated tools), the interest of librarians and the enthusiasm of users' return (skills of staff and pleasant and comfortable environment), help at the point of need (mobile reference services) and services marketing and branding. Based on T test (0/437) and its significance (0/66), there was no significant difference between the real mean and the expected mean. In other words, the current status of service desks is consistent with effective indicators of the performance of reference and information desks. Regarding the prioritization of indices, based on the Friedman test (41/71) and its significance (0/01), there was a significant difference between the indicators affecting the performance of reference and information desks. "The distinction of service desks" indicator (with a mean of 6/71) had the highest average, and the indicator of "the exact signs and guides of desks" (with a mean of 3/24) was the lowest.