Reference Services Provided in the Central Library of the University of Qom and the Satisfaction of Library Users: An Evaluation

This research was carried out aiming to determine the satisfaction of users of the central library of the University of Qom with the reference services provided there. Specifying different types of reference services and identifying the factors influencing the satisfaction of library users were among the special goals of this study. The research population included the faculty members and students who had used the reference services of the central library of the University of Qom. The research type was descriptive and questionnaires were used to collect data. Among the questionnaires distributed, more than 53 % were returned and descriptive statistics was used to analyse the collected data. The research findings showed that 1) the population studied was aware of the reference services provided in the library but their awareness about “answering reference questions using a telephone” and “providing selective services” was in a low level. 2) More than half of the users were satisfied with the assistance provided by librarians in finding documents 3) the good conduct of the librarians and being accessible when they were needed, and individual instruction about using the library were among the main factors that helped to satisfy the users. The findings of research on the general satisfaction of reference-services-users indicated that 51 per cent of the user population was either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the reference services of the library. Finally some suggestions are made based on the research findings