I am investigating
approaches to quality management and quality service delivery in academic
libraries in Nigeria. The Nigerian
universities operate an established system of quality assurance which is mainly
applied for the purpose of programme accreditation, under the supervision of
the National Universities commission (NUC).
The NUC, as an agency of government has an overarching responsibility
for ensuring quality assurance in all universities in the country. This it does through periodic constitution of
teams or panels comprising academics in relevant disciplines to visit
universities and assess available facilities and resources for programmes
seeking accreditation.
One of the parameters
for assessment during accreditation is the library and this has to do with
facilities and information resources for programmes to be accredited. The only element of NUC quality assurance for
the library is tied around programme accreditation. That is, the focus is only on information
resources for programmes to be accredited.
The specific aspect of
this investigation will be to assess quality management approaches in academic
libraries in Nigeria. The overall aim of
the study is to identify how service quality practices in academic libraries
affect institutional outcomes in various institutions. This is with a view to subsequently
recommending a quality management model to enhance improvement and
sustainability in both managerial and service quality of academic libraries in
Nigeria.
The study is intended as
a cross-sectional case study that uses of mixed methods techniques to achieve
and address the objectives and research questions of the study.
The project is intended
to be in two phases:
Phase 1 – Involves a Quantitative
online pilot comparative survey of a representative sample of academic
libraries in Nigeria. The methodology to
be used in Nigeria will first be piloted with a similar population in the
United Kingdom.
Phase 2 – Involves a multi-site case
study using semi -structured interviews and documentary evidence.
Population
of study – This will
comprise library directors/ university librarians and managers in six
university libraries in Nigeria.
The
Model
The European Frameworkfor Quality Management (EFQM) Business Excellence Model (BEM) is the model I
intend to use. It is a holistic
framework that gives an insight into an organisation and is based on nine criteria:
performance, customers, people and society, leadership, policy, strategy, partnerships, resources, and processes.
The BEM, being a self
assessment model, has been proved to be relatively fast, easy and inexpensive
to conduct. It improves performance, team
building, and enhances individual and organisational innovation and learning. It
is now the most widely used organisational framework, especially in Europe.
It’s good to use different models and approaches in quality assessment. At the very least, it makes the study easier to understand for a variety of people. However, all of them should be able to meet the established criteria for international standards. That way, it won’t create unnecessary confusion for the team conducting the study. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBarton Wilson @ International Standards Authority, Inc.