Approaches to Online Feedback System for Enhance

the Quality of Library Services

Sachin Y.
Library & Information Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and
Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. Email: sachinylib@gmail.com

Prasanna Kumara B.M.

Library & Information Centre, New Horizon College of Engineering,
Bangalore. Email: prasannamlib23@gmail.com

Abstract: Communication and collaboration with users are important in the

development of library services. Due to technological advancement changes have
been observed in the Libraries and its services. Feedback is one of the basic and
foremost aspects of the any organization or system and it gives the quality
measurement. Any organization required feedback from their customer to evaluate
their quality of services. Academic Libraries also required feedback from their users
to evaluating the resource and services offered by the library. This paper is
concerned with the Nature of Feedback, Common Feedback Techniques, and
Importance of Feedback inmeasuring quality of the library services. This will make a
case for the introduction of a feedback system as one means of improving and
maintaining quality of academic library services.

Key Words: Online Feedback Systems, ICT Application

1. Introduction
In the era of improved information communication technologies, vast amount of changes are
generated in facilitating communication and the transfer of information. Communication and
collaboration with users are important in the development of library services. Many library
users do not have the information literacy skills, they needed to search information and
evaluate the literature for relevance and validity. Librarians at the, academic library taught
database search skills to users during library sessions or scheduled individual consults in the
library. User involvement can range from providing feedback leads to complete development
of a library services. An important aspect of evaluation and assessment of library instruction

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is the level of involvement users have in these efforts, especially important for the success of
library services.Librarians have also used online surveys and questionnaires to elicit feedback
from user perceptions and behaviours. Feedbacks can often lead to more and better developed
library instruction programs.

Now a days library services are very much change comparatively traditional library services.
Users requirement also very much changes in aspect of resource and services, users required
right information at right time and right place. Library assessment required to find different
librarian attitudes, perceptions of library services &resources provision, different library
management and working group structures, and continual librarian training and education in a
number of areas. Feedback helps to identify a number of evaluation strategies to assess
library services through a number of approaches that can yield a variety of data regarding the
efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of library services.

Due to changes in technological advancement gives the new shape for feedback system.
Online Feedback Systems are very easy and more effective comparatively traditional
feedback system.Modern libraries are adopting various Web technology applications to
effective dissemination of information. Considering time, space, money and user friendly
services aspects of web tools like social Media are very much helpful to library services.
Now a days various feedback system available on the web, some the commercial software
and open sources software tools are also available. Online feedbacks will reach end
usersvery effectively with less time, economically and also easy to analysis of feedback data.
Online feedback systems easy to create, custom, branded surveys with user friendly
modules.This leads to powerful analytics and even helps to generate professional reports to
share the results.

2. Feedback System
Feedback is defined as the interaction of two or moredynamical systems that are connected
together such that each system influences the other and their dynamics are thus strongly
coupled. We say that a system is closed loop if the systems are interconnected in a cycle and
open loop when this interconnection is broken.

Feedback is normally something which happens as a result of some learning-oriented action.

In general feedback is information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a

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task, etc. which is used as a basis for improvement. In its most basic form, feedback is
information.

A feedback system, in the context of performance technology, is a means of communication

whereby the performer, whether it is an individual or a group, receives information that
guides their future actions, in order to achieve a desired outcome. Feedback systems can be
used as part of an intervention in organizations to increase awareness and improve
performance.

2.1. Nature of Feedback

Feedback may have either of two purposes: to influence the quality or quantity of
performance. Feedback can be categorized into following two aspects.
 Formative Feedback: Feedback that affects quality of performance is called
formative feedback.
 Summative Feedback: feedback that affects quantity of performance is called
summative feedback
In addition, feedback can encourage or discourage behavior depending on what form it takes.
 Positive Feedback: This type of feedback reinforces the behaviour and
 Negative Feedback:extinguishes it. In general, negative feedback can result in an
unpredictable substitution or change of behavior (Tosti, 1986).

2.1.1 Feedback Qualities and Attributes

The feedback system needs to have the following quality attributers.
 Timely: feedback is more effective if it is provided timely. (Race, 2006).
 Motivational: feedback may have positive or negative effect.
 Individual/personal: It needs to be personalised and tailored to individual Users
strengths and weaknesses.
 Manageable: feedback should certainly be detailed enough to ensure that User
understand their strengths and weaknesses.
 Feedback should open doors, not close them: In this respect, there should
particularly careful with the words we use when giving feedback to students.

3. Common Electronic Feedback Techniques

Race (2001) categorised feedback techniques into traditional and electronic. Common

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traditional methods includegiving back to each student the submitted assignment with
handwritten comments, having individualface-to-face feedback meetings, or explaining
model solutions in the classroom. While these methodshave their own advantages and
disadvantages.

Electronic solutions areincreasingly used by tutors since they integrate a number of benefits.
These benefits include speedingup the delivery of feedback, assisting the effectiveness of
reception of feedback and generatingappropriate evidence for the quality of feedback.
Common Electronic feedback techniques and communication methods can categorized into
these three communication methods.
 Word-processed Feedback Forms:
 E-mailing Comments or Feedback Forms:
 Electronic Annotations on Students’ Work:

3.1 How is users Feedback Obtained?

Feedback can be obtained in various forms. Some of them are listed below.
 E Mail: email is one of the most valuable ways to gather user feedback.
 Surveys:Web has made collecting surveys easier to gather data.
 Exploratory Interviews:Understanding your users by Interview can help fill in the
gaps that less personal forms of feedback tend to create.
 Social Listening: Listening through social media can prove particularly useful for
gathering candid feedback from customers.
 Comment Boxes : To get user satisfaction comment boxes can be provide in library
web page.
 Talking to Customers:Direct feedback from actually talking to customers in person
will make the information useful.
 Social Media: Reach out to users through social media such as Facebook, LinkdIn
and Twitter or by asking a question. This method is reach large numbers of people
quickly.

3.1.1 Focus on Feedback Form

The feedback form focuses on the following issues for creating a great user survey
 Be clearwhen surveying on users satisfaction for a services.
 Be specific about specific concepts or ideas.

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  Ask multiple specific questions instead of one general question.
 Use advanced analytics to turn your data into smarter services and product decisions
 Quality of the services provided by the Library.
 Any additional comments
 Create sophisticated surveys in minutes
 Easily collaborate & share results with your group
 Own your organization’s data regardless of personnel changes
 Easily manage multiple users allow single sign on through your network

4. Tools of Feedback Systems

To get valuable data on user behaviour feedback tools are essential. There are paid services
and some incredible free tools are available. Of course many companies use generic low-cost
or free survey tools to research audience opinions. There are different types of online
customer feedback tools and web services are discussed below

4.1 Website Feedback Tools

Website Feedback Tools provide a facility for customers to feedback by prompts on every
page. They are run continuously to enable continuous feedback including ratings on page
content, products and services. Examples of Website Feedback Tools are listed below.
 Kampyle (www.kampyle.com)
 Opinion Lab (www.opinionlab.com)
 PollDaddy (www.polldaddy.com)
 MySurvey (www.mysurvey.com)

4.1.1 Product opinion Feedback Tools

Some customers will also feedback on the website experience or customer experience. This
type tool provides feedback on product and site suggestions.
 Uservoice (www.uservoice.com)
 IdeaScale (www.ideascale.com)
 Google Moderator

4.1.1.1 General Online Survey Tools

 Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com)
 Google Survey (www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/home)

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  Zoomerang (www.zoomerang.com)
 Kwik survey (www.kwiksurveys.com)
 Zoho Online Survey (www.zoho.com/survey/)
 Five second test (www.fivesecondtest.com):
 Ask500People (www.ask500people.com):
 Userlytics (www.userlytics.com)
 4Q Survey survey from iPerceptions (www.4qsurvey.com) –
 Foreseeresults (www.foreseeresults.com)
 eDigitalResearch (www.edigitalresearch.com)

4.2 How is Feedback used in the Quality Assurance Process?

Libraries are making efforts focused on the building the technology, telecommunications and
standards infrastructures that enable libraries to function technically. Moreover, librarians
need to build evaluation activities and strategies as they are developing theservices,
resources, and programs that they intend to provide to their customers. The primary purpose
of conducting evaluation in a library setting is twofold:

 To understand user interaction with library resources and services; and

 To capture data that informs the planning, management, and implementation of
library resources and services.

The College / University aims to offer the best possible environment and learning experience
toencourage students to perform to their full potential.Students play a critical part in the
evaluation, development and enhancement of thequality of this learning experience. Feedback
from students allows the College / University toevaluate how its service provision of library
services to its users.The feedback Process need for involvement ofusers in the quality
assurance of higher education.

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 Provide Feedback
F
e
e
d
Analysis & b
Interpretation a
c
k
C
Identification of y
Areas of Action c
l
e

Programme
Review

Figure 1 : Feedback Cycle

A user feedback will help libraries to pin down users' likes, dislikes, and the areas of
improvement that exist. For example, what does the average users think about new services?
Too Good? Just Average? How Well is library staff doing on user service? How well does
the user’s understand on library services? Is there anything at all about the user’s why they
stop doing access service? and how you can prevent users losses in the future. Libraries can
empower their services to meet user needs. Libraries providing new services or updating
existing one user can provide feedback. Also users can shed light on problems faced or may
arise. The results of the user feedback, as well as the recommendations action can be taken on
the basis of such recommendations are important considerations for the Programme Review
to improve the quality of library services.

Library practitioners and researchers are only just beginning to develop evaluation strategies
and approaches for libraries to its services and resources, particularly from a user perspective.
Evaluating library services requires the commitment to assessment and learning the library
services/resources. In the networked environment libraries need to develop newmeasure,
methods, and approaches for assessinglibrary services by adopt familiar evaluation
frameworks. Thus the feedback will help gather user’s perceptions in the context of library
and information services will found very positive.

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5. Benefits of Feedback System
The feedback has the following advantages.
 User friendly interface can be providing using feedback.
 Fast access to database
 Less error
 More Storage Capacity
 Search facility
 Look and Feel Environment
 Easy to analysis and Interpretation

On the other hand, a disadvantage of this feedback communication method is the difficulty of
reaching the User. Unless sent by email, a tutor has to print the feedback forms and await an
inperson meeting to hand in the forms to the Users.

6. Conclusion
Online assessment makes it possible to collect many types offeedbacks, which is very useful
in quality measurement of services. However these methods have some drawbacks. Firstly
learner’s responses should be put into a computer, it takes a lot of time in large scale users.
Ultimately, the benefits of feedback are those of greater so that the library staffs are become
more aware of user’s attitude and perspectives on library use. Modern Libraries should adopt
introduction of a feedback system for improving and maintaining quality of library services.

Reference
……………………………………………………….…………………
1. Race, P. (2001) Using Feedback to Help Students Learn, The Higher Education Academy. Retrieved
from:http://wap.rdg.ac.uk/web/FILES/EngageinFeedback/ Race_using_feedback _to_help_
students_learn.pdf
2. Race, P. (2006) The Lecturer’s Toolkit – A Practical Guide to Assessment, Learning and Teaching, 3rd
Edition, Routledge, London.
3. Tosti, D.T. (1986). Feedback Systems. In Introduction to performance technology. National Society for
Performance and Instruction, Washington, D.C
4. http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/arossett/pie/interventions/feedback_1.htm
5. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/amwiki/index.php/Introduction
6. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/id432_using_feedback
7. http://www.helpscout.net/blog/customer-feedback/

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