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Management innovation and library services: Part 2. Selected papers from the 3rd Shanghai International Library Forum
Edited by Stephen O'Connor
Introduction
Building strong customer relationships has been the priority of many highly successful enterprises all over the world. A growing number of business organizations in China realize that customer service is the key ingredient to success and are beginning to give increased attention to the concept of customer service. Customer service concept does not only apply to business enterprises, it applies to other organizations as well.
The library has been known to be a collection of books used for reading or study, or the building or room in which such a collection is kept. From its historical beginning as a place to keep the records of a civilization, the library has emerged since the middle of the twentieth century as a far-reaching body of information resources and services. Service is a concept that is fundamental to libraries. Library users, our customers, are the focus point of the library service. As centers of innovation and information, and cultural stewards, libraries play a vital role in citizens' lifelong learning. Therefore, it is important that libraries incorporate high standards of customer service.
Customer service and libraries
Customer service
Customer service is defined as an organization's ability to consistently meet the needs and expectations of its customers. In the corporate world, the emphasis on customer service has been described as a marketing concept of business management. When an organization has adopted the marketing concept, it "moves from a product orientation to a customer orientation ... The foundation of the marketing concept is a business philosophy that leaves no doubt in the mind of every employee that customer satisfaction is of primary importance. All energies are directed toward satisfying the customer" ([1] Kaliski, 2001). According to the marketing concept, an organization must determine what the customers want and use this information to create satisfying products and services. Providing excellent customer service entails making every effort to satisfy the customers' requests. Over the years libraries have adopted successful customer service strategies from the corporate world. Many academic libraries in the USA now provide round-the-clock access to the libraries to meet the demand for longer hours by students. The libraries have discovered...