Improving the Quality of Library Services for Students with Disabilities (review)

In making his case for using quality assessment measures as a basis for developing or improving services to disabled students, Hernon asserts that "we need to stop making assumptions about different members of populations, listen to their needs and expectations, and factor the results of that listening into the development and improvement of services and their delivery." (p. vii) The editors and authors have ably introduced their subject; and, indeed, the first half of the book defines various disabilities and the extent of their occurrence in higher education. This context is useful for librarians to build their understanding of the need for excellence—not just compliance—in serving those with disabilities. Aspects covered include the World Health Organization's classification system for disabilities, lists of organizations providing information on accessibility issues, the legal context in the United States, an essay on universal access in higher education, a description of disability support services at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and a most enlightening chapter providing the perspective of seven library directors from the United States and New Zealand on their approaches to serving students with disabilities. Hernon and Calvert offer the premise that "students with disabilities constitute a distinct and important group that, at times, has unique service expectations." (p. 117) They ask academic librarians to address the needs of their entire community of users, including this distinct group.

A literature review provides transition from the background chapters to those focused on assessment itself. This very helpful review addresses general writings and an overview of library services to the disabled, adaptive technologies, accessible Web page design, general user/use studies, service quality (including background on the ServQUAL assessment model), satisfaction, some survey instruments, and the rationale for a localized approach, and suggestions for further research.

The full purpose of the book is to offer a process of data collection to determine library-related service expectations of students with disabilities. Librarians, who are familiar with the ServQUAL and LibQUAL+^TM assessment methodologies, will find here an extension of the gap analysis process structured to measure expectations of this user group. It is the gap between service expectations and service performance as assessed by survey respondents that measures service quality. According to the editors, "Existing survey instruments covering service quality are too general in the statements they contain to enable librarians…to meet the service expectations of this group." (p. 117) They provide two versions of their instrument that libraries may adapt to survey local needs of their disability communities. Indeed, these much more specific and tailored questions seem to hold great potential for assessment purposes with this user group.

Chapters 7–12 report on development and testing of a survey instrument that concentrates first on physical disabilities at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand and then on refinement of the instrument for students with learning disabilities at Landmark College. Landmark is a school whose purpose is to provide higher education opportunities exclusively to students having learning disabilities. The chapters on conducting your own study and reporting and using results provide guidance to those who wish to apply these survey instruments. Appendices in these chapters are rich resources for local adaptation of the instrument, providing a template for the survey instrument and lists of questions that may be selected for use. The book concludes with a 16-page bibliography of print and Web-based sources relating to library service, methods of service assessment, information on disabilities, and services to the disabled. The bibliography alone is valuable to those wishing to better understand the needs of these specific library users and to improve the services extended to them.

The book's editors have actually written eight of its 12 chapters, either as joint or as separate authors. Peter Hernon is a professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College, and Philip Calvert has been at the University of Wellington in New...