Total quality management and servicing users through remote access technology
| Date | 01 March 1993 |
| Pages | 187-191 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045229 |
| Published date | 01 March 1993 |
| Author | Ernest A. DiMattia |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Article
Total quality management
and servicing users through
remote access technology*
Ernest
A.
DiMattia, Jr
The Ferguson
Library,
One Public Library Plaza,
Stamford,
CT
06904,
USA
1.
Introduction
For as long as libraries and information centers have existed,
the services they have offered to their constituents have been
provided, utilized and monitored on a person-to-person basis.
This individual and direct interaction has ensured an active
vendor/consumer dialog which has not only fostered a suc-
cessful transfer of information but also provided a forum
through which to evaluate user
needs
and service
quality.
This
one-on-one communication flow has been of invaluable as-
sistance to the professional in assuring that clients and cus-
tomers receive accurate, clear, concise, complete and timely
responses to information inquiries. In addition, it has affected
a critical check-in-balance on the value and viability of col-
lections and databases in meeting service demands. It was
through this traditional reference and information interview
that direct user impact on the service process could be guaran-
teed and a high degree of quality achieved.
The advent of automated systems, data collection and
transfer, and a host of other technological advances has re-
sulted in a dramatic change in the development and availabil-
ity of information resources. The provision of information,
both on-site and remotely, has been revolutionized to such a
degree that the vast array of recorded data is available to ever-
increasing numbers of people without limitation on scope,
time or
place.
Without debating the issue of how soon every-
thing will be accessible to everyone at any time, wherever
they may be, what is clear is that evolving developments in
technology and telecommunications will only serve to expe-
dite and assure this emerging reality. Hardware and software
* This paper was originally presented at Online Information
92 but not published
in
the Proceedings.
enhancement, PC and CDROM expansion, and national and
international network linkages have all added to the ease and
versatility in handling the tremendous increase in available
information and the explosion in the number of information
seekers.
With the shape and scope of information constantly evolv-
ing, the need for greater and more rapid access ever expand-
ing, and the growth of systems and services in the perpetual
state of both monitoring products and anticipating needs,
quality throughout the process is becoming an increasingly
vital, indeed critical, concern. This is especially true at a time
when the concept of total quality management has been hav-
ing
a
major impact on organizational
operations.
Although the
assurance of quality in products and services has long been a
popular goal and an indelible segment of employment train-
ing and
guidelines,
the newest trend
in
this area of concern has
identified quality as the key competitive ingredient fostering
success in the marketplace. Relating this concept of quality,
especially total quality management, to serving information
users through remote access technology is the primary focus
of
this
paper.
2.
The concept of quality
Before examining the progress and program of the off-site
availability of information and the provision, maintenance
and monitoring of a strong and consistent pattern of service in
a distance environment, some attention must be given to the
importance of quality and its impact on remote access activi-
ties.
With all that has been written and espoused over the pasf
decade about quality, quality control, quality assurance, qual-
ity circles and other quality hyperbole, one would expect that
quality has long been a modus operandi within most success-
ful organizations. However, it has only been in recent years
that the concept of total quality management and a bevy of
related derivatives, all on the same theme, have begun to take
their place as the basic ingredient for competitive success.
Through the teachings and preachings of such advocates as
Philip B. Crosby, W. Edwards Deming, Kaorn Ishidsawa,
Joseph M. Juran and others, the word quality has taken on a
new interest, a new meaning and even a new fascination at
every organizational level. The establishment in 1987 in the
United States of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality
Award, coupled with Japan's long-standing Deming Prize,
has also heightened awareness of the quality factor. Added to
these visible impacts are such professional and academic
groups
as
the American Society for Quality Control, the Euro-
pean Organization for Quality Control and the Japanese Soci-
ety of Quality Control. Through publications, conferences,
seminars and competitions, all play important roles in the to-
tal quality effort.
The Electronic Library, Vol.
11,
No. 3, June 1993 187
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