Determinants of library use, collections and services among the students of engineering: a case study of King Saud University
Akhtar Hussain
Civil Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and

Abdulwahab M. Abalkhail
Department of Library and Information Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of library use, collections and services among the students of engineering at King Saud University, Riyadh (KSA). Design/methodology/approach – A survey was designed to collect needed information about the level of usage of library collections, services and satisfaction of users. A well-structured questionnaire was circulated among the faculties, research scholars, postgraduates, undergraduates, and other categories to collect the necessary primary data, keeping in mind the objectives of the study. Findings – The findings clearly reveal that the majority of users of the library used the circulation service. The study found that a majority of research scholars consult the reference books for research work followed by undergraduate students who used the library circulation service. Research limitations/implications – The present paper consists only of College of Engineering users and the geographical area is restricted to the central library at the King Saud University, Riyadh. The scope of the paper could be extended to additional private and government universities in KSA and abroad. A comparative study could also be made between one country and another’s university libraries and information centers for usage of library collections and services. Originality/value – There are a number of studies on usage of library collections and services, but this is the first of its kind within the King Saud University. As such, it should pave the way to fulfill the demand of users in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as foreign universities. Keywords Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, University libraries, User studies, Students, Information services, Collection development, King Saud University Paper type Case study

1. Introduction
The library is a repository where information is acquired to process, retrieve and disseminate to the right users at the right time. The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science defines the library as:
[. . .] a collection of materials organized to provide physical, bibliographic and intellectual access to a target group, with a staff that is trained to provide sciences and programs related to the information needs of the target group (Young, 1983).

It is considered an important and integral component of any high quality academic institution. The university library is no exception in it. A number of studies have been conducted to reveal the library usage, collections and services among users. Adequacy of collections is one of the most important factors that fulfill the needs of user demand. Academic libraries are
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meant for providing services to its users’ community. To provide quality oriented services, the library should have a periodic assessment to maintain and to improve the quality to meet the users’ need at the highest level. Assessment of the quality of a library can be done by getting feedback from users because users are the best judges of the quality of the library. It helps to identify the performance of the services provided for the library users. Surveys are the most common tool and widely implemented to assess service quality and the level of satisfaction among users. Quantitative and qualitative measurement of the degree to which a library’s collections, services and programs meet the needs of its users, usually undertaken with the aim of improving performance (Reitz, 2004). The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has conducted surveys to identify the key areas and also to develop new methods and tools to measure service quality and library performance. The present study is undertaken to find out the availability of different types of collections, facilities, and services and to know how far the KSU library is able to fulfill its faculty members’,
Received 17 July 2012 Revised 6 December 2012 Accepted 26 December 2012

Collection Building 32/3 (2013) 100– 110 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0160-4953] [DOI 10.1108/CB-07-2012-0033]

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research scholars’ and students’ information needs to support their teaching, research and academic activities. King Saud University is a public university located in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdul Aziz as “Riyadh University”, as the first university in the kingdom. It was renamed “King Saud University” in 1982. The University maintains a number of colleges, such as community colleges, health colleges, humanities colleges, science colleges and female centers. Notably among them, the College of Engineering is under the College of Science. The College of Engineering was set up as a cooperative project between the Ministry of Education, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UNESCO in November 1962. This project lasted until 1969 when the College of Engineering became an official part of King Saud University. The KSU central library presently is a sevenstory building surrounded by 51,400 square meters of land with more than 4000 reading seats; the central library occupies a central location among colleges and facilities providing students, faculties, employees and other members of the community easy access to its location and holdings. The central location of a library promotes the use of library collections and services. The library provides the whole university campus wide access to online journals, catalogs, holding locations, galleries, and electronic databases, along with other facilities (King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, KSA, n.d.).

2. Review of literature
This paper briefly reviews a few studies conducted on determinants of library use, collections and services among the students of engineering in chronological order. Hussain et al. (2011) study was aimed at the use of collections and services to determine the way of documents location and search elements of the libraries, to detect the infrastructure facilities provided by the library, and to find the overall user satisfaction with the resources and service facilities provided to the women college library users in the south campus, University of Delhi. The main finding of the study was: most users of all college libraries 27.19 percent used the lending service, after that 18.37 percent of the users used reference service and furthermore the majority of users are satisfied with the furniture and lighting. Little (2011) conducted a survey of the LIS selectors at ARL institutions/ libraries. The author found the LIS collections primarily support librarians in their daily work and continuing professional development. The majority of LIS selectors are responsible for collection development in multiple subject areas. The purpose of the study conducted by Kaur (2010) was to examine the perception of academic staff on the quality of academic library services. The important findings of the study were: the library staff was considered quite helpful and able to inculcate confidence in library users. Academic staff also found that the library has a positive impact on their teaching, learning and research. The overall satisfaction with the library services received a rating of “satisfactory”. Okello-Obura (2010) has discussed the problems LIS postgraduate students face in accessing e-resources. The author adopted questionnaire methods for data collection of assessment of the problems LIS postgraduate students face in accessing eresources of Makerere University, Uganda. The major 101

findings of the study were: the respondents had positive attitudes towards e-resources utilization. They indicated varied problems faced in e-resources utilization and proposed different strategies to improve on e-resources at the University. Kassim (2009) focused on evaluating the library’s performance by measuring the users’ satisfaction with library services, infrastructure/place/space and collection/ information provided by an academic library in Malaysia. The study found that the respondents were relatively most satisfied with the infrastructure/place/space (M ¼ 3:41), followed by collection/information (M ¼ 3:27), and library services to users (M ¼ 3:18) in that order. Mallaiah and Gowda (2009) in “Collection development in Mangalore university library: a user study” discussed the usefulness of collection development in a university library and attempted to find out whether the UGC-INFONET E-journals were meeting the users’ information needs. Adekanmbi and Boadi (2008) in their study found that majority of the libraries did not have collection development policies. Lack of constant training for librarians, inadequate staff, lack of support from administration and unavailability of collection development policies were some of the major problems found. It was further found that majority of the libraries did not involve their users in formulation of policies and did not implement these for collection development. Hussain and Kumar (2006) carried out a survey on use, collections and services of IIRS Library. The major findings of the study were: . A majority of the users (41.25 percent) of the IIRS Library use the library services daily. . The majority of the respondents mainly used the library to borrow books and other materials (81.25 percent) and the list number of respondents use the library for audio-visual materials. . Most of the respondents preferred the print collection with 87.50 percent were using books followed by electronic collection 68.75 percent, others were using CD-ROMs, further followed by 86.25 percent respondents using current periodicals. . Most of the respondents were fully satisfied with library services. Seneviratne (2006) discussed the results of a user satisfaction survey as a guide to improve the collections and services of a library. The purpose of the library survey conducted in 2005 was to evaluate satisfaction of users over currently available resources, service quality and assess future information needs of the users of the PGIM Branch Library at Peradeniya. The questionnaire was distributed among a random sample of 120 users and 74 responded. Most respondents were somewhat or very satisfied with overall library services and staff performance, moderately satisfied with the print collection and least satisfied with space and ventilation, lack of study areas and the noisy environment. The helpfulness of the staff was rated the best. Bouazza and Al-Mufaraji (2005) revealed a low use of school libraries by teachers. School libraries held poor collections, especially of audiovisual materials, journals and electronic resources, and access to the Internet. Teachers expressed their dissatisfaction with library services which appeared poorly developed and tended to be traditional in character. The study of Sinha and Tucker (2005) identifies

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the new program growth and its impact on collection assessment at the UNLV Libraries. The important findings of the study were to provide the process used by subject librarians and CD to develop the tools and guidelines necessary to assess library collections in support of new academic programs. Siddiqui (2002) in his article explains the users’ opinion on different aspects of adequacy of collection and its use, in the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The user group was divided into five categories, staff members, researchers, postgraduate students, graduate students, and others. The study revealed that the majority of users were regular visitors to the library. Most of them visited the library to consult course material, research material and to borrow books. Majority of the users were aware of the services provided by the library. Singh (1999) wrote “Readers services in IIT libraries (India): a comparative study”. The major findings show that readers services, namely circulation, ILL, reference, CAS, photocopying, translation and document reservation are being provided by all IIT libraries. A high percentage of users are aware of their provision of various services except translation service, where user’s awareness was found to be low. Library services have been found to be satisfactory. However, they mentioned that the quality of collection is improving, but the quality of services is deteriorating.

questionnaires, only 550 (91.67 percent) questionnaires were selected for examination of the data and 50 (8.33 percent) questionnaires were rejected because of incomplete responses from the respondents.

5. Data analysis and interpretation
The data collected by different methods were analyzed and interpreted and presented here in tables and figures. 5.1 The sample There are a large number of users. A sample from all categories of users was taken to find out their attitude toward the services provided by the library. Table I gives the categories of users and the size of sample of the study. Table I highlighted that 15.82 percent of the total population under study consists of faculty members, 16.36 percent research scholars, 24.73 percent postgraduates, 30 percent undergraduates as well as 13.09 percent in other categories. The size of the sample chosen for study is quite large so that the formalities of identification can be assisted (Kumar et al., 2010) (see also Figure 1). 5.2 Visits to the library The frequencies of the visit to the library are one index to assess the users’ need and satisfaction of the library resources and services. The users who frequently visit the library can be assumed that they use the library at the maximum level when compared to those users who visit the library occasionally. Table II illustrated that 51.67 percent of the users visit the library “almost daily”, while 22.85 percent visit it once a week. Further, 14.80 percent of the users visit fortnightly whereas 7.22 percent users were visiting once in a month. There are only 3.46 percent of users who occasionally visit the library (see Figure 2). Table I Size of the sample
Total no. of users Sample included in the population in study (n 5 550) percentage 87 90 136 165 72 15.82 16.36 24.73 30.00 13.09

3. Objectives
The objectives of the study were to: . identify the users’ frequencies and purpose of visit to the library; . determine level of usage of documents by the users; . assess the users’ approach to finding the documents from the library; . reveal the level of awareness about the library services among library users; . assess the level of satisfaction of the library infrastructure; . assess the degree of overall satisfaction among library users; and . suggest appropriate measures for making library services more effective and efficient.

S. no. Users 1 2 3 4 5 Faculty members (FM) Research scholars (RS) Postgraduates (PG) Undergraduates (UG) Other categories (OC)

4. Methodology
The questionnaire method was used for the present study to collect the primary data, keeping in mind the objectives of the study. In addition to the questionnaire method, interview and observation methods were also used to collect the required information to supplement the questionnaire method and to bring more clarity to the data, which was essential and was used for analysis and interpretation of the data. The survey was designed to collect basic information about the usage of library collections and services among the users of the central library of the concerned study. In the study, a survey analysis is presented with regard to the King Saud University, Riyadh which is one of the best 300 universities in the world and first in the Arab world.The total population size of faculty members, research scholars and students of College of Engineering, KSU, are 220, 136, and 2551 respectively. The investigators distributed 650 questionnaires to the randomly selected sample. In that 600 filled-in questionnaires were received from the faculty members, research scholars, and students. Out of 600 102

Figure 1 Size of the sample

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Table II Frequency of library visits
S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 Frequency Daily Weekly Fortnightly Monthly Occasionally FM 49.43 28.74 12.64 5.75 3.45 RS 52.22 25.56 12.22 7.78 2.22 Percentage of users PG 50.74 19.85 15.44 9.56 4.41 UG 44.85 24.85 21.21 6.06 3.03 OC 61.11 15.28 12.5 6.94 4.17 Average percentage of users 51.67 22.85 14.8 7.22 3.46

Figure 2 Frequency of library visits

5.3 Purpose of visit to the library The purpose of the users’ visits to the library was ascertained to find out whether they come to satisfy their information needs for research requirements or for general reading. Table III and Figure 3 show that 93.65 percent faculty members, research scholars, postgraduates, undergraduates, and other categories visit the library to borrow and return the books while 88.23 percent of the users go to the library to read journals/periodicals. This table further reveals that 84.53 Table III Purpose of visit to the library
S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Purpose To borrow and return the books To read journals/periodicals To consult reference books To read general books To read subject books To complete assignments To prepare for next class To chat with friends To consult research materials Any others FM 95.4 88.51 50.57 58.62 75.86 19.54 93.1 5.75 35.63 2.3 RS 94.44 90 97.78 30 85.56 87.78 13.33 3.33 97.78 5.56

percent of the respondents use the library to read subject books, followed by 60.63 percent of respondents who use research materials, further followed by 52.63 percent who use the library to complete their assignments. A total of 36.02 percent and 17.19 percent of the respondents also stated that they use the library to prepare for the next class and to chat with friends. Only 6.57 percent users go to the library for other purposes.

Percentage of users PG UG 88.97 86.03 74.26 58.09 94.85 59.56 47.06 11.03 71.32 3.68 96.36 89.09 61.21 73.33 83.03 58.79 12.73 20.00 44.24 6.06

OC 93.06 87.5 76.39 68.06 83.33 37.5 13.89 45.83 54.17 15.28

Average percentage of users 93.65 88.23 72.04 57.62 84.53 52.63 36.02 17.19 60.63 6.57

Note: Multiple answers were permitted

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Figure 3 Purpose of visit to the library

5.4 Use of documents Users were asked to indicate about the use of documents in the library. The responses have been tabulated in Table IV. This table indicates that 80.14 percent users were using general books while 76.07 percent users were using textbooks. 75.17 percent users were using reference books, further followed by 67.27 percent users who used journals/ periodicals. It is good to know that users have sound reading habits as this table shows that 58.22 percent reading newspapers, 56.29 percent used general magazines, 53.03 percent used CD-ROM Databases, 49.70 percent newspaper clippings, 40.13 percent used thesis/dissertations as well as 38.17 percent used online databases. A total of 22.43 percent of the users used only microfilm/microfiches (see also Figure 4).

5.5 Document location Table V indicates that 46.49 percent of the users were consulting the library catalogues to locate the documents in the library, whereas 43.71 percent and 32.94 percent users located the documents with the assistance of library staff and searching the shelves by themselves (see also Figure 5). There were only 29.57 percent users who located the documents with the help of friends and colleagues. Less users 22.43 percent located the documents in “others” category like Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs). 5.6 Services Table VI shows that the users were well aware of library services as the figure indicates 86.41 percent. It means the library disseminates its services to users in an efficient manner. This table highlights that the library staff members cater to their users in an efficient way.

Table IV Use of documents
S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Documents General books Textbooks Reference books Journals/periodicals General magazines Newspapers Newspaper clippings Microfilm/microfiches Thesis/dissertations CD-ROM databases Online databases Any others FM 81.61 74.71 93.1 70.11 54.02 56.32 51.72 37.93 44.83 56.32 44.83 35.63 RS 58.89 63.33 94.44 85.56 61.11 57.78 87.78 23.33 61.11 65.56 54.44 32.22 Percentage of users PG 88.97 86.03 81.62 77.21 58.82 48.53 24.26 50.74 44.85 44.12 28.68 48.53 UG 87.88 85.45 30.3 38.18 53.33 66.06 18.79 12.73 17.58 44.24 12.73 20.00 OC 83.33 70.83 76.39 65.28 54.17 51.39 41.67 13.89 26.39 54.17 34.72 16.67 Average percentage of users 80.14 76.07 75.17 67.27 56.29 58.22 49.70 22.43 40.13 53.03 38.17 26.64

Note: Multiple answers were permitted

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Figure 4 Use of documents

Table V Document location
S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 Document location Consult the library catalogues By assistance of library staff Searching the shelves yourself Taking the help of friends/colleagues Others FM 51.72 67.82 37.93 31.03 37.93 RS Percentage of users PG UG 40.44 36.03 24.26 40.44 24.26 33.33 29.7 20.00 20.00 12.73 OC 45.83 30.56 45.83 15.28 13.89 Average percentage of users 46.49 43.71 32.94 29.57 22.43

61.11 54.44 36.67 41.11 23.33

Note: Multiple answers were permitted

Figure 5 Document location

been analysed in the Table VII. The table indicates that the majority of users of the library 78.93 percent used the circulation service, 70.09 percent used reference service, 64.32 percent used newspaper clipping service, 62.01 percent used ILL service, 55.82 percent used CAS/SDI services, 49.70 percent used reservation service, 38.17 percent used Internet service, 22.43 percent used CD-ROM database service, 18.35 percent used bibliographical service, 26.64 percent used the online journal service as well as other services. There was a small percentage of users 12.75 percent who used the indexing/abstracting service (Table VII and Figure 6). 5.7 Infrastructure facilities Users’ satisfaction with infrastructure facilities is important because reader’s dissatisfaction means that the service provided by the library is not good. In order to promote the use of books it is advisable to have a functional building with provision for pleasant, natural and electric light, soothing interior, good-looking furniture, comfortable chairs and other such facilities. This facility wants the users to utilize the library at the maximum level. Table VIII and Figure 7 reveal that 54.46 percent users satisfied with infrastructure facilities available in the library 105

5.6.1 Users awareness about library services Users’ awareness about the library services is a prerequisite for proper utilization of the library and its resources. Therefore, the responses of the users in this regard have

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Table VI Users awareness about library services
S. no. 1 2 Awareness Yes No FM 88.51 11.49 RS 87.78 12.22 Percentage of users PG 84.56 15.44 UG 87.88 12.12 OC 83.33 16.67 Average percentage of users 86.41 13.59

Table VII Users’ awareness about different types of services
S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Services Circulation service Reference service Newspaper clipping ILL service CAS/SDI service Reservation service CD-ROM database Bibliographic service Indexing/abstracting Reprographic service Online journal service Internet service Others FM 86.21 68.97 72.41 63.22 49.43 51.72 37.93 25.29 17.24 37.93 35.63 44.83 35.63 RS 61.11 61.11 76.67 72.22 60.00 87.78 23.33 24.44 16.67 36.67 32.22 54.44 32.22 Percentage of users PG 88.24 77.94 72.79 75.74 59.56 48.53 24.26 16.18 11.03 24.26 28.68 44.12 28.68 UG 75.76 75.76 30.3 36.36 54.55 18.79 12.73 13.33 9.09 20.00 20.00 12.73 20 OC 83.33 66.67 69.44 62.5 55.56 41.67 13.89 12.50 9.72 45.83 16.67 34.72 16.67 Average percentage of users 78.93 70.09 64.32 62.01 55.82 49.70 22.43 18.35 12.75 32.94 26.64 38.17 26.64

Note: Multiple answers were permitted

Figure 6 Users’ awareness about different types of services

as furniture while 50.79 percent users satisfied with computer facilities. 49.95 percent and 47.04 percent users satisfied with library shelves/display racks and space for reading while 43.69 percent and 22.43 percent of the users satisfied with an audio-visual room and display of the latest arrivals. Only a small percentage of users i.e. 18.35 percent 106

and 12.75 percent users satisfied with toilets and other facility available in the library. 5.8 Users are facing problems The survey helped us to find out the problems faced by the users. Computer facilities are a major problem to the users as the analysis shows 60.63 percent, followed by library

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Table VIII Satisfaction with infrastructure facilities
S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Satisfaction Space for reading Reading tables/chairs Shelves/display racks Computer facilities Audio-visual room Display of latest arrivals Toilets Others FM 47.13 56.32 54.02 49.43 42.53 37.93 25.29 17.24 RS 52.22 56.67 54.44 50 47.78 23.33 24.44 16.67 Percentage of users PG UG 51.47 53.68 52.94 52.94 44.85 24.26 16.18 11.03 35.76 37.58 36.97 32.12 43.03 12.73 13.33 9.09 OC 48.61 68.06 51.39 69.44 40.28 13.89 12.5 9.72 Average percentage of users 47.04 54.46 49.95 50.79 43.69 22.43 18.35 12.75

Note: Multiple answers were permitted

Figure 7 Satisfaction with infrastructure facilities

catalogues 53.51 percent and shelf arrangement 51.06 percent. The library may take care in these areas to minimize the grievances of the users related to the library catalogue, computer facilities and shelf arrangement which are indispensable to meet the requirements for the users (Table IX and Figure 8).

5.9 Satisfactions with overall functions of the library It is important to find out the image of the library in general. It includes all aspects such as the building, physical facilities, services collections, etc. Table X and Figure 9 show that the largest percentage of users 45.8 percent rated the library as “very good”, while 29.97 percent of users have rated the library as “excellent” and 14.63 percent as “poor”, followed

Table IX Users’ problems with different services
S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Problems Physical facilities Collections Library catalogues Shelf arrangement Services Computer facilities Attitude of staff Rules and regulations FM 24.14 19.54 63.39 50.57 19.54 35.63 5.75 2.30 RS 24.44 43.33 54.00 48.89 13.33 97.78 03.33 5.56 Percentage of users PG 24.26 19.85 40.44 59.56 21.32 71.32 11.03 3.68 UG 30.91 26.67 33.33 58.79 12.73 44.24 20.00 6.06 OC 29.17 30.56 76.39 37.50 13.89 54.17 45.83 15.28 Average percentage of users 26.58 27.99 53.51 51.06 16.16 60.63 17.19 6.57

Note: Multiple answers were permitted

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Figure 8 Users’ problems with different services

Table X Satisfaction with overall functions of the library
S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 Satisfaction Excellent Very good Poor Very poor I have no opinion FM 31.03 42.53 20.69 3.45 2.3 RS 32.22 46.67 12.22 5.56 3.33 Percentage of users PG 30.15 51.47 11.03 5.15 2.21 UG 27.27 46.67 13.94 6.67 5.45 OC 29.17 41.67 15.28 11.11 2.78 Average percentage of users 29.97 45.8 14.63 6.39 3.21

Figure 9 Satisfaction with overall functions of the library

by 6.39 percent users who have rated overall functions of the library as “poor”, while 3.21 percent gave no opinion about the library.

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6. Findings of the study
The findings of this study are summarized as follows: . It shows that 89.33 percent of the users were regular visitors of the library, whereas the remaining 10.67 percent were irregular visitors. . It found that 97.78 percent research scholars consult reference books as well as consult research work, while 108

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96.36 percent undergraduates consult the library to borrow and return the books. Consequences of the study show that the majority of library users were consulting the library catalogues to locate the documents. It is found that the majority of users of the library 78.93 percent used the circulation service, after that 70.09 percent used reference service. The study shows that the majority of users were satisfied with the furniture and computer facilities. It is found that 60.63 percent of the users were facing major problem in accessing computer facilities.

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The study also found that the users rated the overall “satisfaction level of the library functions” as “very good” 45.80 percent and 29.97 percent as “excellent”.

7. Suggestions
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The library should conduct more attractive programs for the users to make maximum usage of the library. It is suggested that library should make an arrangement to provide nascent information to the visitors. It is suggested that the library should have up-to-date collections and “general books” on various subjects to fulfill the needs of the users to encourage them to visit and use the library. We would like to suggest that the library should make the issuing policy more satisfactory or user friendly. It is suggested that library should arrange for more multiple copies of documents in all fields especially Science and Technology. Documents of the latest edition should be acquired on a priority basis. Library should acquire more audio-visual material for teaching and research requirements; We would like to recommend that the library’s catalogue should be a computerized system for books which will be updated regularly. It is also recommended that the OPACs usage and its features should be explained periodically to bring awareness among users. It is, therefore, suggested that there should be no restrictions for photocopying from various encyclopedias, because it is beyond the financial reach of scholars/ researchers. There should be no restriction as to the quantity or volume of the Xerox and there must be easy approach for getting those needed. Library should be encouraged to set up freely accessible institutional repositories of their full text articles and publications subject to copyright restrictions. In order to maximize the satisfaction level with “infrastructure facilities”, the study suggests that library should improve natural and electrical lightning for the pleasant atmosphere of the library and also recommends that the library should have neat and tidy lavatory facilities to the library users. The university library authority should give more concentration on its catalogue systems in easiest and efficient method to be accessed easily by the users. Library should be using modern search technology in order to better search for documents, and also lengthen the library network for the exchange of information. The library staff should be skilled enough to assist the users when they face any problem in accessing library collections and its services. Though, it is noticed that the satisfaction with overall functions of the library was very good but even though library staff should concentrate on user satisfaction level from ”very good ” to ”excellent”, in order to improve the level of user satisfaction level with overall functions of the library.

documents and non-book materials recorded is very low. This research shows that library authorities should concentrate on usage of online resources by the users. It is recommended that a systematic training of library staff on the use of latest technology should be implemented to improve the use of internet and e-resources and to offer online and CD-ROM databases services efficiently and effectively. The larger number of computers should be provided in the library. Library users’ orientation programs should be offered on a regular basis. In order to satisfy users’ expectations and needs, it is suggested that strengthening of subject collections with special reference to research collections must be given highest priority in the university library. It would be beneficial for faculty members as well as students.

References
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8. Conclusion
It is clear from the findings of the present study that the usage of library collections and services is appreciated by the users of College of Engineering, King Saud University, but at the same time they assume more. The percentage of usage of e-

Determinants of library use, collections and services Akhtar Hussain and Abdulwahab M. Abalkhail

Collection Building Volume 32 · Number 3 · 2013 · 100 –110

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Corresponding author
Akhtar Hussain can be contacted at: ahusain.c@ksu.edu.sa

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