ABSTRACT
With the recent explosion of the World Wide Web, people now have many options when seeking information. They are much less likely to look first to the wealth of resources and services that libraries offer. One of the greatest challenges for libraries today is to re-establish ourselves as the first and foremost gateway to which our users turn for assistance in navigating through the vast amount of information at their fingertips. A key to our success will be a focus on our users, proactively assessing their needs and responding with quality service that meets those needs-before they find the need to go elsewhere. This article will describe what MIT Libraries Public Services have done to address this challenge over the past three years as we directly confronted issues of service quality and performance measurement. Two key outcomes that will be discussed are the development of user groups to focus on users and their issues, and a service philosophy statement that is the basis for the creation of a strategic plan for quality service. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: <getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website: <https://www.HaworthPress.com" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
