| dc.description.abstract | Theses, dissertations, reports and other research works by university communities are housed in
digital institutional repositories in the library department. Postgraduate students are expected to
utilize these resources; hence, the nature of services provided therein is critical. The provision of
digital institutional repository service in university libraries is expected to be courteous,
professional, and credible. Professionalism is demonstrated through politeness, trustworthiness,
honesty, friendliness, respectfulness and competence of the institutional repository staff serving
users. These attributes usually communicate assurance and heighten customer satisfaction. The
feeling of assurance is also reinforced by the experience that a user gets when interacting with the
repository website; for example, the friendliness of the webpages. However, incidences of users
getting disinterested and losing patience with institutional repositories have continued to be
reported.This paper reports part of findings of a large study which aimed to determine how
adopting SERVQUAL model can improve digital institutional repository information services to
postgraduate students at universities in Meru County. This paper assessed the assurance of digital
institutional repository service provision. It employed a descriptive survey research design. The
target population constituted library head of sections and post-graduate students. Purposive
sampling was employed to get librarians, while simple random sampling, to select students. A
sample size of 101 was adopted. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. Data
quality was achieved by checking construct, content and face validity, while reliability was
ascertained using Cronbach alpha. Data was analysed descriptively and thematically. The study
found that the level of assurance in digital institutional repositories at universities in Meru County
was moderate. Assurance aspects are supported by elements like: knowledgeable staff, customer-
centric service, adequate ICT infrastructure, resources and facilities; customer awareness; and
adequate funding. The study recommended creation of awareness, staff training and upgrading the
repository technology to enhance assurance aspects. | en_US |
