The aim of this study is to establish assessing method of the service quality in academic libraries. Here we argue the service quality and its dimensionality in the library setting as a prerequisite for it. The terms and notions relevant to service quality that had been used rather ambiguously are discussed in the first place. Then, identifying the methodology of SERVQUAL, we claim that the aspects of "technical quality" are necessary for assessing the library service quality, and 4 different dimensions from those of SERVQUAL are extracted by factor analysis as a result of the extended survey.

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Without knowing an outside environment, it is difficult to make a decision about how to adapt to it. Nevertheless, most studies in library and information science have not focused on the actual relation or the habitat segregation between public libraries and books markets. The purpose is to describe the necessity of public library studies aiming at exploring outside environment. In this paper, presentation themes at conferences of Japan Society of Library and Information Science are reviewed quantitively, based on a framework classified into four in accordance with a differences in a viewpoint of study. This shows that most studies overemphasize libraries' internal environment, subsequently, and attempts to adapt to outside environment have been undervalued.

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