4. Conclusion and Future Directions
The assessment of digital services is a key element in the delivery of digital library services to meet the needs
of the library users. In this paper, we have argued that SLAs are principally valuable for correlating library patron
experience metrics with the underlying infrastructure components that support the associated business service. We
proposed a three-pronged approach for the assessment of digital services quality within a library domain. At the
service provider and library interface level, service level agreements (SLAs) are used to establish the required level
of digital service quality. At the user-library interface level, the library management collects user experiences and
perception through various existing instrument. At the user-service interface level, the digital service usage data is
collected and used in conjunction with the data collected. Due to that, the user-library interface is to enhance user
experiences as well as gauge changes to the level of QoS required. The first two level assessments are also used to
validate SLA. The proposed approach is generic and can be applied to all types of libraries that have standalone
digital services or provide integrated traditional and digital library services.
Acknowledgements
The research leading to these results has received funding from the parallel and distributed computing
laboratory at Deakin University and the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia (MOHE) through its
sponsorship on PhD program.