Malaysia: the country Malaysia[1] comprises Peninsular Malaysia (131,598sqkm), Sabah (73,711sqkm) and Sarawak (124,449sqkm), covering a total area of 329,758sqkm. Peninsular Malaysia consists of 11 states (Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Mela- ka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor, Trengganu) and the Federal Territory. The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a multiracial country with a population of approximately 20 million, with the Malays, Chinese and Indians as the three most dominant races. Malaysia practises freedom of worship. Islam is the official religion with Buddhism, Hin- duism and Christianity being the other main religions. Malay is the official language but English, Chinese and Tamil are widely spo- ken. Malaysia has a tropical climate, with a high daily average temperature of 28°C and a humidity of 80 per cent. Rainfall is heavy, averaging 2,500mm per year. Its climate is influenced by two distinct monsoon seasons – Northeast (October-March) and Southwest (May-September), with the latter being the drier season. Education is under the purview of the Ministry of Education. The Ministry manages a comprehensive public school system, ranging from primary schools to universities. Private schools, colleges and universities have proliferated in the last two years. Malaysia’s aim is to be the regional centre for education in Southeast Asia. The National Library, school libraries, and the university libraries are also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. Public libraries, however, are under the juris- diction of their various state governments, while special libraries (though located at the various Ministries and Departments) are under the purview of the National Library which is responsible for their operations under the “common user scheme”[2]. The quality movement in Malaysia: in brief It must be stated at the outset that this brief account of the quality movement in Malaysia does not do justice to the movement as a whole because the information provided here is selective and focuses only on formalised procedures initiated by the Government for one group – the Civil Service. 426 Library Management Volume 19 · Number 7 · 1998 · pp. 426–433 © MCB University Press · ISSN 0143-5124 Quality services: policies and practices in Malaysia Zaiton Osman Carole Ann Goon and Wan Hajrah Wan Aris The authors Zaiton Osman is Chief Librarian at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Carole Ann Good is Director of the Serials Division, Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia (National Library of Malaysia). Wan Hajrah Wan Aris is Librarian of the Prime Minister’s Department Library. Abstract Reports on research undertaken because the Malaysian delegation to an ASEAN-COCI seminar felt there was a need to understand what is meant by “ Quality” from the librarian’s perspective. A survey was undertaken to obtain feedback from librarians. Questionnaires were sent to all (10) university librarians, all (13) state public libraries and six selected special libraries. The response rate was 100 per cent from university libraries, 77 per cent from public libraries and 100 per cent from special libraries. An analysis of the responses provided insights into what quality means to librarians, the policy infrastructure available, the obstacles faced by librarians in the imple- mentation of quality measures and the strategies they employ to ensure quality services. It also provided an insight into their future plans.