The Clemson University Libraries recently participated in LibQUAL+,
a survey administered by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
to assess user
satisfaction with library services. More than 200 institutions
participated in this year's survey, including all types of libraries
ancrss the United
States as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe. 2200 Clemson
users were
randomly chosen and invited to participate, with 595 completing
the survey. This is the fourth year in a row that we have participated
in LibQUAL+.
This year, we offered an incentive to encourage people to complete
the survey. Stephen Sperry,
Associate Professor in the
Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture
was the lucky winner. He received a Palm Zire®,
a handheld PDA with a built-in digital camera. He's shown
here with Mr. Joseph Boykin,
Dean
of
the
Libraries. (That's Professor Sperry on the left, and Dean Boykin
on the right.) They are standing in the new convenience
store, Snax and Stax, which
is located right in Cooper Library!
Details about the Survey
The survey has been refined since it was first administered in 2000, and
now contains 22 core questions. Respondents were asked to rate (on a scale
of 1-9, with
9 being
the highest)
their
minimum
expectation
level for
a particular service, their desired level of service, and their perception
of how well we are currently providing the service.
The questions are grouped
into three categories, or dimension:
- Information Control (collections, access to resources, and how well
we enable users to find things themselves)
- Affect of Service (relating to library staff and services)
- Library as Place (issues relating to facilities)
The survey measured two "service quality gaps" -- the difference
between a user's minimum acceptable level of service and the level of service
they
perceived (adequacy gap); and the difference between a user's highest desired
level of service and the level of service they perceived (superiority gap).
The survey also asked 8 questions relating to
general satisfaction, and the Libraries' role in providing information.
Plus, respondents
were invited to add written comments relating to library services.
Summary of Survey Results
- We seem to be meeting the needs of our undergraduates, as they gave
us consistently high marks.
- Courteous employees is the most important quality for undergraduates;
grad students were most concerned with journals, and faculty cited having
a good website as their top priority.
- We are improving our electronic and print journals collections, but
we need to continue to work on this, especially for faculty and graduate
students.
- Much of our analysis this year centered on frequent library users.
Users who reported that they "Use Library Daily" were the most satisfied
- whether undergraduate, graduate, or faculty.
More Complete Results
All libraries that participated in the LibQUAL+ project were provided
with a notebook containing detailed analysis and graphic representations
of the
survey results. Because the survey is not designed for librareis to compare
their level of quality against other libraries, only aggregate data is
available for the entire survey population. Detailed results at the individual
library
level were only provided to that library. These results are available to
any Clemson University student, faculty, or staff member. Please contact
Jan Comfort for further information.
Clemson University Libraries would like to thank everyone who responded
to the LibQUAL+ ® survey. We hope that if you are invited to participate
in future surveys that you will take the opportunity to
respond. We assure you that we value your feedback. We will continue to
analyze the
results of the 2004 survey as part of ongoing assessment activities. If
you are interested in other information regarding assessment at the Libraries,
please visit the About the Libraries section
of our homepage:http://www.lib.clemson.edu/aboutlib/overview/overview.htm
.
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