Data SummaryJuly 27, 2005

Dealing with Perceptions!

Used to quantifiable quality (collection size, # of journals, etc.)

Survey of opinions or perceptions Don’t take it personally Cannot argue with perceptions Can only attempt to design

methods and services to address the perception and increase user satisfaction

LibQUAL+™ Goals

To begin a process of comparison

To measure and demonstrate impact

To choose where to focus further improvements

Commitment to user input and an awareness of the role of users in guiding library initiatives

General Facts

Created by ARL and Texas A&M University

247 institutions participated in 2005

Included all UVSC faculty, staff and students

Distributed via direct email, newsletters, Communicator, Academic Communicator, Student News and in print

Response Summary

442 complete surveys Incomplete surveys were not kept Surveys with more than 11 “n/a”

responses deleted Surveys containing more than 9

logical inconsistencies deleted (Minimum should not be higher than Desired rating)

Demographic Summary

Percentage of Respondents by User Group

71%

21%

4%

2%2% Undergraduate

Faculty

Library Staff

Graduate

Staff

Demographic Summary

Number of Respondents by Discipline

58

26

2

45

22

8488

16 2118

0102030405060708090

Demographic Summary

Percentage of Respondents by Age

1%

28%

35%

18%

17%

1%

Under 1818-2223-3031-4546-65Over 65

“22 Questions and a Box”

22 core statements covering many areas of library service “When it comes to…” Minimum, Desired, Perceived Level

of Service Responses 1-9 with 9 most favorable Service Adequacy Gap

5 local statements 1 box for comments

172 out of 442 surveyed provided comments

Survey Summary

Core statements summarized into three areas (dimensions): Affect of Service – how the patron is

treated Library as Place – the library facility

and environment Information Control – personal

control of and access to information

LibQUAL+ ™ Radar Chart -- All

Service Adequacy (Difference between Perceived Service mean and Minimum Service Mean)

Most Positive Adequacy Means AS-1: Employees who instill

confidence in others (.69) AS-2: Giving users individual

attention (.68) Negative Adequacy Means

LP-1: Library space that inspires study and learning (-.07)

LP-2: Quiet space for individual activities (-.04)

Core Questions Dimension Summary

LibQUAL+ ™ Radar Chart - Students

LibQUAL+ ™ Radar Chart -- Faculty

Other LibQUAL+ ™ Questions: Library Use (all respondents)

How often do you use resources on the library premises?

Percentage of Students and Faculty

05

1015202530354045

StudentsFaculty

How often do you access library resources through a library Web page?

Percentage of Students and Faculty

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

StudentsFaculty

How often do you use Yahoo ™, Google ™, or non-library gateways for information?

Percentage of Students and Faculty

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

StudentsFaculty

Local Questions Summary

Adequacy Mean

0.03

0.48

0.08

0.40.45

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1Collections of online full-text articles sufficient tomeet my needs

Video and soundrecording resources Ineed for my research

Ready access tocomputers/ Internet/ software

Librarians teaching mehow to effectively use theelectronically availabledatabases, journals andbooksEfficient InterlibraryLoan/ document delivery

Other LibQUAL+™ Questions: Overall Quality

& Satisfaction

7.077.38

6.84

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Overall Quality of Service Personal TreatmentSatisfaction

Teaching, Learning,Research Support

Satisfaction

Other LibQUAL+ ™ Questions: Information

Literacy Outcomes

6.046.51

6.66

6.046.36

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9Library helps me stayabreast of developmentsin my field of interest

Library aids myadvancement in myacademic discipline

Library enables me to bemore efficient in myacademic pursuits

Library helps medistinguish betweentrustworthy anduntrustworthyinformationLibrary provides me withthe information skills Ineed in my work or study

Survey Comments

Alert us to problems or possibilities: “I’m sure your facilities are able to do so much more

than I ever try to access. Sometimes I don’t know where to start ---just like a student. Do you offer research classes? That would be great. Since getting my doctorate, I have forgotten how to use the library as an instructional tool.”

Faculty member, age 46-65

How-to Tuesdays: “Research for Dummies”

Comments: Positive Perceptions

Great job with the limited resources Appreciate specific services: ILL,

electronic reserve, textbooks “library has been one of the best

things about my experiences at this school”

“happy atmosphere” “library is the best place on campus”

Staff service

Comments: Negative Perceptions

Noise Study space Confusing to find research Number and currency of

resources Uncomfortable chairs Slow computers on 4th floor Number of online resources Staff service

Some examples of things we can take action on:

Too much cell phone noise More library staff taking notice of people

who are disturbing others One circulation person to handle

everything for course reserves and faculty requests

Revised and improved web interface Maybe a few Apple computers No vacuuming during business hours Some headphones are broken Put notices in the study rooms of the hours

and what time the library and desks close

“We asked them what they thought, now what do we do?” Commitment to change Dealing with perceptions:

Promote services and resources you already offer but which users seem not to use or be aware of

Place a greater emphasis on on-going customer service training for library staff

Attempt to address significant collection and access issues with new services

Future Possibilities and Plans Focus groups to explore

problems/solutions Ex…Library Hours

Compare results with comparable institutions

Carry out every 3 years (2008) Track and compare data Use findings for strategic

planning

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS?