2007 LibQUAL+ survey
LibQual Report
Read the 2007 LibQual
report . An additional report, presenting results by
discipline (faculty) is also available: report by discipline .
To help you interpret the reports, we have created a PowerPoint
presentation explaining Radar Charts.
What Users Told Us
The survey results reflect users' perceptions. These help decision-makers effect improvements and shape the Library's plans. We realize the importance of communicating with users about developments in the library, and what measures are underway to accomplish them. Here is a summary of users' perceptions of our services:
What the Undergraduate students told us:- Stronger points:
- Employees who instill confidence in users
- Giving users individual attention
- Weaker points:
- Quiet space for individual activities
- Library space that inspires study and learning
- Stronger points:
- Employees who instill confidence in users
- Giving users individual attention
- Weaker points:
- Print and/or electronic journal collections I require for my work
- Quiet space for individual activities
- Stronger points:
- Community space for group learning and group study
- Giving users individual attention
- Weaker points:
- Print and/or electronic journal collections I require for my work
- The printed library materials I need for my work
Background
In February of 2007, Concordia Library participated for the second time in the LibQUAL+ online survey, developed by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and Texas A&M University. In doing so, we are participating in an international project to define and measure library service quality; over 200 institutions worldwide have participated in LibQUAL+, and Concordia has now joined their ranks. In addition, in 2007, several Canadian institutions decided to participate in LibQual allowing providing us with Canadian benchmarks. The survey measures library services by asking users to evaluate three primary issues:
- Affect of Service (quality of services provided by library employees)
- Information Control (issues of collections and access to collections)
- Library as Place (study and work space issues)
Users were asked to indicate (1) their minimum acceptable service level, (2) the desired service level expected, and (3) the perceived level of service currently provided.
A total of 8100 users were randomly sampled, as follows: 6000 undergraduate students, 1200 graduate students and 900 faculty members. 1012 responses were received, a response rate of 14%. This response rate is similar to the one obtained in 2006 (15%).
Comments
Another useful source of information gathered through the LibQual survey are the users' comments. 48% of all respondents took the time to write a few words about the library services for a total of 466 comments. The three most frequent categories of comments had to do with service to patrons (18%), physical space (15%) and noise (10%). Although a majority of comments pertaining to physical space and noise were negative, it is encouraging to note that 75% of the comments about the relationship of library staff with users were positive.
Summary
The 2007 results are quite similar to those obtained in 2006. Once again, our strongest scores came from the Affect of Service set of questions, where we consistently scored above our users' minimum expectations.
However, there are other areas in which the Library falls below users' minimum expectations, specifically in the areas of Information Control and Library as Place. If we compare ourselves with other Canadian libraries in these areas, our scores are below those of most other participating Canadian libraries and the difference is particularly noticeable for Library as Place. This is also reflected in a comparison with the "LibQual norms", a set of standards that allows us to rank ourselves within a percentile grid. According to LibQual norms, 60% of institutions had better scores for the Information Control area, and 65% were doing better in regard to Library as Place.
