MU Libraries Service Quality Survey

[tabby title=”LibQual+ Lite Survey”]The MU Libraries are conducting the LibQUAL+ Lite survey in Spring Semester 2012. This survey measures the quality of library services.

The LibQUAL+ survey was originally developed by scholars at Texas A&M University in collaboration with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and over 1000 libraries from various countries have participated in this survey since 2000.

The goals of LibQUAL+ Lite are to:

• Foster a culture of excellence in providing library service
• Help libraries better understand user perceptions of library service quality
• Collect and interpret library user feedback systematically over time
• Provide libraries with comparable assessment information from peer institutions
• Identify best practices in library service
• Enhance library staff members’ analytical skills for interpreting and acting on data

MU Libraries LibQual+ Lite 2012 Logistics

• Survey time period: March 2012 
• Average survey completion time: 6 minutes
• Participant selection: Random participant selection, so only those faculty, staff, and students contacted by email are eligible to fill out the survey.
• Survey respondents are eligible to win an iPod Touch or $5 gift certificates to the Bookmark Cafe. 

Need more information?

• Email us at libqualmu@missouri.edu with any questions or comments you have regarding the survey.

[tabby title=”FAQ”]

OVERVIEW

1. What is the LibQUAL+ survey?
   Service quality has always been the focus of libraries; LibQUAL+ is intended to provide a measure of the value of library service quality across multiple academic and research libraries. The current LibQUAL+ instrument measures library users’ perceptions of their libraries’ service quality and identifies gaps between minimal, desired and perceived levels of service.

   MU Libraries will use LibQUAL+ to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users’ opinions of service quality. LibQUAL+ is offered to the library community by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The program’s centerpiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey bundled with training that helps libraries assess and improve library services, change organizational culture, and market the library. The growing community of participants and its extensive dataset are rich resources for improving library services.

2. What does the survey measure?
   The instrument addresses three service quality dimensions that have been found to be valid in previous assessments of library services: Affect of Service, Library as Place, Information Control. Each question has three parts that ask respondents to indicate (1) the minimum service level they will accept, (2) the desired service level they expect, and (3) the perceived level of service currently provided. This design will permit analysis of gaps between expectations, perception, and minimum acceptance level of service. In addition, it will reveal which services are vital to our users, with the highest scores for desired level.
   
   
3. How will this survey benefit the University of Missouri community?
   As individual libraries receive information about areas needing improvement, this project will allow libraries to compare their service quality with other peer institutions, to develop benchmarks, and to find best practices across institutions. By using the LibQUAL+ instrument and initiating action based on the results of this survey, MU Libraries can be more responsive to users’ needs and provide services that are better aligned to users’ expectations.
   
   
4. Are responses confidential?
   Yes. The LibQUAL+ approach to confidentiality is guided by the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association (see http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html, section 4). Although some information is captured from respondents, such as network and email addresses, privacy is protected in two ways. First, only very indirect information is captured which would be difficult to trace back to an individual. Second, everything possible is done to separate personal information from survey responses. Email addresses are not saved with the responses, and once they are saved there is no way to link an individual’s responses to their email address.
   
   
5. Do I need to answer all of the questions?
   Yes. Your survey will not be included in the analysis if all questions are not answered. Please answer all of the questions to make sure that your responses are included.
   
   
6. What survey instrument is being used?
   The LibQUAL+ survey evolved from a conceptual model based on the SERVQUAL instrument, a popular tool for assessing service quality in the private sector grounded in the “Gap Theory of Service Quality”. It was developed by Leonard L. Berry (Distinguished Professor, Texas A&M University), A. Parasuraman, and Valarie A. Zeithaml. The Texas A&M University Libraries and other libraries used modified SERVQUAL instruments for several years; those applications revealed the need for a newly adapted tool that would serve the particular requirements of libraries. From 1999, ARL, representing the largest research libraries in North America, partnered with Texas A&M University Libraries to develop, test, and refine LibQUAL+. This effort was supported in part by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE).

   This year, MU Libraries have decided to opt for the new LibQual+ Lite version of the survey. By using this shorter form, we ensure that no respondent will have to answer more than 19 questions (not counting demographic items) compared with 34 questions for the full LibQual survey that was done in the past. The average time to complete LibQual+ Lite is only 6 minutes.

7. Do all libraries use the same questions?
   All libraries participating in the 2012 LibQUAL+ survey use the same core questions. In addition, each Library may select 5 questions from a list of 122 optional questions.
   
   
8. What other libraries are participating in LibQUAL?
   For a complete list see http://www.libqual.org/about/about_survey/participants.
   
   
9. How can I get more information about LibQUAL+?
   For more information, see the LibQUAL+(TM) homepage at http://www.libqual.org/home.
   
   

RESULTS

1. What will be done with the survey results?
   Survey data are transmitted directly from the LibQUAL+ server to a database. The data are then analyzed and reports are generated for individual libraries that provide information on how users perceive the quality of their service. Participating institutions will have access to summary results for each institution, allowing for comparisons among peer institutions and all participating academic institutions. This will aid in developing benchmarks and understanding best practices across institutions.
   
   
2. What information is shared with other institutions?
   Summary statistics only are shared with other institutions. The survey summary results will be made available to participants via the World Wide Web on a password-protected Web site. Users’ comments (from the comments section) will be made available only to the users’ institution.
   
   
3. What do the survey results look like?
   Survey results include aggregate summaries, demographics by library, item summaries, dimension summaries, and dimensions measured for survey implementation. See the Results page for detailed analysis.

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