Library clients appreciate service
New students were able to tour the stacks as part of this fall’s Orientation activities. The library continues to offer workshops on resources throughout the year.
photo by rob maguire
The library survey results are tallied, and while they may not be surprising, they indicate a clear direction for future action.
Webster librarian Joanna Duy headed a working group that planned and delivered a user survey (LibQUAL+) to members of the Concordia community to get feedback in three major areas: service delivery, collections and physical space.
A random sample of faculty, undergraduate and graduate students were invited to participate. With a response rate of about 15 per cent, some results were fairly consistent across all three groups.
“The big picture is that we’re providing good service,” Duy said. “We had a lot of positive comments in the service section.”
The library did not do as well in terms of physical space or its collections, though that was anticipated. “Our acquisitions budget has not been keeping up with the need for materials,” Duy said.
A special $1-million allocation for library acquisitions at the end of the last budget year will help in that area.
Of particular concern, especially for faculty and grad students, was access to journals. Most researchers wanted access to the full text of journals from home or office, and they wanted the issues going back several years, not just the most recent. Of course, the more access a university can offer, the larger the licensing fee that will be paid.
“Improving collections and library space are long-term planning objectives, but the survey also pointed to the need for the library to make its collections and services as easy to use as possible,” Duy said.
“For instance, there was a strong desire for self-service among our users. We have to make sure we’re providing the tools to do that.” That might involve making websites and searches more user-friendly, or developing other programs to help people access the materials they want.
Since this survey was undertaken, a decision was made by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries to coordinate a Canada-wide LibQUAL+ survey. This will allow Canadian libraries to compare results from similar institutions across the country.
“The 2007 survey results will also be compared with the results received this year,” Duy said.
For more info, go to library.concordia.ca/about/libqual/results