Alice’s Adventures in LibQual-Land
Kitty TynanAssistant Director for Public Services
CUA Libraries
All illustrations from The Victorian Web: A Tenniel Galleryhttp://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/tenniel/alice/gallery1.html
What is LibQual?• Developed & administered by ARL• Web-based survey• Measures service
quality• Demographic data• 22 “core” questions• 5 “local” questions• Comments
Why LibQual?• No formal assessment of services to date• Strategic planning• Space planning• Accreditation• Fairly easy to do
– Lots of support from ARL– Results include data
in a presentation notebook– Can use Excel for analysis
How to LibQual
Identify the Local QuestionsChoose 5 from over 100
Ease of use of electronic resources
Providing help when and where I need it
Providing information that answers my questions
Teaching me how to access, evaluate, and use information
Making me aware of library services
Subject bibliographies
The right mix of electronic content
The right mix of easy-to-use tools to access military and other scholarly content
Examples:
2008 Local Questions
Comprehensive collections of fulltext articles online
Convenience of borrowing books from other colleges
Ease of using library's online article indexes
Availability of online help when using my library's electronic resources
Informing me of useful library services
Providing health information when and where I need it
Employees teaching me how to access or manage information
Demographics Define your Population
• By status (faculty by rank, staff, graduate, undergraduate)
• By department
• By gender• By age• Office of Institutional
Research is your friend
Getting the Word Out• Emails• Announcements
– Libraries web page
– University news• Posters• Table tents• Bookmarks
Prizes!• A big prize (iPod
Touch) is a big draw• Ask for (and get)
donations– Bookstore– Starbucks
Follow up• Web reminders• More emails• Remind them of the deadline – and the
prizes!• Thank them at the end
Now What?• Review results notebook• Identify priorities• Prepare summary
report• Analyze comments• Apply• Repeat