Regents Academic Committee on Libraries

University System of Georgia

Projects

GALILEO Knowledge Repository

LibQUAL

  • LibQUAL
  • LibQUAL Overview

    The Regents Committee on Academic Libraries (RACL) has decided to participate in the 2006 LibQUAL+ Survey. Not all University System of Georgia libraries will participate, but the majority will do so. The LibQUAL+ Survey is sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in conjunction with Texas A & M University.

    Colleges, universities of all sizes have administered LibQUAL+ since its inception in 2000. The majority of participants have been U.S. academic libraries; other participants are public libraries, medical, government, and other special libraries, and a few international participants.

    Other consortia that have participated include: OhioLINK , Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL), State University Libraries of Florida, NY3Rs (academic and public libraries in New York state); Oberlin Library Group, and University of Wisconsin Library System. Georgia's own AMPALS participated in spring 2005.

    The goals of LibQUAL+ are to

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

    Libraries participate in LibQUAL for some of the following reasons:

    • They have identified assessment as a priority.
    • The LibQUAL+ Survey is a tested and revised instrument based on the experiences of many libraries (the instrument has been administered approximately 1000 times by approximately 500 libraries).
    • Using LibQUAL+ provided a common tool for individual libraries to compare themselves to other consortia-affiliated libraries (as well as comparisons with libraries across the country).
    • SACS accreditation efforts can benefit from LibQUAL+ Survey data.

    In addition, consortia benefit from participating in LibQUAL+ as follows:

    • Opportunity to compare with peer institutions is valuable and provides a broader measure.
    • An analysis of group results and a group/aggregate notebook is provided to consortial participants.
    • The ability to add five additional questions to the survey as a unified group; data from those questions will be included in the group notebook.
    • The opportunity for a locally hosted, customized results meeting (depending on the number of consortium participants and the availability of the LibQUAL+ team).

    The five local questions that USG libraries have chosen are:

    • Convenience of borrowing books from other colleges
    • Library orientations / instruction sessions
    • Ready access to computers / Internet / software
    • Convenient service hours
    • Ability to navigate library Web pages easily

    The 27 questions that already exist in the survey instrument are:

    • Employees who instill confidence in users
    • Making electronic resources accessible from my home or office
    • Library space that inspires study and learning
    • Giving users individual attention
    • A library Web site enabling me to locate information on my own
    • An environment that facilitates group study and problem solving
    • Employees who are consistently courteous
    • The printed library materials I need for my work
    • Quiet space for individual activities
    • Readiness to respond to users' questions
    • The electronic information resources I need
    • Providing help when and where I need it
    • Employees who have the knowledge to answer user questions
    • Collections of online full-text articles sufficient to meet my needs
    • A comfortable and inviting location
    • Employees who deal with users in a caring fashion
    • Modern equipment that lets me easily access needed information
    • Availability of subject specialist assistance
    • Employees who understand the needs of their users
    • Easy-to-use access tools that allow me to find things on my own
    • A getaway for study, learning, or research
    • Willingness to help users
    • Making information easily accessible for independent use
    • Print and/or electronic journal collections I require for my work
    • Community space for group learning and group study
    • Helpfulness in dealing with users' IT problems
    • Dependability in handling users' service problems

    For more information, go to the LibQUAL+ website at: http://www.libqual.org/. There's a detailed LibQUAL+ Procedures Manual (78 pages) available at: http://www.libqual.org/Manual/index.cfm. A free LibQUAL+ Introductory Workshop is held at ALA Midwinter in San Antonio on Monday, January 23, from 9:00 to 12 noon; for details go to: http://www.libqual.org/Events/index.cfm. The specific hotel or convention center location for this workshop is yet to be determined.

    USG Libraries participating and when (if this is known) are as follows:

    Will administer LibQUAL+ Survey in spring 2006:

    • Georgia Highlands College
    • Georgia Southern University
    • North Georgia College & State University

    As far as I know the remaining participants will administer their LibQUAL+ Survey in fall 2006 and they are:

    • Dalton State College
    • East Georgia College
    • South Georgia College
    • Waycross College
    • Georgia Tech
    • University of Georgia
    • Valdosta State University
    • Augusta State University
    • Clayton State University
    • Columbus State University
    • Georgia College & State University
    • Savannah State University
    • Coastal Georgia Community College
    • Gwinnett University System Center (or Georgia Gwinnett University)
    • University of West Georgia
    • Georgia Perimeter College
    • Bainbridge College
    • Gordon College

    If you have any questions about this, please consult with your library director/dean or contact me.

    Kathy Tomajko
    Assistant to the Dean of Libraries
    Library & Information Center
    Georgia Institute of Technology
    Atlanta , GA 30332-0900
    p: 404-894-4527
    f: 404-894-6084
    kathy.tomajko@library.gatech.edu

  • LibQUAL Timeline and Procedures

    Summary Steps:

    • Register for survey at: http://www.libqual.org/Register/index.cfm. Once you register, an invoice will automatically be generated. Be sure to select the "Georgia Consortium" so that you'll be included in the group analysis and the 5 local questions chosen will automatically appear in your survey instrument.
    • Check with your institution about human subjects research requirements. At Georgia Tech, we didn't have to go through the process in that we didn't plan to publish our results.
    • Sign up for LibQUAL+ listserv (for details, see Section VIII of the Procedures Manual).
    • Decide if you're going to sample your faculty & student population or put the survey on your website. NOTE: Most libraries do not survey their library staff, but ask them to test and preview the survey.
    • If sampling or e-mailing the entire campus, you need to determine the best source on your campus for e-mail addresses (this step isn't necessary if you're putting the survey on your website). Georgia Tech's Registrar's Office was able to provide a sampling of email addresses from Banner and then one of our systems staff members cut and pasted them into Eudora email.
    • Complete Survey Preferences, Survey Customization, and Representativeness Questionnaire pages on LibQUAL website. One of the things you decide when you complete the Survey Preferences, is when you want your survey to begin and end (we kept it up for 3 weeks, some do more and some less). The Representativeness Questionnaire includes questions related to campus demographics, e.g. the number of students, faculty, in the various disciplines taught.
    • Determine what publicity is needed – it could be tents near computers in the library, posters in the library and elsewhere, articles or ads in student newspapers and faculty newsletters, etc.
    • Decide if you're going to have incentive prizes – bookstore gift certificates are the easiest. ARL sends you 25 randomly selected names and email addresses when your survey ends (from these GT gave prizes to the top 5 on the list).
    • Develop your letter of invitation and reminders.
    • Administer your survey; it's fun to monitor the comments, which you can do immediately online. You can analyze the comments if you wish but it's optional.
    • Complete Post Hoc Questionnaire and Evaluation Questionnaire.

    Timeline for Fall'06 participants; the dates for Spring'06 participants are 8-9 months earlier (most dates are approximate):

    January

    • Training session for libraries participating in LibQUAL+ is held in conjunction with the ALA Midwinter Conference (in 2006: January 23, 9am – 12 noon, in San Antonio).

    Up to August 31

    • Register online for the survey at: http://www.libqual.org/Register/index.cfm.
    • Subscribe to ARL-QUALITY listserv (an open forum). For information on how to subscribe, see section VIII of the Procedures Manual, under "Participant Resources."
    • Identify and initiate steps needed to obtain clearance for human subjects' research if needed at your institution.
    • Identify appropriate data source to provide valid e-mail addresses for selected sample populations (e.g. campus computing, registrar's office, library patron database). If you plan to post it on your website, you can skip this step.
    • The online Survey Preferences, Survey Customization, and Representativeness Questionnaire pages will be open in the LibQUAL+ Survey Management Center: http://www.libqual.or/Manage/index.cfm); several of these steps must be completed before you can launch your survey.

    June or later

    • Once, you've completed the steps above, the survey is available for participants to pre-test within their libraries.

    July or August

    • Draw final e-mail samples after institution's fall enrollment process is complete. Some smaller libraries email their entire faculty and student populace. Some libraries put the survey on their website and encourage students and faculty to participate through a variety of publicity efforts.

    September – December

    • The LibQUAL+ survey is open to the public.
    • If sending an invitation to an email sample or your entire campus: send a personalized e-mail message from the library director announcing the upcoming LibQUAL+ survey (see Appendix B for a sample survey notification)
    • Make any necessary adjustments to the sample groups (i.e. replacing invalid e-mail addresses with valid e-mail addresses as needed).
    • Send e-mail inviting your sample group to participate in the survey (see Appendix C for a sample survey invitation).
    • After sending out your survey invitation, send 2-3 reminder e-mail messages at 3-5 day intervals (see Appendix D for sample survey reminders).

    December

    • Survey availability ends; data analysis begins.

    After December

    • Results notebooks and survey data files are available to participants.
    • Complete LibQUAL+ Post Hoc Questionnaire (each participating library must do this).
    • Complete LibQUAL+ Evaluation Questionnaire (all individual survey liaisons are asked to complete an Evaluation Questionnaire).

RACL / WebCT Working Group

  • RACL / WebCT Working Group

    Integration of Library Resources in USG WebCT / VISTA Environments

  • RACL / WebCT Working Group Members and Resources

    Committee Members

    • Carol Bray, East Georgia College
    • Laura Burtle, Georgia State University
    • Caroline Cason, University of Georgia
    • Sherrida Crawford, Valdosta State University
    • Kim Eccles, Atlanta Metropolitan College
    • Lauren Fancher, Board of Regents
    • Scott Gillies, Gwinnett University Center
    • Jeff Heck, Augusta State University
    • Chris Huff, State University of West Georgia
    • Shirley Lankford, State University of West Georgia
    • Mary Morris, Macon State College
    • Jan Ruskell, State University of West Georgia
    • Sandra Stratford, Columbus State University
    • Tammy Sugarman, Georgia State University
    • Tyler Walters, Georgia Institute of Technology
    • Phil Wetherington, Macon State College

    Resources

    • Brian Finnegan, Board of Regents
    • Doug Hyche, Board of Regents