| The
Jean and Alexander Heard Library will be conducting a survey this
spring in conjunction with 167 other libraries across the nation.
This survey attempts to evaluate library user perceptions of library
service quality. Our effort here at Vanderbilt to better understand
user perceptions is a part of an overall study being conducted by
the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The survey and the
resulting data analysis are being administered through Texas A&M
University, the other major grant participant along with ARL.
This overall study is a part of the ARL New Measures Initiative projects, which seek to develop innovative ways for libraries to describe their contributions to their institutions. LibQUAL+ has as its particular goals:
The data we are able to gather from this study will benefit the Library and the University community as we explore ways of improving the services we offer and of ensuring that we are establishing appropriate priorities in our ongoing activities. Not only will we learn how well we measure-up to the expectations of our faculty and students, but we will also learn how we compare with other institutions in terms of user satisfaction; this information will be invaluable. In early April, we'll be asking all faculty and a sampling of graduate and undergraduate students to complete the web-based questionnaire of 25 items; completing the questionnaire should take no more than 10 minutes. As incentives to increase participation, those who complete the questionnaire and submit their e-mail address will be entered into a national drawing for a Palm Pilot V; Vanderbilt will be awarding 10 - 20 Starbuck's $25 gift certificates to randomly selected participants who provide e-mail addresses. (Survey responses are processed separately from the e-mail addresses, so there will be no way to tie a response to an individual. Likewise, the e-mail addresses will only be used for this incentive drawing and then the file will be deleted; we'll not see the complete list here at Vanderbilt since the data is being collected at Texas A&M.) We welcome questions and comments about the LibQual+ survey. Members of the library's committee coordinating the effort are Angel Bruner, Dennis Clark, Jody Combs, John Haar, MAT Trotter, and Flo Wilson. More information about ARL's LibQual+ study can be found at ARL's website: Jean
and Alexander Heard Library |