By Kirsten Kinsley
In early November 2018, the FSU Libraries administered the LibQUAL survey. The LibQUAL survey, conducted every three years, is a measure of library service quality in areas of service, library as place, resources, and their ease of access. Faculty, undergraduates, graduate students, and staff all have the opportunity to participate. Respondents were asked to list the library they use most often. Users from a variety of libraries both on and off the main campus responded to the survey (including users of Strozier, Dirac, Engineering, Panama City Branch, Law, Medicine, Music, and online libraries). We appreciate your participation as we know with our library users’ busy schedules that it is hard to stop and take the time out to fill out a survey.
We received 711 respondents: 429 undergraduates, 155 graduate students, 86 faculty, and 35 staff. We learned that the libraries met undergraduate students needs in service and information areas, but that they have some expectations for the library as place that is important for us to listen to as we move forward with our future strategies and goals for enhancing library space. Things like a quiet study space for individual activities and spaces conducive to study and learning are important to undergraduates.
According to the graduate students who responded, having a library that provides them access to electronic resources accessible from their home or office and a website that allows them to locate information on their own are two high expectations. They also expect the library to be a getaway for study, learning, and research. Graduate students also perceive that there is a gap between their current experience and their expectation for service in the areas of making information easily accessible for independent use and making sure the libraries provide the print and/or electronic journal collections they need for their work.
The faculty who took the survey had some similar needs to the graduate students in the areas of resource access. They, too, want a website enabling them to locate information on their own and electronic resources accessible from their home or office. They would also like dependability in handling users’ service problems. Most of the emphasis from faculty is on access to materials they need and the ability to get to those resources independently or with having dependable staff to help them. There is some work to do in these areas to meet the high standards of quality our faculty at a R1: Research University (highest research activity) have come to expect from their campus Libraries.
Pictured below are three of the four LibQual participant winners of a Mobile Power Bank! Thank you!
Again, thank you to all of you who took the time to fill out the survey. We are always looking for ways to improve and we hope we can continue to work to meet the expectations of faculty and students. We will share with you how we will better meet those expectations as we go forward.