LibQUAL+™ Survey FAQ

The survey opens on April 17, 2007. All UT Southwestern affiliates will receive an email invitation from Laurie Thompson, Assistant Vice President for Library Services, inviting them to complete the Web-based "Library Service Quality Survey". The email will contain an embedded URL for the actual survey, and a link to the Frequently Asked Questions. Reminder emails will be sent at 7-10 days intervals. The survey will close on May 25, 2007.

The survey typically takes from 8 to 13 minutes to complete.

Because this survey is taken by students at many colleges and universities, discipline categories have been standardized for ease of comparison. This will assist with future benchmarking activities.

Position categories are similarly standardized. If you are an Allied Health student pursuing a Bachelor’s degree, select “Undergraduate”. If you are pursuing a Master’s degree, a M.D., or a Ph.D., select “Graduate”. Residents, fellows, and interns should select the appropriate option under “Staff”. Faculty and staff may select from options provided in drop-down menus.

The survey examines a variety of dimensions of library services, each represented by a number of questions. Repetition or redundancy in questions allows the survey designers to analyze the validity of each service quality dimension through statistical methods.

Yes. All responses are anonymous. No personally identifiable information is retained. The LibQUAL+™ approach to confidentiality is guided by the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association (see http://www.apa.org/ethics/code.html, section 5). There is no link between the survey results and email addresses.

Potential respondents may elect not to proceed with the survey. The survey was approved by the UT Southwestern Institutional Review Board (IRB).

If you do not wish to answer a question or feel a question does not apply to you, select NA (not applicable). Surveys in which NA is frequently selected will not be counted in the aggregate scores.

If you have trouble opening the URL from within your email message, you can copy the URL and paste it into your Web browser. If you still cannot access the survey, you can email LibraryResearch@utsouthwestern.edu or contact Kay Chapa at 214-648-2085.

Yes. You can get another copy of the Web link. Email LibraryResearch@utsouthwestern.edu or contact Kay Chapa at 214-648-2085.

The survey is administered through the Association of Research Libraries and Texas A&M University, and the survey and data are housed on secure Texas A&M servers.

Respondents not able to complete an online questionnaire may obtain a paper copy of the survey by sending an email message to LibraryResearch@utsouthwestern.edu. The completed survey can be faxed to 214-648-2826 or mailed to Library Research, Mail Code 9049.

Survey data is stored on secure servers located at a private hosting facility. When the survey data are sent to the database, the respondents’ answers are separated from their email addresses before they are stored, to ensure confidentiality. A scan of the servers conducted by a professional security firm in August 2005 found no security breaches or vulnerabilities on the LibQUAL+™ servers.

LibQUAL+™ gives library users a chance to tell us where our services need improvement. We can develop services that better meet our users' expectations by comparing our library's data with that of peer institutions and examining the practices of those libraries that are evaluated highly by their users. We last conducted the survey in 2004. Survey results obtained this year will be compared to the 2004 results and will enable us to track improvement.

Due to security and confidentiality features, everyone surveyed will receive reminders, even those who have already responded. When submitted, survey responses and identifying information are immediately separated, so we have no way of knowing who has already responded. Reminders, therefore, are distributed to everyone in the survey group.

Reminders are also sent because research indicates that the single highest predictor of response rates in Web-based surveys is the number of contacts made, including reminders. (See: Cook, Heath, and Thompson, "A meta-analysis of response rates in Web- or internet-based surveys", Educational and Psychological Measurement, v. 60, 2000, p.821-836.)

For a complete list of participating institutions, see: http://www.libqual.org/Information/Participants/index.cfm

Survey data is transmitted directly from the LibQUAL+™ server to a database. The data is then analyzed and reports are generated for individual libraries that provide information on how users perceive the quality of their service. Participating institutions will have access to summary results for each institution, allowing for comparisons among peer institutions and all participating academic institutions. This will aid in developing benchmarks and understanding best practices across institutions, and will help the Library to align services with user expectations.

Summary statistics only are shared with other institutions. The survey summary results will be made available to participants via the World Wide Web on a password-protected Web site. Users' comments (from the comments section) will be made available exclusively to the users' institution.

Survey results will include aggregate summaries, demographics by library, item summaries, dimension summaries, and dimensions measured for survey implementation.

Results will be compiled in a report that will be posted on the library Web site.

LibQUAL+™ is a suite of services that libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users' opinions of service quality. These services are offered to the library community by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The program's centerpiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey bundled with training that helps libraries assess and improve library services, change organizational culture, and market the library.

More than 500 libraries have participated in LibQUAL+™, including colleges and universities, community colleges, health sciences libraries, law libraries, and public libraries. LibQUAL+™ has expanded internationally, with participating institutions in Canada, the U.K., and Europe. The growing LibQUAL+™ community of participants and its extensive dataset are rich resources for improving library services.

The goals of LibQUAL+™ are to:

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

Following years of revision involving data collection from more than 200,000 library users, LibQUAL+™ has evolved into a protocol consisting of "22 items and a box." The 22 items measure user perceptions of Service Affect, Information Control, and Library as Place. Each question has three parts that ask respondents to indicate (1) the minimum service level they will accept, (2) the desired service level they expect, and (3) the perceived level of service currently provided. This design will permit analysis of gaps between expectations, perception, and minimum acceptance level of service. The box secures open-ended comments from users regarding their concerns and suggestions. These comments are an integral part of LibQUAL+™; historically, almost 50 percent of respondents provide comments using the box.

There is increasing pressure for libraries to move towards outcome-based assessment, instead of relying merely on input, output, or resource metrics. This pressure comes from funding authorities as well as users themselves. Outcome measures may show how well an organization serves its users. LibQUAL+™ is one of several outcome-based assessment efforts begun under the ARL New Measures Initiative.

The LibQUAL+™ survey instrument is adapted from an instrument called SERVQUAL, which is grounded in the "Gap Theory of Service Quality" and was developed by the marketing research team of A. Parasuraman, V.A. Zeithaml, and L.L. Berry. The Texas A&M University Libraries and other libraries used modified SERVQUAL instruments for several years; those applications revealed the need for a newly adapted tool that would serve the particular requirements of libraries. ARL, representing the largest research libraries in North America, partnered with Texas A&M University Libraries to develop, test, and refine LibQUAL+™. This effort was supported in part by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE).

Read more about the birth of LibQUAL+™.

Customer service can be defined as comprising all programs, activities, facilities, etc. of an organization, which have a bearing on customers' experiences during and as a result of their interactions with the organization. Customer service focuses on the customers' personal and emotional reaction to service.

Service quality is the customers' assessment of how good/bad, or pleasant/unpleasant their experiences are. "Service quality" is the customers' subjective evaluation of "customer service." The LibQUAL+™ instrument’s service quality "measurements" are snapshot or discrete summaries of customers' evaluation of their experiences.

For more information, see the LibQUAL+™ homepage at http://www.libqual.org, or email a request to libqual@arl.org.