Metric: Access to Information

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Metric Access to Information
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Access to Information LibQual Questions

• 3) Complete runs of journal titles
• 8) Timely document delivery interlibrary loan
• 9) Interdisciplinary library needs being
  addressed
• 19) Convenient business hours
• 22) Comprehensive print collections

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Access to Information Survey Results

• Respondents as a whole were satisfied in this
  area
• Problem areas with specific groups
• Complete runs of journal titles (faculty,
  graduate students)
• Comprehensive print collections (faculty)

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Duke Faculty Radar Data
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Specific Issues

• Perceived lack of complete runs of journal titles
• Print collections not comprehensive enough to
  meet needs?
• Dewey Decimal System vs. Library of Congress
  Classification

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Issue Complete Runs of Journal Titles

• Journal literature has undergone rapid
  transformation from print to electronic versions
• As a result, long runs of some journals may be
  available in several formats in several locations

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Complete Runs of Journal Titles

• For a (social science) serial publication under
  the same title for all years, I had to visit 5
  different library locations (Perkins, US Docs,
  Law, Med Ctr, offsite stacks). This is
  ABSURD!!!!!!! Doctoral student

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Issue Comprehensive Print Collections

• Faculty members rate the librarys print
  collections as slightly below the level they
  consider to be the acceptable minimum
• Association of Research Libraries 2001
  Statistics Dukes collection (over 5 million
  vol.) ranks 21st out of 113 member libraries

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Dukes Rank Total Volumes Held / Total Teaching
Faculty (2001)
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Comprehensive Print Collections Perceived Lack
of Newest Materials

• We seem to have a shortage of booksand we often
  seem quite behind in acquiring the latest
  publications. Doctoral student
• The librarians need to respond to peoples call
  for specific book orders. This is still very
  much lacking. Undergraduate student
• How can the library improve communications with
  users about items on order?

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Comparing Dukes Collections to those of Peer
Institutions

• Many of the largest research libraries in the US
  and Canada have developed a conspectus a way to
  measure their libraries holdings in particular
  subject areas

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ARL ConspectusCollection levels

• 0 Out of scope
• 1 Minimal level
• 2 Basic information level
• 3 Instructional support level
• 4 Research level
• 5 Comprehensive level

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Contributing Factor? Dewey Decimal vs. Library
of Congress Classification

• As a library using Dewey Decimal system, it is
  difficult to compare our collections in specific
  areas to most major university libraries, which
  use the Library of Congress Classification system

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Dewey Decimal vs. Library of Congress
Classification

• DDC may also contribute to misshelving and
  difficulties finding items on shelf long strings
  of numerals are hard for the brain to process and
  remember
• LC classification has mixture of letters and
  numbers smaller bytes of information are
  easier to process

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Survey commentsDewey Decimal vs. Library of
Congress Classification

• It is extremely difficult to work in a library
  which does not use the Library of Congress
  system. Many students prefer to travel to the
  UNC library instead to avoid complications.
  Doctoral student
• Dewey Decimal System is VERY obsolete. Faculty
  member
• The Dewey Decimal System is a barrier to
  effective research. Doctoral student

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Metric Access to InformationDiscussion Issues

• How can we make our journal collections both
  print and non-print more accessible?
• How can we ensure that our print collections are
  meeting the research needs of our users?
• How do we address the problems caused by our use
  of the Dewey Decimal System?

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Metric Affect of Service
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Affect of Service LibQual Questions Summarized

• Qualities library users expect from staff
• Courtesy and willingness to help
• Ability to resolve users problems
• Understanding of needs
• Knowledge to answer questions

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Affect of Service Survey Results

• For all affect questions, the perception of the
  service received was above minimally acceptable
  levels
• Among all metrics, affect of service came closest
  to the desired levels of service quality

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Affect of Service Survey Results

• Graduate students were most satisfied
• (1.00 point above their minimum level of
  acceptable service)
• Undergraduates were next most satisfied
• (.89 above their minimum level of acceptable
  service)
• Faculty, who had the highest expectations, were
  third (.81 above their minimum)

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Affect of Service Survey Results

• Highest scores willingness to help and giving
  individual attention
• Lowest scores dependability in handling users
  problems and knowledge to answer users questions

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Affect of Service Specific Issues

• Staff customer service skills
• Staff knowledge and problem-solving ability

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Issue 1 Customer Service

• 75 respondents commented directly on the service
  they received from library staff
• 53 praised the staff
• 22 had negative perceptions or experiences with
  library staff
• Student workers especially were described as not
  helpful, courteous, or enthusiastic

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Issue 2 Staff knowledge and problem-solving
ability

• Student workers especially were cited in comments
  as lacking training and knowledge
• Users perception of service was impacted by many
  issues which staff could not resolve quickly

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Examples of users problems often not resolved
quickly

• Users frustration at not finding material
• Users perception that Document Delivery and
  Interlibrary Loan dont meet their needs

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Two dimensions why materials are not found

• Sometimes material is not where it is supposed to
  be
• I often find books or other materials I need in
  the catalog listed as checked in, but then
  cannot find them on the shelves.Grad student
• Sometimes users are not looking in the right
  places
• Its very hard to find actual books at the
  libraries without the assistance of a
  librarian.Undergraduate

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Perceptions of Interlibrary Loan and Document
Delivery

• When something cannot be found or is not
  available in Duke Libraries, users do not always
  think of Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery
  as viable alternatives.

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Perceptions of ILL and DD

• Feedback from the comments section of the survey
  varied
• The ILL services are excellent and rapid.
  Grad student
• I have ALWAYS been impressed by the . . . ILL
  staff. Faculty member

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• I would like more attention paid to interlibrary
  loans (the two times I requested materials the
  request disappeared into the internet and I never
  heard or received the materials). Grad student
• http//www.lib.duke.edu/forms/
• Interlibrary loans can take a few months. And I
  am still not getting the materials I want.
  Personnel there . . . need to learn efficiency.
  Grad student

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Affect of ServiceDiscussion Issues

• How to improve customer service, and staff and
  student training for it
• How to reduce incidence of failure to find books
• How to improve perceptions of Interlibrary Loan
  and Document Delivery

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Metric Library as Place
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Library as Place LibQual Questions

• 2) Space that facilitates quiet study
• 10) A haven for quiet and solitude
• 13) A place for reflection and creativity
• 21) A comfortable and inviting location
• 23) A contemplative environment

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Library as Place

• Library as place transcends the SERVQUAL
  dimension of tangibles to include the idea of the
  library as the campus center of intellectual
  activity.
• Coleen Cook
• TRLN Symposium Introducing Libqual
• Nov 13, 2001.

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Library as Place Specific Issues

• Study space individual and group
• Quiet space
• Aesthetics

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Library as Place Survey Results

• Responses fell below the minimum on only 2
  questions
• Undergraduates comfortable and inviting
• Faculty space that facilitates quiet study
• Question concerning comfortable and inviting
  had the least favorable perception from all user
  groups

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Library a Place

• Approximately one third of the comments were
  applicable to this metric
• Focused on the specific issues from the
  questions study space, quiet space, aesthetics
• No comments were positive about space
• The library is a labyrinth. Gut it and start
  over! ?graduate student

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Library as Place Discussion Issues

• User perceptions
• The stacks are scary
• The library is noisy
• No place for groups to study
• Neither a pleasant nor comfortable environment

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Library as Place

• Anita Boddie, a Perkins Library staff member
  working on a continuous excavation project of the
  J. Halter Topson advertising collection, opened a
  six-foot-long pine box that had gone unnoticed on
  a shelf for several years.
• Beneath an original manuscript copy of "A Rose
  for Emily," Boddie found the embalmed body of
  famed Southern novelist and Nobel Prize-winner
  William Faulkner.
• The Chronicle, April 1, 1998

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Library as Place Interim

• Since we know that we are addressing the space
  problems for the long term with the renovation,
  today we are concerned with the short term.
• What can we do in the intervening years for the
  students who are at Duke while the library is
  being renovated?

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Library as Place Discussion Issues

• During the renovation
• How can we provide study space individual and
  group?
• How can we provide quiet space for users?
• How can we provide an aesthetically pleasing
  environment?

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Metric Personal Control
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Survey Results

• Questions concerned usability, reliability, and
  capabilities of technology tools.
• Survey Responses
• Aggregate no significant concerns
• Undergraduates relatively positive
• Graduate students acceptable
• Faculty some perceptions below minimum
  acceptable
• Written comments provided more information on
  specific areas of concern.

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Specific Issues

• Library web site as a self-service point
• Printing facilities in the Library
• Public computer workstations in the Library

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Issue Library web site as aself-service point

• Web interfaces for online catalog and other
  library services were perceived to be confusing
  or lack desired functionality.
• Users expectations have been shaped by their
  experience with commercial web services.
• Researchers desire the ability to interact with
  online library resources in more sophisticated
  ways on their own.

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Examples Library web site as a self-service point

• The web user interface for accessing library
  information and online journals remains fairly
  primitive and awkward to use it is clear to me
  that the software being used by the library has
  not been developed by psychologists or experts in
  user interfaces who have studied carefully how
  best people access information and like
  information to be displayed on screen. Faculty
  
• Catalog search engine is lousy. There shouldnt
  be a window to choose search category BEFORE
  going on to entering search terms its clunky
  and time consuming for no reason. The hits come
  up in a manner that requires another click to get
  to actual data. Doctoral student
• Electronic access has improved enormously in the
  past few years, but the library web site still
  lags behind the resources available. Faculty

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IssuePrinting facilities in the Library

• As more library resources become available
  electronically, more are being printed, leading
  to heavier use of printing facilities.
• Library users reported frustration that printers
  were frequently out of order, or out of paper or
  toner.
• Free printing provides disincentive to conserve
  printing resources.

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ExamplesPrinting facilities in the Library

• The one thing that seems to always be a problem
  is the printers they are out of toner, or out
  of paper. Also in that work area, there is seldom
  a heavy-duty stapler that works. Masters
  student
• Its never been clear whether the library has a
  good grasp of the cost of providing various user
  services. For example, how many people are
  printing out dozens of pages of reserve readings
  (at NCSU there is a charge per page). Faculty
• Generally, Im satisfied with Perkins
  technology but maintenance needs to be more of a
  priority in the face of tremendous user pressure
  it gets. Printers in particular are often broken
  or frozen or out of paper or toner. Doctoral
  student

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Issue Public computer workstations in the Library

• Library users expressed the desire for more
  diverse and more sophisticated software
  functionality on public computer workstations.
• For example word processing, spreadsheet, image
  editing, statistical analysis tools, storage.
• Users dont just want to access information in
  the Library, they want to do their work here, too.

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Examples Public computer workstations in the
Library

• The cluster in the main lobby is inconvenient
  because it does not have the tools or resources
  to print many of the materials on e-reserves or
  just simply print a quick sheet of MS Word. Those
  applications are necessary on these computers.
  Undergraduate student
• Some of my dissatisfaction marked above comes
  from the use of library computers by students for
  their personal correspondence this makes it
  difficult for others using library services to
  have access to the requisite facilities.
  Faculty
• I am a part-time grad student who lives about 30
  miles from Duke. Does the library provide a quiet
  place where I can do research using my laptop? Is
  there an Internet connection I can plug my laptop
  into and work quietly? Masters student

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Issues for discussion

• How can we make the Librarys web services more
  user friendly?
• What are some of the qualities in an online
  service environment that you use and value most,
  and that we might apply to the Library
  environment?
• What technology tools should we provide to users
  in the Library building, and how can we support
  and ration their use effectively and fairly?