LibQUAL 2006 at London South Bank

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LibQUAL 2006 at London South Bank

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Peter Godwin

• London South Bank University
• 18 July 2006

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LibQUAL 2006

• London South Bank LibQUAL
• LSBU experience

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London South Bank and LibQUAL

• London South Bank University
• 2003 276
• 2004 568
• 2005 766
• 2006 660

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London South Bank University

• Central London new University
• 20,775 students
• Founded in 1892 as Borough Polytechnic,
• Joined 4 other colleges to become South Bank
  Polytechnic in 1970
• Became South Bank University in 1992 and London
  South Bank University in 2003

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London South Bank University

• 41 male, 59 female
• 63 are 25 and over
• 48 are part-time
• 71 undergraduate, 24 postgraduate
• By country of origin 40 are from overseas
• 40 are white and 60 ethnic minorities

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London South Bank University

• 19 Arts and Human Sciences
• 31 Health and Social Care
• 20 Engineering, Science and Built Environment
• 23 Business, Computing and Information Management

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LSBU 2006 experience

• E-mail option has improved this year and most of
  the response was through this
• Participation increased each year, until this
• year survey fatigue?
• Promotion of the survey around the buildings was
  good
• Fewer filled in printed version this year

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LSBU experience

• 2003 was a pilot and detailed results had to be
  treated with caution
• 2004 was valid and showed some improvements in
  satisfaction
• 2005 showed marked improvement, with all positive
  undergraduate adequacy mean scores
• 2006 response rate was disappointing, but results
  have validity and were surprising

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LSBU 2003 experience

• After 2003 survey we
• redecorated the main library
• installed smart new book shelves
• put in a new Library Management System

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LSBU 2004 experience

• After the 2004 survey we
• redesigned our Web site
• made off-campus access easier
• used floorwalkers at crucial times of the year
• improved our guiding and maps
• prioritised shelf tidying using special team of
  shelvers with mandatory shelf tidying each week
  for all staff
• prioritised purchase of core above optional items
  on reading lists

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LSBU 2005 experience

• After the 2005 survey we
• Revised our Web site to make it easier to
  navigate
• Improved the marketing to PG students inc.
  special guide and fliers
• Building on 2004 experience with floor-walking we
  made staff available on top floor at start of
  Semester 1 to help students navigate the building
• Piloted a new help desk on journal floor on level
  1 West 11-3 throughout the year

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2006 LSBU situation

• Book fund was cut by 200,000 this year to
  224,000 and spending stopped in the early new
  year
• LIS set to merge with Learning Resources Centre
  and Learning Development Centre in spring

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LSBU LibQUAL 2006 results

• User group composition of respondents, age and
  sex profile, FT/PT profile unchanged. Discipline
  composition similar except for substantial spike
  in health up from 29 to 41

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LSBU LibQUAL 2006 results

• Overall satisfaction is slightly up with printed
  materials (IC3) and slightly down with journal
  provision (IC8)
• Overall satisfaction with Library as Place has
  substantially deteriorated
• In local questions availability of main texts
  for my work gets adequacy mean of -0.54, down
  from -0.39 in 2005 and availability of subject
  help still at -0.08, a slight improvement on -013
  in 2005

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LSBU LibQUAL 2006 results

• UG results show remarkably similar satisfaction
  with materials print and electronic for their
  work. Results from local questions on required
  texts do show some decline in satisfaction , and
  this is almost entirely at UG level
• With cuts in book fund this year poorer results
  were expected. However in comments vast majority
  of materials criticism comes from Health students
• Effects of extra journal help not clear from the
  data

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LSBU LibQUAL 2006 results

• Library as Place is main consideration. From
  survey questions and comments it appears that
  noise is the main concern, coupled with
  inadequate physical space

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LSBU LibQUAL 2006 results

• Academic staff response similar to previous years
  and cannot be held to be representative. Most
  significant is less than adequate scores for IC
  and LP

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What could be done?

• Increase book fund, especially for Health
• Clearer zoning of where mobiles can be used
• Pilot new ways of giving help e.g. blogs for
  specific courses or subject groups more online
  help
• Restrict help on other floors to busiest times
• Engage academic staff by having individual
  interviews in their offices
• Hold focus groups with students about study areas

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LSBU experience

• The instrument is comprehensive but is long and
  off-putting to fill in
• Provides excellent information on user
  satisfaction AND can be supplemented by our own
  snap surveys e.g.this year on use of Key Text
  and Reference collections
• Comments in the box are very valuable and
  supplement the statistical information
• Focus Groups can follow up areas of concern

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Comments

• The main complaint I have about the library is
  the lack of space that is provided for studying
  alone or in groups
• (UG Health Social Care male student 31-45)

• I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO ALL THE
  STAFF FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION!!
• I SALUTE YOU ALL!!!!!
• (UG Combined studies Year 3 female student
  31-45)

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Comments

• It looks dirty and unclean, and doesn't inspire
  me to go
• (PG Business
• Male student
• 31-45)

• I would like the library to become a quiet haven
  to do quiet reading and research
• (PG Applied Science FT female student 18-22)

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What have I learned?

• Only customers judge quality all other
  judgements are essentially irrelevant
• (Zeithaml,V.A. Parasuman, A., Berry.L.L.
  Delivering quality)

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