LibQUAL+: The UK and Irish Experience

LibQUAL+®: The UK &
Irish Experience

Selena Killick
Library Quality Officer

Library Assessment Seminar and
LibQUAL+® Share Fair.
University of Lund
20th September 2012.

LibQUAL+®

• Internationally Renown
• Web based
• Expectations & Perceptions
• Standardised

Survey Composition

• 22 Core Questions
• Affect of Service
• Information Control
• Library as Place
• 5 Optional Questions
• Information Literacy
• General Satisfaction
• Demographics
• Free-text Comments

LibQUAL+® Lite

• Introduced in 2010
• Sampling Methodology
• All questions asked
• Respondents answer
a random sample only
• Reduced Survey Time
• Increase Response
Rates

LibQUAL+® & SCONUL
Timeline

• 2003 – Survey piloted in the UK by SCONUL
• 2004 – Survey adopted by SCONUL
• 2005 – LibQUAL+® available for 10 months of
the year
• 2010 – CONUL join LibQUAL+®
• 2010 – LibQUAL+® Lite launched
• 2011 – Membership subscription introduced

Number of SCONUL LibQUAL+® Participants by Year
25

20

15

10

5

0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012*
LibQUAL+ Participants Unique LibQUAL+ Participants

SCONUL LibQUAL+® Repeat Participation by Style

Other Annual
18% 12%

Three-yearly
15%

Biennial
55%

Highest Desired

ID Question Desired Years in
(2011) Top 5
Making electronic resources accessible from
IC-1 my home or office 8.30 9
Library space that inspires study and
LP-1 learning 8.16 2
A library Web site enabling me to locate
IC-2 information on my own 8.10 9
Making information easily accessible for
IC-7 independent use 8.06 2
Print and/or electronic journal collections I
IC-8 require for my work 8.06 8

Lowest Desired

ID Question Desired Years in
(2011) Bottom 5
AS-2 Giving users individual attention 6.77 9
LP-5 Space for group learning and group study 7.32 9
AS-1 Library staff who instill confidence in users 7.49 8
AS-6 Library staff who deal with users in a caring
fashion 7.73 9
AS-7 Library staff who understand the needs of
their users 7.74 2

SCONUL LibQUAL+® Dimension Minimum Mean
Comparisons
6.80

6.60

6.40

6.20

6.00

5.80

5.60
Affect of Service Information Control Library as Place Overall

Minimum Mean 2004 Minimum Mean 2011

SCONUL LibQUAL+® Dimension Desired Mean
Comparisons
8.10

8.00

7.90

7.80

7.70

7.60

7.50

7.40

7.30

7.20

Desired Mean 2004 Desired Mean 2011

SCONUL LibQUAL+® Increasing Minimum Expectations

7.00
6.80
6.60
6.40
6.20
6.00
5.80
5.60
5.40
5.20
5.00
Space for group Making electronic Library staff who deal A comfortable and
learning and group resources accessible with users in a caring inviting location
study from my home or fashion
office
Minimum Mean 2004 Minimum Mean 2011

SCONUL LibQUAL+® Decreasing Desired Expectations

8.20

8.00

7.80

7.60

7.40

7.20

7.00

6.80

6.60
The printed library Print and/or Giving users Quiet space for Modern
materials I need electronic journal individual individual work equipment that
for my work collections I attention lets me easily
require for my access needed
work information
Desired Mean 2004 Desired Mean 2011

Highest Perceived
Scores

Desired
Rank
ID Question Text 2011 2011
AS-3 Library staff who are consistently courteous
7.32 10
AS-5 Library staff who have the knowledge to answer
user questions 7.28 12
AS-4 Readiness to respond to users' enquiries
7.25 11
AS-8 Willingness to help users
7.21 13
AS-6 Library staff who deal with users in a caring
fashion 7.17 19

Lowest Perceived
Scores

Desired
Rank
ID Question Text 2011 2011
AS-2 Giving users individual attention 6.10 22
LP-1 Library space that inspires study and learning 6.28 15
LP-2 Quiet space for individual work 6.60 4
LP-4 A haven for study, learning, or research 6.60 9
LP-5 Space for group learning and group study 6.64 21

SCONUL LibQUAL+® Dimension Perceived Mean
Comparisons
7.20

7.00

6.80

6.60

6.40

6.20

6.00

5.80

5.60

5.40

Perceived Mean 2004 Perceived Mean 2011

LibQUAL+® Desired Mean Comparisons
8.20

8.10

8.00

7.90

7.80

7.70

7.60

7.50

7.40

7.30

7.20
UK USA Scandinavia

LibQUAL+® Perceived Mean Comparisons
7.40

7.20

7.00

6.80

6.60

6.40

6.20

6.00

5.80

5.60
UK USA Scandinavia

Comparisons for
Individual Items

• Perceived Scores for all questions higher in the
USA, except for two:
• Library staff who instill confidence in users
• Giving users individual attention
• In these cases the Scandinavian Libraries have
higher Perceived Scores
• Desired mean scores vary by question except for
Library as Place where the UK has the highest
expectations

Feedback from
SCONUL Participants

• Secured additional funding to increase resources
• Increased liaison with Academic staff
• Improvements to the Library building & facilities
• Developed information literacy training
• Increased help and support

The Library is one of the most oppressively
depressing locations on the face of the earth; its ugly
décor and offensive lighting gnaw at the soul and the
carpeting is an invitation to madness

£14 million improvement programme
now underway to renovate the Library,
expand the collection and increase
study space.

National Outcomes

Libraries are being transformed into rowdy
social spaces… many of the changes have
had unfortunate – even disastrous –
consequences for the place of libraries in
university scholarship and study.

Response published in the next edition
of THE from SCONUL outlining that
LibQUAL+® results show that academic
staff perceptions of library buildings are
the highest they’ve ever been.

Sharpe, K. 2009. Quiet, please. Times Higher Education . 5 November. [Available Online].

FEEDBACK FROM THE
CONUL LIBQUAL+® LIBRARIANS
Research conducted by Ciara McCaffrey,
University of Limerick

Why measure?

Main reason: Why LibQUAL+®?
 Demand for metrics  Ability to compare with
others
 Ability to compare yourself
Other factors: over time
 Following appointment of  Recognised international
a new director tool
 Prior to a new building  Confidence in ARL
 Part of quality reviews
 CONUL participation in
2010

Librarian’s View of
LibQUAL+®

Useful Less Useful
 Benchmarking  Lack of specificity
 Confirmation  Translating results to
 Low scores faculty & library staff
 Leverage  Ambiguity of the language
 Motivator  CONUL exercise
 Quality reviews  High scores
 Impresses university  Complexity of the data
management
 Gives us the push we need

Overall experience of
using LibQUAL+®

• 3 Libraries: Very useful as part of regular planning
cycle

• 2 Libraries: Very useful but occasional

• 1 Library: Useful but no plans to run again

• 2 Libraries: Less useful but occasional

Conclusions

• A number of SCONUL & CONUL Libraries use
LibQUAL+® as part of their regular performance
assessment
• Expectations rising in most areas
• Perceptions also rising
• We’re not quite as good as the USA
• LibQUAL+® helps Libraries to develop and improve
services
• Majority of CONUL Libraries think LibQUAL+® is a useful
tool

Acknowledgements

• Ciara McCaffrey, University of Limerick
• Amanda Conway, Dorothy Vuong, Karen Ready,
Jacqui Dowd, John MacColl and the rest of the
SCONUL LibQUAL+® Participants
• The ARL LibQUAL+® Participants
• SCONUL Working Group on Performance and
Quality
• Martha, Bruce, Colleen, David and the rest of the
LibQUAL+® team

Thank you!

Selena Killick
s.a.killick@cranfield.ac.uk
Twitter: @SelenaKillick
Tel: +44(0)1793 785561

LibQUAL+: The UK and Irish Experience

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