Project URL – TM An Introduction to LibQUAL+™ Amy Hoseth Massachusetts LSTA Orientation Meeting Boston, MA October 21, 2005

Total Circulation Note. M. Kyrillidou and M. Young. (2003). ARL Statistics Washington, D.C.: ARL, p.8.

Reference Transactions Note. M. Kyrillidou and M. Young. (2003). ARL Statistics Washington, D.C.: ARL, p.8.

Assessment “The difficulty lies in trying to find a single model or set of simple indicators that can be used by different institutions, and that will compare something across large groups that is by definition only locally applicable— i.e., how well a library meets the needs of its institution. Librarians have either made do with oversimplified national data or have undertaken customized local evaluations of effectiveness, but there has not been devised an effective way to link the two.” Sarah Pritchard, Library Trends, 1996

LibQUAL+ ™ Goals Improve mechanisms and protocols for evaluating libraries Develop Web-based tools for assessing library service quality Identify best practices in providing library service Support libraries seeking to understand changes in user behavior Assist libraries seeking to re-position library services in today’s new environment

LibQUAL+™ Process SERVQUAL dimensions served as a priori theoretical starting point SERVQUAL originally created for use in the business sector

Multiple Methods of Listening to Customers Transactional surveys* Mystery shopping New, declining, and lost-customer surveys Focus group interviews Customer advisory panels Service reviews Customer complaint, comment, and inquiry capture Total market surveys* Employee field reporting Employee surveys Service operating data capture *A SERVQUAL-type instrument is most suitable for these methods A. Parasuraman. The SERVQUAL Model: Its Evolution And Current Status. (2000). Paper presented at ARL Symposium on Measuring Service Quality, Washington, D.C.

PERCEPTIONS SERVICE “….only customers judge quality; all other judgments are essentially irrelevant” Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry. (1999). Delivering quality service. NY: The Free Press. The LibQUAL+ ™ Premise

The Survey Over Time items56 items25 items22 items Affect of Service Service Affect Library as Place Reliability Personal Control Information Control Provision of Physical Collections Self-Reliance Information Access Access to Information

76 Interviews Conducted York University University of Arizona Arizona State University of Connecticut University of Houston University of Kansas University of Minnesota University of Pennsylvania University of Washington Smithsonian Northwestern Medical

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Dimensions of Library Service Quality

Reliability “You put a search on a book and it’s just gone; it’s not reacquired. … There’s more of a problem of lost books, of books that are gone and nobody knows why and nobody’s doing anything about it.” Faculty member

Affect of Service “I want to be treated with respect. I want you to be courteous, to look like you know what you are doing and enjoy what you are doing. … Don’t get into personal conversations when I am at the desk.” Faculty member

Ubiquity of Access “Over time my own library use has become increasingly electronic. So that the amount of time I actually spend in the library is getting smaller and the amount of time I spend at my desk on the web … is increasing.” Faculty member

Comprehensive Collections “I think one of the things I love about academic life in the United States is that as a culture…, we tend to appreciate the extraordinary importance of libraries in the life of the mind.” Faculty member

Library as Place “One of the cherished rituals is going up the steps and through the gorgeous doors of the library and heading up to the fifth floor to my study. … I have my books and I have six million volumes downstairs that are readily available to me in an open stack library.” Faculty member

Library as Place “I guess you’d call them satisfiers. As long as they are not negatives, they won’t be much of a factor. If they are negatives, they are a big factor.” Faculty member

Library as Place “The poorer your situation, the more you need the public spaces to work in. When I was an undergraduate, I spent most of my time in the library, just using it as a study space.” Faculty member

Self-Reliance “…first of all, I would turn to the best search engines that are out there. That’s not a person so much as an entity. In this sense, librarians are search engines [ just ] with a different interface.” Faculty member

Self-Reliance “By habit, I usually try to be self-sufficient. And I’ve found that I am actually fairly proficient. I usually find what I’m looking for eventually. So I personally tend to ask a librarian only as a last resort.” Graduate student

LibQUAL+™ Core Questions (Year I) _____________________________________________________________________________ Factor_______ _ No. I II III IVItem Core _____________________________________________________________________________ Willingness to help users Giving users individual attention Employees deal with users caring fashion Employees who are consistently courteous Employees have knowledge answer questions Employees understand needs of users Readiness to respond to users' questions Employees who instill confidence in users Dependability handling service problems A haven for quiet and solitude A meditative place A contemplative environment Space that facilitates quiet study A place for reflection and creativity * website enabling me locate info on my own * elec resources accessible home or office * access tools allow me find on my own Modern equip me easily access info I need * info easily accessible for independent use Convenient access to library collections Comprehensive print collections Complete runs of journal titles Interdisciplinary library needs addressed Timely document delivery/interlibrary loan Convenient business hours

Dimensions of Library Service Quality

Survey Instrument

The Value of Qualitative Perspectives “Only with in-depth, local, qualitative, ‘culture’ studies can libraries know and understand what compels some to remain as far away from the library as possible, while others refrain from engaging library staff in their own search for proficiency and self-reliance” (Lincoln, Y. “Insights into Library Services and Users from Qualitative Research.” Library & Information Science Research 24, Issue 1, 2002).

Cultural Perspective/ Self-Reliance “If Foucault is correct that we in the West live in surveilled societies, then what function does self- reliance serve? …The library user who wishes to navigate resources with as little help as possible seeks a kind of privacy from the surveillance of librarian help …Having found the relative anonymity of cyberspace and a virtual world, this self-reliant user now seeks the same independence and lack of surveillance in the text-based and digitized universe of information resources known as the library.” (Lincoln, p. 12).

Cultural Perspective/ Library as Place “…It’s beyond the ease [with] which you can find information, just because the library experience is something like Greece or Athens…” (Undergraduate) “…The library needs to welcome them in. It needs to make them feel like this is a place where they can be in almost a haven, a refuge” (Business professor) “Writing an undergraduate thesis with this big dome over his head…he felt really like a scholar” (Linguistics professor)

Cultural Perspective/ Collections “In the physical [vs. virtual] reality, ‘texture’ has become important. Density of collections becomes important, and, if collections are not complete, users want to know where they can find missing volumes, journal articles, and/or how swiftly interlibrary loan will work for them” (Lincoln, p. 11).

to Survey Administrators “A number of the [LibQUAL+™ survey] questions asked to rate the library from low to high, with n/a if it doesn’t apply to me. The latter wasn’t clear, but there were a number of questions which implied what a library should be that I don’t agree with. For example, a number of questions asked whether the library was a ‘contemplative place’ or a ‘center for intellectual stimulation.’ I don’t think our library is, but I don’t want it to be, and I certainly wouldn’t want any scarce resources to be devoted to this.” Communication to Webmaster

Service as Performance “…as users have metamorphosed from penitents to self-reliant information surfers, the rules of engagement have changed. Service is not something dispensed; rather, it is enacted as an elaborate cultural ritual, the texture and fabric of which is changing in front of us. Service may now embody multiple overlays of meaning, many too dense for anything but an anthropological fieldwork study to uncover” (Lincoln, p. 15).

to Survey Administrators “Other questions implied that any good library staff would ‘empower’ me to find my own research. I don’t mean to sound snippish, but if I wanted to be ‘empowered’ to be able to find all my own research, I’d enroll in the outstanding school of library science here on campus. I thought the reason we bring in talented and trained librarians is so that we can efficiently divide labor, and I can remain dependent on them – unempowered, if you will, to assist me when I need it. (And let me assure you I AM dependent, and they ARE excellent in assisting me.)” Communication to Webmaster

Dimensions of Library Service Quality

Focus Group Follow-Up (at Texas A&M) Downward trend in scores on question, “Employees have knowledge to answer user questions.” What employees? “I asked for help in searching on the 1 st floor of the annex. They said they aren’t trained in that…” What knowledge? “Some just say, ‘I don’t know.’ Do you know who could tell me? I ask, and sometimes, they don’t know that either” (Crowley & Gilreath, p ).

The Box Why the box is so important  About 40% of participants provide open-ended comments, and these are linked to demographics and quantitative data  Users elaborate the details of their concerns  Users feel the need to be constructive in their criticisms, and offer specific suggestions for action

Rapid Growth Languages  American English  British English  French  Dutch  Swedish Consortia  Each may create 5 local questions to add to their survey Types of Institutions  Academic Health Sciences  Academic Law  Academic Military  College or University  Community College  European Business  Hospital  Public  State Countries  U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, South Africa, Egypt, Australia

LibQUAL+ ™ Participants

Participating Libraries World LibQUAL+™ Survey

In Closing LibQUAL+™ methodology focuses on success from the user’s point of view (outcomes) Demonstrates that a Web-based survey can handle large numbers; users are willing to fill it out; and survey can be executed quickly with minimal expense LibQUAL+™ requires limited local survey expertise and resources Analysis available at local and inter-institutional levels Many opportunities for using demographics to discern user behaviors

LibQUAL+ ™ Resources LibQUAL+™ Website: Publications: Events and Training: LibQUAL+™ Online Tutorial: LibQUAL+™ Procedures Manual: