Faculty Information Needs: Online Survey at UCSF Gail Persily Janice Contini CNI, April 2007
UCSF Health science campus in urban setting Library building is campus “jewel” 2,868 students 1,325 residents 18,200 faculty and staff
Purpose Inform Library space planning process Complimented student survey with similar goals Integrated with collections and service issues Collection development New services
Methods Web-based survey Short: 11 questions plus 4 demographic 8 multiple choice; 3 open ended Academic Senate ed to 2,028 faculty (3 times; weekly for 3 weeks) Raffle prize: Dinner for Two Response: 620, 31%
Benefits of survey format Visibility of a survey to broad audience Large quantity of feedback in short amount of time Ask questions about things we can do something about
Online resources 80% agreed that online selection of journals, books, reference books, and databases met their needs 140 additional comments with “specifics” on where needs are not met Follow-up Purchased 9 new online journals in Dentistry
Off-site storage Split response on storing print off-site when we have materials online 55% agree 45% disagree Follow-up: Further investigation and/or PR required before moving large quantities of materials off-site
Place-based services 77%Ready access to highly skilled staff 76%Group meeting rooms equipped with current technology 65%Informal meeting and collaboration space 64%Multimedia and course tools, i.e. WebCT 60%Desktop communication tools, i.e. videoconferencing 35%Café Follow-up: Equip group study rooms with additional technology
Space needs of remote faculty 52% of respondents located at another campus 93% responded to question about temporary space needs Connectivity Wireless access Place to use cell phone Space to work alone preferred over working with others
Follow-up Wireless extended to faculty carrels Temporary workspace needs reported in space planning documents
Implications Library building is irrelevant to most faculty. Faculty are not frequent, experienced users of place-based services. When they do come to the building, they want red carpet service. “Ready access to highly skilled staff”
It really would be helpful to be provided with assistance without feeling like one is a pest or inept.… things change so frequently that it is impossible to keep up with everything, so when I ask for help, I really do need it.... [Library] is my favorite place, so I want it to be welcoming.
Follow-up Liaison program Contacting new faculty Customer Service Initiative
Services 68%Preparing posters/papers 66%Managing images and multimedia for teaching 51%Obtaining, downloading, manipulating externally produced datasets 42%Data mining or using data mining software 37%Managing, preserving lab research data… 36%Addressing scholarly communication issues…
Problems and limitations Self-selected sample; sample size Complexity of some issues not handled well by survey questions Implicit bias in multiple choices All of our suggestions for new place-based services got high marks Interviews and focus groups preferred method for needs assessment
Benefits Impressive response rate Actionable concerns, i.e. collections Faculty comments helped define customer service issues for line staff Collected contact information from 140 respondents Tapped for structured interviews for other needs assessment projects