LibQUAL+LibQUAL+®® 2007: An Introduction 2007: An Introduction
American Library Association (ALA)Midwinter Meeting
Seattle, WAJanuary 22, 2007
MaShana Davis and Martha KyrillidouAssociation of Research Libraries
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OverviewOverview
• Research Foundation and Current Uses of LibQUAL+®
• Preparing to Implement the Survey
• The Survey Process: Initial Steps
• Mapping Disciplines
• Approving and Running Your Survey
• General Discussion and Q&A
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LibQUAL+LibQUAL+®® Background and OverviewBackground and Overview
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Reference TransactionsReference Transactions
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AssessmentAssessment
“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
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Multiple MethodsMultiple Methodsof Listening to Customersof 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
Note. A. Parasuraman. The SERVQUAL Model: Its Evolution And Current Status. (2000).
Paper presented at ARL Symposium on Measuring Service Quality, Washington, D.C.
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The The LibQUAL+LibQUAL+®® Premise Premise
PERCEPTIONS SERVICE
“….only customers judge quality;
all other judgments are essentially
irrelevant”
Note. Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry. (1999). Delivering quality service. NY: The Free Press.
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13 LibrariesEnglish LibQUAL+™ Version
4000 Respondents
QUAL
QUAN
QUAL
QUAL
QUAN
QUAL
PURPOSE DATA ANALYSIS PRODUCT/RESULTDescribe library environment;build theory of library service quality from user perspective
Test LibQUAL+™ instrument
Refine theoryof service quality
Refine LibQUAL+™ instrument
Test LibQUAL+™ instrument
Refine theory
Unstructured interviewsat 8 ARL institutions
Web-delivered survey
Unstructured interviews at Health Sciences and the Smithsonian libraries
E-mail to surveyadministrators
Web-delivered survey
Focus groups
Content analysis:(cards & Atlas TI)
Reliability/validityanalyses: CronbachsAlpha, factor analysis,SEM, descriptive statistics
Content analysis
Content analysis
Reliability/validity analyses including Cronbachs Alpha,factor analysis, SEM, descriptive statistics
Content analysis
VignetteRe-tooling
Iterative
Emergent2000
2004315 Libraries English, Dutch, Swedish,
German LibQUAL+™ Versions160,000 anticipated respondents
LibQUAL+LibQUAL+®® Project Project
Case studies1
Valid LibQUAL+™ protocol
Scalable process
Enhanced understanding of user-centered views of service quality in the library environment2
Cultural perspective3
Refined survey delivery process and theory of service quality4
Refined LibQUAL+™ instrument5
Local contextual understanding of LibQUAL+™ survey responses6
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DimensionsDimensions
2000 2001 2002 2003-200741 items 56 items 25 items 22 items
Affect of Service Affect of Service Service Affect Service Affect
Library as Place Library as Place Library as Place Library as Place
Reliability Reliability Personal ControlInformation Control
Provision of Physical Collections
Self-RelianceInformation Access
Access to Information
Access to Information
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Survey Structure Survey Structure (Detail View)(Detail View)
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Rapid Growth in Other AreasRapid Growth in Other Areas• Languages
– Afrikaans– American English– British English– Chinese Traditional (2007)– Danish– Dutch – Finnish– French– German– Norwegian– Swedish
• Consortia– Each may create 5 local questions to
add to their survey
• Countries– Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt,
Finland, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, U.K., U.S.
• Types of Institutions– Academic Health Sciences– Academic Law– Academic Military– College or University– Community College– Electronic– European Business– Family History– FFRDC – High School (2007)– Hospital– National Health Service England– Natural Resources– New York Public– Public– Smithsonian– State– University/TAFE
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LibQUALLibQUAL++®® Participants Participants
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LibQUALLibQUAL++®® Participants Participants
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LibQUALLibQUAL++®® Surveys by Type Surveys by Type Years
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Academic law 1 25 10 6
Academic military 6 1
College or university 13 41 111 244 150 201 219
Community college 16 29 3 15 27
Electronic 1
European business 5 16
Family history library 1 2
FFRDC 5 1
Health sciences library 1 35 23 13 13 9
Hospital 10 1 1
National Health Service Eng. 10
Natural Resources 4
New York Public library 1
Public 4 1 1 3
Smithsonian 1 1
State 1 1 3
University/TAFE 2 1
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LibQUALLibQUAL++®® Languages Languages
American English
Dutch EnglishFrench Canadian DutchSwedish
Swedish(British English)
Afrikaans
DanishFinnishGerman Norwegian
British English
Continental French
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LibQUALLibQUAL++®® Surveys by Language Surveys by Language
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Afrikaans 4 1
American English 13 42 164 285 176 207 236
British English 20 22 31 50
Danish 1
Dutch 1 2
Dutch English 1 1 2
Finnish 1
French Canadian 2 1 4
French Continental 1 1
German 1
Norwegian 1
Swedish 5 2 1
Swedish British English 1
Swedish English (A.E.) 2 1
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LibQUALLibQUAL++®® Surveys by Consortia Surveys by Consortia Years
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
AAHSL 1 35 21 14 12 7
AJCU-Academic 20 21
AJCU-Law 1
Alabama Academic (NAAL) 10 1 8 2
CES 6
Church Libraries and Archives 7
CUNY Libraries 19
CONSULS 5
CUC Group 8
EBSLG 6 17
Research Centers (FFRDC) Libraries 5
Georgia Consortium 19
Harrisburg Area Community Colleges 5
Keystone Library Network 15
Hospital/MLA 7
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LibQUALLibQUAL++®® Surveys by Consortia Surveys by Consortia(cont’d)(cont’d) Years
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Mass-LSTA 5
MERLN 6
National Health Service England 10
North Carolina Community Colleges 15
NELLCO 8
NY3Rs 76 2 1
Oberlin Group 12 9 13 2
OhioLINK 57 45 1 14 2
SCONUL 20 17 16 20
State Universities of Florida 6 2 1
University of Wisconsin System 14
VALE 12 1
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Participating Libraries by CountryParticipating Libraries by CountryCountry 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Australia 1 6 2
Canada 1 3 4 8 10 15 11
Denmark 1 2
Egypt 1 2
Finland 2
France 1 2
Ireland 1 1 2
Netherlands 1 1 5
New Zealand 1
Norway 2
South Africa 12 8
Sweden 3 4 4
Switzerland 2 2
U.A.E. 1
U.K. 20 17 16 33
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Surveys by Session: 2004-2006Surveys by Session: 2004-2006
Year Session 1 Session 2
2004 202 2
2005 199 56
2006 205 93
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World World LibQUALLibQUAL++®® Survey Survey
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Preparing for the Survey ImplementationPreparing for the Survey Implementation
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Why is Your Library Participating Why is Your Library Participating in in LibQUAL+LibQUAL+® ® ??
• Institutional goals:
– what do you want to get out of the survey?
• Survey requirements:
– people, supplies, technology
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Get Permission from your Get Permission from your Institutional Review BoardInstitutional Review Board
• Local group that approves human subject research
• May also be called
– Committee for Human Subject Research
– Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects
• Not all institutions need to obtain permission
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Get Permission from yourGet Permission from yourInstitutional Review BoardInstitutional Review Board
• If permission is required:
– Seek well in advance of survey
– Supply a copy of the survey, if requested
– Inform them that results will be shared among participants
• No need to inform LibQUAL+® of decision
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Determine Whom to SurveyDetermine Whom to Survey
• Random sample
or
• Entire population
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If You Sample…If You Sample…
• Recommendations: – At least 1,200 random email addresses for
each user group– Separate sample groups for
undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and staff
– Think about survey fatigue if you want to repeat the survey regularly
• Keep notes on your methodology as you will be asked to describe it in the Post Hoc Questionnaire
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If You Survey the If You Survey the Entire Population….Entire Population….
• Recommendations:
– Think about survey fatigue if you want to repeat the survey regularly
• Keep notes on your methodology as you will be asked to describe it in the Post Hoc Questionnaire
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Obtain Email AddressesObtain Email Addresses
• Typical sources include:
– Campus computing office
– Campus administrative records office
– Library patron database
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Marketing your SurveyMarketing your Survey
– Place ads in campus newspaper
– Write article for library newsletter
– Post flyers around campus
– Present at faculty meetings & student orientations
– Create a survey Web site and feature on library’s home page
– Take the survey to where users are: dining halls, study rooms, dorms
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Become Familiar with Become Familiar with LibQUAL+LibQUAL+®® Resources Resources
• Management Centerhttp://www.libqual.org/Manage/index.cfm
• LibQUAL+® Procedures Manualhttp://www.libqual.org/Manual/index.cfm – Updated Version – September 2006– Much more detail
• Discussion [email protected]
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The The LibQUAL+LibQUAL+®® Management CenterManagement Center
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The Survey Process: Initial StepsThe Survey Process: Initial Steps
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Survey Process: Initial ProcessSurvey Process: Initial Process
The Beginning of the Survey Process
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Survey Process: Initial ProcessSurvey Process: Initial Process
• Preferences– Language (REQUIRED)
– Survey Start & End Dates– Local Incentive (REQUIRED)
– SPSS Data File Delivery– Support E-mail Address
(REQUIRED)
– Upload Institution’s Logo (REQUIRED)
• Customization– Local Questions– Disciplines– Branch Libraries
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Survey Process: PreferencesSurvey Process: Preferences
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Survey Process: CustomizationSurvey Process: Customization
Local Questions
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Survey Process: CustomizationSurvey Process: Customization
Branch Libraries
The library do you use most often.
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Mapping DisciplinesMapping Disciplines
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Mapping DisciplinesMapping Disciplines
• Results notebooks summarize findings by user group and provide a chart for, both, standard and custom disciplines
• Standard disciplines
• Customized disciplines
– Recommend no more than 16 disciplines, if possible
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The Standard DisciplinesThe Standard Disciplines
• Agriculture/Environmental Studies
• Architecture• Business• Communications/
Journalism• Education• Engineering/Computer
Science• General Studies• Health Sciences
• Humanities• Law• Military/Naval Science• Other• Performing & Fine Arts• Science/Math• Social Sciences/
Psychology• Undecided
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Customized DisciplinesCustomized Disciplines
• Use your local terminology to map to the standard disciplines
• Cautions:
– Need to provide representativeness data for each discipline
– Too many choices present challenges to users
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Standard Disciplines: Standard Disciplines: An Academic LibraryAn Academic Library
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Customized Disciplines: Customized Disciplines: An Academic LibraryAn Academic Library
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Approving and Running Your SurveyApproving and Running Your Survey
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Previewing and ApprovingPreviewing and ApprovingYour SurveyYour SurveyPreview• Complete at least one full run
of your preview survey• Test in different settings,
using different platforms and Web browsers
• Get library staff involved in testing
Approved• Can no longer make changes• Live survey URL will appear at
the top of the “Manage Your Survey” page marked as Survey URL
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Reviewing CommentsReviewing Comments
• About one-half of users include comments on their survey
• Download via the Monitor Survey Progress page (Excel file or text file)http://old.libqual.org/Manage/Results/Comments/index.cfm
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Sending RemindersSending Reminders
• 3-5 reminders to sample populations
• Thank respondents who have completed the survey
• Boost up marketing efforts around campus– More fliers, table tents, ads in campus
newspaper– Get professors and other staff involved
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Completing Your Completing Your Representativeness QuestionnaireRepresentativeness Questionnaire• Determines how your institutional profile compares to
your survey data• Requires the following information:
– # of individuals per user group– # of individuals within each discipline– # of males and females– Library Statistics
• Volumes added during the year – Gross/Total (including e-books)• Total number of current serials received (including electronic serials)• Total library expenditures (U.S. dollars)• Personnel – professional staff, full-time equivalent (FTE)• Personnel – support staff, full-time equivalent (FTE)
• Must be complete before closing survey
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Completing Your Completing Your Representativeness QuestionnaireRepresentativeness Questionnaire
Representativeness Representativeness CompletedCompleted
Representativeness Representativeness NOT CompletedNOT Completed
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Closing Your SurveyClosing Your Survey
• We recommend a survey run of at three weeks
• Once you close your survey:– Retrieve list of incentive winners– Fill out Post Hoc and Evaluation
Questionnaires
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Completing Post Hoc and Evaluation Completing Post Hoc and Evaluation QuestionnairesQuestionnaires
Post Hoc Questionnaire• Information about your
survey– Sample size– # of e-mails sent– #of invalid e-mail
addresses– Incentives offered– Marketing techniques– Etc.
Evaluation Questionnaire• Feedback about your
LibQUAL+® experience• All survey liaisons and
assistants are encouraged to complete this questionnaire
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General Discussion General Discussion and Q&Aand Q&A
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Summary and ClosureSummary and Closure
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LibQUAL+LibQUAL+®® Resources Resources
• LibQUAL+® Web site:http://old.libqual.org
• Publications:http://old.libqual.org/publications
• Events and Training:http://old.libqual.org/events
• Gap Theory/Radar Graph Introduction:http://old.libqual.org/Information/Tools/libqualpresentation.cfm
• LibQUAL+® Procedures Manual:http://old.libqual.org/Publications/index.cfm
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The The LibQUAL+LibQUAL+®® Team Team
• MaShana DavisTechnical Communications [email protected]
• Yolanda GlassAdministrative [email protected]
• Richard GrovesCustomer Relations [email protected]
• Martha KyrillidouDirector, Statistics and Service Quality [email protected]