LibQual+ Survey - August 2010

In 2010 the Library conducted its second LibQUAL+ Survey. Developed by the Association of Research Libraries, this survey is widely used in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. It gives the Library important feedback from clients, to help us plan for improved resource provision and service delivery. It also provides the opportunity for the Library to benchmark with major US and UK university libraries.

The Survey Report was received from the ARL late in 2010.

What you liked best

Readiness to respond to users' queries
Library Staff who have the knowledge to answer user questions
Willingness to help users
Making information easily accessible for independent use

Library staff appreciate the endorsement of their work that this represents. Three of the four items are from the 'Affect of service' domain of the survey, which deals with staff service delivery.

What you liked least

Respondents were least happy with the space for studying - there was not enough of it, and spaces to accommodate various study modes were wanted.

So...Library space available for study and learning in various styles and groupings has been greatly extended.

Since the beginning of 2011, The Biological Sciences Library has been dedicated entirely to student use, with five floors of spaces of various types, accommodating the full range of study styles, and is open 24x7 during semester.
The Dorothy Hill Engineering and Sciences Library also has more space available after the moving of little used materials to off-campus warehousing. One floor is also open 24x7.
The Economics and Business Library has been refurbished and is open 24x7.
Level 1 of the Law Library has been extensively refurbished to accommodate student use needs and is open 24x7.

What you thought most urgently needed attention

Your priority	Library Action
Making electronic resources accessible from my home or office	The following actions have further enhanced the Library's service to clients working from home or office: The Library's eZyproxy server, which enables provision of access to IP authenticated licensed content to users on non-UQ network addresses, was virtualised. As a virtual machine it is a more highly available service which we can deliver from our second site in the event of total failure of the primary site. The Library has "eZyproxied" Google Scholar so that if it is accessed via the Library website, the full text websites accessed via Google Scholar recognise the user as being from UQ. Replacing the Library's openurl link resolver "WebBridge" with "360 Link" has significantly improved the success rate of linking from database citations to fulltext. The Library provided a 'single-signon' mechanism (one-way only) from Blackboard to the Library single signon system (UQLAIS), which allows users logged into UQ's Blackboard (possibly in home or office) to follow links directly to the target resource, without having to re-authenticate to eZyproxy (or the Library website for locally hosted course materials.)
Print and/or electronic journal collections I require for my work	A programme of cyclical reviews of journal collections has been developed by the Library's Collection Management Group, and is being implemented across the Library, to ensure that the collection is kept current and appropriate titles are held.
The electronic information resources I need.	The Library has placed an increased emphasis on buying electronic resources, withg a concentration on improving the Library's eBook collections. There has been a total review of collection development policies to ensure they reflect current and developing research interests in the University. UQ librarians now maintain subject assessments of the collection, based on the Commonwealth Govenment Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative's Field of Research codes. The assessments reflect current trends at UQ, and respond to changes in direction through regular updating.
A Library website enabling me to locate information on my own.	The Library has developed and implemented the "My Library" portal to UQ Library's collections and services. This represents a major departure from the "one-size-fits-all" website. Information is packaged into small "widgets" and served up only to the customer groups who need them. Individuals can personaliuse the widgets to meet their specific needs.
Modern equipment that lets me easily access needed information.	While previously supporting students' use of the Windows operating system, the Library has responded to increasing use of Apple Mac computers by installing a fleet of iMacs in all the branches, and enabling dual boot capacity so that they can be used in either Windows or Mac mode. Library staff have also been trained to support Mac machines as well as Windows.
Making information easily accessible for independent use.	Implementation of the web-scale discovery service "Summon" has enabled users to experience a "Google-like" experience searching for library resources from a single interface. The Library has developed a range of online tutorials, deployed across the website at "point of need", which clients can use independently to learn about information resources appropriate to their discipline. Another suite of tutorials, one for each UQ Faculty, provides an introduction to the Library and its services particularly for beginning students. Online subject guides and "how to" guides are continually updated to lead students through systematic searching of the literature of their discipline. Students can now also book online to take part in face-to-face information skills classes.