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The Library Survey FAQ

1. What is The Library Survey?
2. When will the survey be conducted?
3. Why is the Library doing a survey?
4. How long will the survey take?
5. Can I skip questions that don't apply to me?
6. When will the prizes be announced?
7. Are responses confidential?
8. How is confidentiality protected?
9. What discipline should I choose?
10. Why aren't all the StFX departments listed in the disciplines?
11. Who do I contact if I have questions?
12. Has the StFX Research Ethics Board approved this survey?
13. What survey instrument is being used?
14. Why does the survey seem to repeat questions?
15. Does everyone answer the same survey questions?
16. Why isn't the URL for the survey a StFX URL?
17. How will this benefit the StFX library?
18. Can I complete a paper version instead of the web-based version?
19. Why use the LibQUAL+™ survey instead of one developed by the Library?
20. What does the survey measure?
21. Will I see the results of the survey?
22. When will the results be available?
23. How can I get more information about LibQUAL+&trade?

1. What is The Library Survey?
   
   The Library Survey is a survey being conducted by the Angus L. Macdonald Library to better understand our users' needs and expectations so we can make improvements. The survey used is a web based survey called LibQUAL+™ (Library Service Quality Survey). StFX is one of 46 Canadian universities conducting the LibQUAL+™ survey this year.
   
   LibQUAL+™ is intended to provide a measure of the value of library service quality across multiple academic and research libraries. The current LibQUAL+™ instrument measures library users' perceptions of their libraries' service quality and identifies gaps between minimal, desired and perceived levels of service.
2. When will the survey be conducted?
   
   The survey will run from March 8 - 28th. There will be a link to the survey on the Library website during that time.
3. Why is the Library doing a survey?
   
   We want to assess and improve our service. Through this survey we will receive information about areas needing improvement, be able to compare our service quality with other peer institutions, develop benchmarks, and to identify best practices across institutions.
4. How long will the survey take?
   
   The survey typically takes less than 10 minutes.
5. Can I skip questions that don't apply to me?
   
   No. Do not skip any questions in the LibQUAL+™ survey. If you do not wish to answer a question or feel a question does not apply to you, select NA (not applicable). Surveys with questions not completely filled out are not counted and you won't be able to enter to win a prize.
6. When will the prizes be announced?
   
   At the end of the survey you will be asked if you wish to enter your email for a chance to win one of the prizes. We will announce the prizes before April 15th.
7. Are responses confidential?
   
   Yes. The LibQUAL+&trade approach to confidentiality is guided by the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association (see Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, section 5)
8. How is confidentiality protected?
   
   Although some information is captured from respondents, such as network and email address, privacy is protected in two ways. First, only very indirect information is captured which would be difficult to trace back to an individual. Second, everything possible is done to separate personal information from survey responses. Email addresses are not saved with the responses, and there is no way to link an individual's responses to their email address -- assuring confidentiality when entering the incentive drawings. After the draw the email addresses are discarded.
9. What discipline should I choose?
   
   During the survey you will be asked to identify your discipline.
   
   Choose Humanities if you are taking most of your courses in Canadian Studies, Catholic Studies, Celtic Studies, Classical Studies, Development Studies, English, History, Humanities Colloquium, Philosophy, or Religious Studies.
   
   Choose Social Sciences if you are taking most of your courses in Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or Women's Studies.
   
   Choose Science if you are taking most of your courses in Aquatic Resources, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Sciences, or Physics.
   
   Other programs, such as Business, Nursing, Human Kinetics, etc. will display in the drop down list.
10. Why aren't all the StFX departments listed in the disciplines?
    
    There are several reasons why all the StFX subjects aren't in the list of disciplines. As part of the survey we need to provide LibQUAL+™ with the number of students enrolled in each discipline yet many first and second year students have not declared a major. In order to compare our data with similar institutions we also must be able to map the StFX disciplines to a standard list of disciplines defined by the Association of Research Libraries. The disciplines we are using are the ones where we can obtain accurate enrollment information and which will compare well across institutions.
11. Who do I contact if I have questions?
    
    If you have further questions send an email to UniversityLibrarian@stfx.ca or call 867-3315.
12. Has the StFX Research Ethics Board approved this survey?
    
    This survey is aimed at organizational effectiveness and quality control and not traditional research. For that reason, the REB does not need to approve the survey. Tri-council regulations explicity exempt such investigation from ethics approval requirements.
13. What survey instrument is being used?
    
    The LibQUAL+&trade survey evolved from a conceptual model based on the SERVQUAL instument, a popular tool for assessing service quality in the private sector grounded in the "Gap Theory of Service Quality". It was developed by Leonard L. Berry (Distinguished Professor, Texas A&M Univeristy), A. Parasuraman, and Valarie A. Zeithmal. From 1999, ARL, representing the largest research libraries in North America, partnered with Texas A&M University Libraries to develop, text, and refine LibQUAL+&trade. This effort was supported in part by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE).
14. Why does the survey seem to repeat the same question?
    
    The survey examines a variety of dimensions of library services, each represented by a number of questions. Repetition or redundancy in questions allows the survey designers to analyze the validity of each service quality dimension through statistical methods.
15. Does everyone answer the same survey questions?
    
    Actually, not everyone will get the same questions. The full survey has 34 service evaluation questions plus some demographic questions (i.e. your discipline, your age, etc.). In order to minimize the time it takes you to complete the survey we are using matrix sampling. Matrix sampling is a survey method that can be used to collect data on all survey items without requiring every participant to react to every survey question. With this approach all of the questions will still be asked but not of every respondent. That is, each person will be asked only 19 of the 34 service questions, plus the demographic questions. So the set of questions you answer may be different from that of your friend.
16. Why isn't the URL for the survey a StFX URL?
    
    The survey is administered through the Association of Research Libraries and Texas A&M University, and the survey and data are housed on secure Texas A&M servers.
17. How will this benefit the StFX library?
    
    As we receive information about areas needing improvement, this project will allow us to compare our service quality with other peer institutions, to develop benchmarks, and to identify best practices across institutions. By using the LibQUAL+™ instrument and initiating action based on the results of this survey, we can be more responsive to users' needs and provide services that are better aligned to users' expectations.
18. Can I complete a paper version instead of the web-based version?
    
    If you are not able to complete an online questionnaire you may obtain a paper copy of the survey by sending an email to UniversityLibrarian@stfx.ca or calling 867-3315.
19. Why use the LibQUAL+™ survey instead of one developed by the Library?
    
    The LibQUAL+™ survey is just one method used to solicit input about library services. We also have a student advisory group that meets regularly with the University Librarian to provide feedback. The Senate Library Committee, another advisory committee, includes students, faculty and administrators.
    
    Advantages of LibQUAL+™
    
    
    • Measurement of library users' perceptions of their libraries' service quality and identification of gaps between minimal, desired and perceived levels of service
    • a mixed method survey that yields quantitative data on 22 core items and qualitative data provided by an open-ended question
    • ten years' rigorous development and testing of the survey instrument by the Texas A&M University in partnership with the Association of Research Libraries
    • strong set of analytical tools to analyze the data
    • the ability to analyze StFX results in comparison to the results in similarly sized institutions and other Canadian institutions (LibQUAL+&trade has been used by more than 400 institutions worldwide)
    • the ability to repeat the survey in future years and gauge improvements
    For more information on the LibQUAL+™ read Birth of LibQUAL+®
20. What does the survey measure?
    
    The instrument addresses three survey quality dimensions that have been found to be valid in previous assessments of library services: Affect of Service, Library as Place, Information Control. Each question has three parts that ask respondents to indicate (1) the minimum service level they will accept, (2) the desired service level they expect, and (3) the perceived level of service currently provided. This design will permit analysis of gaps between expectations, perceptions, and minimum acceptance level of service.
21. Will I see the results of the survey?
    
    The results will be compiled in a report that will be posted on the Library website.
22. When will the results be available?
    
    This is the first time we have done this survey so we are not sure how long it will take to analyze and compile the results. It will likely be at least 1-2 months before we have the results on the site.
23. How can I get more information about LibQUAL+&trade?
    
    For more information, see the LibQUAL+&trade homepage at http://libqual.org. To email the national headquarters for LibQUAL+&trade, contact the Association for Research Libraries at LibQUAL@arl.org.