A Decade of Assessment at a Research-Extensive University Library Using LibQUAL+® Colleen Cook, Dean, Texas A&M University Libraries Michael Maciel, Data Analyst, Texas A&M University Libraries Introduction1 S ince 1999, the Texas A&M University Libraries have used the LibQUAL+® survey to assess programs, collections, and services. As the major partner with ARL in the development of the protocol, the LibQUAL+® theory of service quality is used as the framework from which to assess the success of the libraries from three dimensions: affect of service, information control, and library as place. In an age of accountability for higher education worldwide, there is a growing need for effective means of longitudinal assessment useful in local contexts as well as cross-institutional comparisons for institutions of higher learning and their libraries. Stakeholders, including students, parents, taxpayers and the public at large all have an interest in society’s libraries that become more expensive to operate each year, particularly in contrast to information readily and freely available. LibQUAL+® History In 1999 as a part of ARL’s New Measures Initiative, researchers at Texas A&M University and ARL embarked on a pilot study to reground SERVQUAL, the premier total market survey for assessing service quality in the commercial sector, for the research library environment. With funding from a US Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant, the LibQUAL+® survey instrument was developed and a program at ARL was inaugurated to run the web-based survey on an annual basis. From a modest beginning with 13 ARL libraries in 2001, the survey has RLI 271 4 AUGUST 2010 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC
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