now been taken by 1.2 million respondents from 1,200 libraries in 20 language versions throughout the world. A number of goals have emerged as the foundation of the LibQUAL+® program: Foster a culture of excellence in providing library service Help libraries better understand user perceptions of library service quality Collect and interpret library user feedback systematically over time Provide libraries with comparable assessment information from peer institutions Identify best practices in library service Enhance library staff members’ analytical skills for interpreting and acting on data In its final version LibQUAL+® consists of 22 questions and a free-text comment box. This box secures open-ended comments from users regarding their concerns and suggestions about library services. A set of demographic questions, a set of satisfaction questions, and five outcomes questions are also included. The survey measures three dimensions of library service quality: affect of service, the emotive aspects of service provision information control, the scope of content and means of access to content and library as place, the physical characteristics of library spaces. Respondents answer each of the 22 questions on a nine-point scale from three perspectives: the minimum level of service the perceived, current level of service and the desired level of service. Perceived scores most often fall somewhere on a continuum anchored by a minimum level of service at the low end and a desired level of service at the high end. The spectrum of opinion is called the “Zone of Tolerance,” a term borrowed from LibQUAL+®’s progenitor, SERVQUAL.2 LibQUAL+® at Texas A&M University Libraries Texas A&M University has implemented LibQUAL+® each year since 2000. The survey has provided direction for local management decisions and for monitoring progress on those directions longitudinally across time. The survey has also been used to benchmark against peers, particularly other ARL libraries using LibQUAL+®. With nearly a decade of LibQUAL+® data, trends are emerging that are particularly useful. A few highlights of this trend data are discussed below by dimension and within dimension by user group using Texas RLI 271 5 A Decade of Assessment at a Research-Extensive University Library Using LibQUAL+® ( C O N T I N U E D ) AUGUST 2010 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC
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