1st Edition

Libraries Act on Their LibQUAL+ Findings From Data to Action

    268 Pages
    by Routledge

    278 Pages
    by Routledge

    Learn how other libraries are using LibQUAL+™ data to improve their services and programs

    This book focuses on the value of the 2002 LibQUAL+™ survey data to help librarians provide better services for users. This unique work highlights the continued efforts of participating libraries that used this Web-based marketing instrument to assess and evaluate their service quality, resource allocations, staffing, technology, and policies. Library professionals dealing with—or interested in—library service quality assessment will benefit from the practical examples and graphical representations found in this vital book.

    With Libraries Act on Their LibQUAL+™ Findings, you will gain a better understanding of how to use your LibQUAL+™ data to identify opportunities to improve your services and programs, initiate further data exploration, and identify those areas of your library which need change. In times of budget reductions, the information in this book will show you how to better demonstrate to your patrons, community, and government agencies the value of the investment in library staff and resources. Enhanced with charts, graphs, tables, and figures, this text will help your library smoothly evolve with your patrons’ expectations and needs.

    Libraries Act on Their LibQUAL+™ Findings: From Data to Action covers several important topics, including:

    • the LibQUAL+™ survey instrument—what it is and how it works
    • library service quality and user perceptions of library service quality
    • peer comparisons and benchmarking
    • qualitative and quantitative data analysis—how to read your findings
    • strategic planning—how to use your findings
    This resource is of national importance, presenting varying perspectives from different library contexts, such as library consortia, library types, and individual library case studies. The book also provides ideas for using LibQUAL+™ to develop better library services for diverse users—faculty as opposed to students or the general public rather than specialists. From identifying and reaching patrons for conducting the LibQUAL+™ survey to identifying gaps between desired, perceived, and minimum expectations of services, this book will guide you in continuously meeting the needs of your community.

    • Preface
    • The Starving Research Library User: Relationships Between Library Institutional Characteristics and Spring 2002 LibQUAL+™ Scores (Martha Kyrillidou and Fred M. Heath)
    • CONSORTIA
    • Defending and Expanding Library Turf—The Need for Scalable Consumer Research (Tom Sanville)
    • The OhioLINK LibQUAL+™ 2002 Experience: A Consortium Looks at Service Quality (Jeff Gatten)
    • HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARIES
    • Exploring Outcomes Assessment: The AAHSL LibQUAL+™ Experience (Tamera Lee)
    • LibQUAL+™ in a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Medical School: The Case Study of the Medical Library and Peyton T. Anderson Learning Resources Center (LRC) at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia (Jan H. LaBeause)
    • The Evolution and Application of Assessment Strategies at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (Rick B. Forsman)
    • The LibQUAL+™ Challenge: An Academic Medical Center’s Perspective, Duke University (Richard Peterson, Beverly Murphy, Stephanie Holmgren, and Patricia L. Thibodeau)
    • An Academic Medical Library Using LibQUAL+™: The Experience of the Galter Health Sciences Library, Northwestern University (James Shedlock and Linda Walton)
    • UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE LIBRARIES
    • Quantifying Qualitative Data: Using LibQUAL+™ Comments for Library-Wide Planning Activities at the University of Arizona (Wendy Begay, Daniel R. Lee, Jim Martin, and Michael Ray)
    • Another Tool in the Assessment Toolbox: Integrating LibQUAL+™ into the University of Washington Libraries Assessment Program (Steve Hiller)
    • Mining LibQUAL+™ Data for Pointers to Service Quality at Wayne State University (Barton Lessin)
    • We Ask Them What They Thought, Now What Do We Do? The Use of LibQUAL+™ Data to Redesign Public Services at the University of Pittsburgh (Amy E. Knapp)
    • LibQUAL+™ Meets Strategic Planning at the University of Florida (Stephen R. Shorb and Lori Driscoll)
    • Using LibQUAL+™ Data in Strategic Planning: Bowling Green State University (Lorraine J. Haricombe and Bonna J. Boettcher)
    • LibQUAL+™ 2002 at Vanderbilt University: What Do the Results Mean and Where Do We Go from Here? (Flo Wilson)
    • Index
    • Reference Notes Included

    Biography

    Heath, Fred M.; Kyrillidou, Martha; Askew, Consuella