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LibQUAL 2014
LibQUAL 2014 LibQUAL 2014 Results
Library LibQUAL survey comments
In 2014 the largest quantity of comments were about the positive experience customers have with our staff. Then comments around the availability of books and the improved study zones are appreciated.Read the LibQUAL report 2014
LibQUAL provide quantitative data (see LibQUAL report 2014) which gives the University Library a quick overview of any issues that are perceived to be problematic (and positive too!). In addition we also spent a lot of time analysing the 1,067 comments we received in 2014 and found the largest quantity of comments were about the positive experience customers have with our staff. Then we see customers perceive issues around the availability of books and also the improved study zones are appreciated but we need to review them and if possible extend some of the positive things we have put in place.
LibQual 2014 Action Plan
| What you said: | What we are doing: |
|---|---|
| 'Service has improved from year to year however quiet study space is often not available. Overall I am very satisfied with the library service. However, I find sometimes it is a bit loud.' 'I do however feel that more quiet working space is needed, ever growing numbers of students mean areas are often full forcing you to go to open study areas that are no substitute.' | We ran a further survey on our study space in April 2015 and have now analysed the feedback the results are available. |
| 'The quiet rule is not always observed and other users do not always observe the mobile phone regulations.' 'More strictly enforced quiet zones would be good, as would more comfortable areas to read/work.' | We have been gradually changing the signage that we use within our libraries to try to make messages clearer and to remind our users what appropriate behaviour has been agreed for each space. We completed this work in summer 2015. |
| 'Only bad experience was via other students being noisy / on phone.' 'I feel more needs to be done to ensure some students do not play music too loud or disrupt others on quiet floors.' | Our library staff will continue to walk around all our study spaces regularly to offer help to users and to encourage appropriate behaviour in the library. We will make sure they receive training and are supported in doing this. |
| What you said: | What we are doing: |
|---|---|
| 'I believe there should be more power sockets located in the quiet and silent zones.' 'Would be really great if you provides us more electrical sockets for our own notebooks and electronics.' | We have installed power sockets to as many desks as possible in our Cambridge and Chelmsford libraries, and have noticed that some areas are being used much more as a result. |
| 'More study space would greatly enhance the library. This is to include spaces with computers on all levels of the library. It is the best study space on campus and they are often all in use.' 'I still feel there needs to be more computers in the quiet/silent zone of the Cambridge library.' | We have piloted laptop loans in Cambridge (see the feedback from this), so that you can borrow a laptop to use anywhere on campus, including in the library's quiet and silent zones. |
| 'Often people will leave books or bags in front of a computer to mark it as their own, even if they are gone for hours.' 'Try to do something about people saving computers with their bags when they are not using them.' | We piloted the removal of unattended belongings in Cambridge in December, and following its success we ran another pilot in May 2015 during our busiest period. Due to the success of this approach we are likely to continue this process at peak times. |
| 'More computers need to be available in the quiet area as the computer suite is great but it is too noisy!!' 'Generally great but I could really use some more computer in a quite comfortable area as the large IT area is not very conducive to study for me personally.' | We have placed more PCs in the Library Quiet Areas in Chelmsford to provide other working spaces. |
| What you said: | What we are doing: |
|---|---|
| 'The library is either boiling hot or freezing cold!' 'Very good, But in the winter it can become too cold to study when the windows open automatically.' | Our Estates and Facilities team are doing their best to identify problems with current systems so they can be fixed, and to develop new solutions as needed. We will meet with them monthly to review progress. |
| 'Finally I wish there were toilets in the library as I do not like leaving all my stuff to go to the toilet.' 'I think that the library is a good place to come and study however I think there should be more toilets in the library. I think when I go out the library I get distracted even if it is just to go to the toilet.' | We can't add toilets to our existing libraries without extensive building work, so this isn't possible at the moment. But we will keep these comments under review for the future. |
| What you said: | What we are doing: |
|---|---|
| 'Access to journals through sites such as Science Direct, Wiley, and Springer needs to be improved.' 'Overall online catalogue is ok, search function could be improved to narrow results quicker (initial searching returns significant volume of matches).' 'I have found using the library catalogue is much more complicated than necessary and often the top searches are not the most relevant.' 'I would like the online databases to be easier for searching.' | We'll continue to monitor and improve all aspects of resource access (logins, e-resources and particularly, off-campus issues) and behaviour to try to reduce the number of problems you encounter. We are working on some usability studies and Focus Groups to understand better our users' behaviours in searching. We will report further after the studies. We will help you to improve your searching skills by building on and promoting our Information Skills sessions. |
| 'It would be great if it is possible to access some online resources which required subscription for example the economics, Sloan Management Review.' | We have subscribed to additional e-journal titles this year, and increased the availability of the current year's issues and we have introduced free interlibrary loans so you can get specific articles |
| What you said: | What we are doing: |
|---|---|
| 'Limited essential textbooks on the shelves. Difficult finding books that are supposed to be on shelve. Excellent electronic library services.' 'Friendly staff, nice environment, however some books are often hard to find or often out of place.' | We're developing location maps within the library catalogue - these will direct you to books on the shelves much more easily. |
| 'There needs to be more books available in the library that are on lecturers reading lists, and have at least a couple dedicated just to be used within the library, so students have more of a chance to access texts that they cannot afford. Would like more up to date books and the missing ones to be replaced quicker.' 'The books on the shelf are mostly out of date- and the access to journal articles in my field is very poor.' | Although we had many positive comments on the excellent range of resources we have on our shelves and in e-format, many of our users aren't aware of some of our services which we think may help allay your concerns, such as:
We'll be launching some promotions to try to increase awareness of these and other services. Remember to contact your subject librarian if you have any concerns about the range of materials available in your area. |
| 'I find that the books from our reading list is quickly exhausted so maybe more books need to be purchased or more e-books made available.' 'The library needs to get more books for access of the students especially books that are used in the module.' | We will be working with academic staff to promote our ReadingLists@Anglia service to improve access to resources for every module. We have 75% of all reading lists online (with links to the library catalogue including e-resources) and 99% of all Undergraduate Level 4 courses. We will also be adding an enhancement (Talis Aspire Digitised Content) which will make it easier to provide access to key articles and chapters online. |