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LibQUAL+™

An Introduction to LibQUAL+

Selena KillickCranfield University

Presented at the Aslib Engineering Group AGM17th January 2008

Imperial College of Science and Technology, London

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LibQUAL+™

LibQUAL+

Premise; Dimensions and Methodology

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The need for LibQUAL+

• Underlying need to demonstrate our worth• The reallocation of resources from

traditional services and functions• Rapid shifts in information-seeking

behavior• Need to keep abreast of customer demands

• Increasing user demands• 37% of UK 16 – 18 year olds expect better

libraries in return for their top-up fees

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The LibQUAL+ Premise

“….only customers judge quality;

all other judgments are essentially

irrelevant”

PERCEPTIONS SERVICE

Note. Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry. (1999). Delivering quality service. NY: The Free Press.

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LibQUAL+ Development

• An ARL/Texas A&M University joint developmental effort based on SERVQUAL.

• LibQUAL+ initially supported by a 3-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE)

• Initial project established an expert team, re-grounded SERVQUAL concepts, and designed survey methodology

• Survey conducted at over 700 libraries resulting in a data base of over half a million user responses

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76 Interviews Conducted

• York University• University of Arizona• Arizona State• University of Connecticut• University of Houston• University of Kansas

• University of Minnesota• University of

Pennsylvania• University of Washington• Smithsonian• Northwestern Medical

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Dimensions ofLibrary Service Quality

Information Control

LibraryServiceQuality

Self-Reliance

Equipment

Timeliness

Ease of Navigation

Convenience

Scope of Content

Affect of Service

Library as Place

Reliability

Assurance

Responsiveness

Empathy

Refuge

Symbol

Utilitarian Space

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Rapid Growth in Other Areas

• Languages• American English• British English• French• Dutch• Swedish

• In development• Chinese• Greek• Spanish• German

• Consortia• Each may create 5 local

questions to add to their survey

• Types of Institutions• Academic Health Sciences• Academic Law• Academic Military• College or University• Community College• European Business• Hospital• Public• State

• Countries• U.S., U.K., Canada, the

Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, France, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia

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LibQUAL+ Languages

American English

Dutch EnglishFrench Canadian DutchSwedish

Swedish(British English)

Afrikaans

DanishFinnishGerman Norwegian

British English

Continental French

Over 700 institutions1,000,000 respondents

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LibQUAL+ and SCONUL

• Coordinated on behalf of the Society of College, National & University Libraries (SCONUL) Working Group on Performance Improvement (WGPI)

• 2003 20 UK Higher Education (HE) institutions agree to pilot the survey in a consortium of SCONUL Members

• Pilot seen as a success • Consortium of SCONUL Libraries has

participated in LibQUAL+ annually since 2003• 67 Different institutions in 6 years

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Consortium of Research Libraries (CURL)

• University of Aberdeen • University of Birmingham • University of Bristol • British Library• Cambridge University • Cardiff University • Durham University• Edinburgh University • Glasgow University • Imperial College London• University of Manchester• King's College London • Leeds University • University of Liverpool• University of London

• The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

• National Library of Scotland • National Library of Wales• Newcastle University• University of Nottingham • University of Oxford• School of Oriental and African

Studies (SOAS)• University of Sheffield• University of Southampton • Trinity College Dublin • UCL• V&A Museum• University of Warwick• Wellcome Library

Aslib Participants – 69 Corporate Members• Ashridge Management College• Bath University Library• Brunel University• Cambridge University Library• City University• Cranfield University• De Montfort University• Denver University• European Parliament• Exeter University• Glasgow University Library• Helsinki University Of Technology• Leeds Metropolitan University• Liverpool John Moores University• London Business School Library• London Metropolitan University• London South Bank University• Loughborough University• Louisiana State University• McGill University Libraries• Napier University• Nottingham Trent University• Ohio State University Libraries• Oxford University Library• Penn State University• Queen Margaret University College• Queen Mary, University of London• Robert Gordon University• Royal Holloway University of London• Rutgers University• Syracuse University • Trinity College Library Dublin• University College Cork• University College London

• University of Alberta Library• University of Birmingham• University of British Columbia• University of California• University of Central Lancashire• University of Chicago Library• University of East London• University of Hawaii Library• University of Hong Kong Library• University of Illinois• University of Iowa Libraries• University of Limerick• University of Lincoln• University of Manchester• University of Maryland• University of Minnesota• University of Pittsburgh• University of Rhode Island Library• University of Sheffield• University of Strathclyde• University of Technology, Sydney• University of Tennessee Library• University of Texas• University of the Free State• University of the West Indies• University of the West of England, Bristoll• University of Toronto• University of Ulster• University of Wales, Aberystwyth• University of Warwick• University of Washington Library • University of Western Ontario • University of Westminster • Wageningen University and Research Centre• Washington State University Library

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LibQUAL+™

The LibQUAL+ Questionnaire

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How It Works

• Register with ARL (2008 cost $3,000)• Institutional contact sets survey to local needs

• Local Questions• Disciplines

• Send out a URL to the survey via email• Mounted on ARL servers

• Watch the surveys come in• Close the survey when ready, institutional results

available after a couple of weeks• PDF• SPSS• Excel

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Survey Instrument22 core questions

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Five Local Questions

• Participants can choose 5 questions to add to their survey from a range of over 100

• Helping participants focus on local issues

• Maintaining standardisation for benchmarking purposes

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Free-Text Comments Box

• About 40% of participants provide open-ended comments, and these are linked to demographics and quantitative data

• Users elaborate the details of their concerns• Users feel the need to be constructive in their

criticisms, and offer specific suggestions for action

• Available in real-time enabling prompt responses to concerns

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Demographics

• User group, Discipline, Age, Sex, Gender

• Attached to SPSS and Excel results

• Enabling detailed further analysis

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LibQUAL+™

LibQUAL+ Results

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Understanding LibQUAL+ Results

• For the 22 items LibQUAL+ asks users’ to rate their:• Minimum service level• Desired service level• Perceived service performance

• This gives us a ‘Zone of Tolerance’ for each question; the distance between minimally acceptable and desired service ratings

• Perception ratings ideally fall within the Zone of Tolerance

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Perceived is greater than desired

Perceived is greater than minimum, less

than desired

Perceived is less than minimum

Minimum

Minimum

Desired

Desired

Perceived

Perceived

Perceived

Gap Theory

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SCONUL 2007 Overall Results

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SCONUL Results by Dimension

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SCONUL Results by User Group

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General findings

• Highly desired• Making electronic resources accessible from my

home or office• Print and/or electronic journals I require for my work• A haven for study, learning or research

• Lowest • Library staff who instil confidence in users• Giving users individual attention• Space for group learning and group study

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LibQUAL+™

LibQUAL+ in Action

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UK University Case Study 1: Using LibQUAL+ Results

• Strategic Service Developments• Data to support service development• Ability to identify where not meeting expectations• Measure if change has met need

• Budget Discussions• Data to support bid for increased funding• Data to support case for change in emphasis (towards

e-provision)• Marketing Position

• Status of the library within the University• Importance of national & international benchmarking

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LibQUAL+ Outcomes

Funding received for:

• New Web Services Administrator

• Increased opening hours• Now providing 222,578 seat hours per week

• Library refurbishment programme reinstated at costs in excess of £8 million

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Library Refurbishment

From: To:

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UK University Case Study 2: Electronic Developments

Information skills training• Information Literacy outcomes received the lowest score in

the 2003 surveyAction:• New Information Literacy project to provide software based

tutorial to help students with IL, specifically to aid our distance learners

Access to electronic resources• Our Web site and providing electronic access to resources

were seen as major opportunities for improvementAction:• Developing a new library Web site, replacing 6 static html

pages with a portal.

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New Information Literacy Tutorial

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New Web Site

From: To:

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Results of Actions – Information Literacy

Question Mean +/-

2003 2005

The library helps me stay abreast of developments in my field(s) of interest.

5.98 6.04 +0.06

The library aids my advancement in my academic discipline.

6.65 6.68 +0.03

The library enables me to be more efficient in my academic pursuits.

6.65 6.76 +0.11

The library helps me distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy information.

5.22 5.67 +0.45

The library provides me with the information skills I need in my work or study.

5.72 5.95 +0.23

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Results of Actions – Access to electronic resources

Question Superiority +/-

2003 2005

Easy-to-use access tools that allow me to find things on my own

-1.36 -0.93 +0.43

Making electronic resources accessible from my home or office

-1.34 -1.26 +0.08

A library Web site enabling me to locate information on my own

-1.11 -1.13 -0.02

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Why use LibQUAL?Feedback from LibQUAL+ Users

“Why did you choose to use LibQUAL+?”• LibQUAL+ was recommended to us as offering a

well designed, thoroughly Library-focused set of survey tools

• Cost-effectiveness• Automated processing & fast delivery of results• Opportunity to benchmark• Respectability and comparability (with others

and historically)

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The benefits of LibQUAL+

LibQUAL+ has enabled us to find out what a broad range of our users thought of the services we offer; what level of service-delivery quality we had achieved in their eyes, and to get a clear picture of what they actually wanted the Library to deliver (as opposed to what we thought they wanted).

UK HE Institution, 2006

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In Closing LibQUAL+…

• Focuses on success from the users’ point of view (outcomes)

• Demonstrates that a web-based survey can handle large numbers; users are willing to fill it out; and survey can be executed quickly with minimal expense

• Requires limited local survey expertise and resources• Analysis available at local, national and inter-institutional

levels• Offers opportunities for highlighting and improving your

status within the institution• Can help in securing funding for the Library

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LibQUAL+ Resources

• LibQUAL+ Website:http://old.libqual.org

• Publications: http://old.libqual.org/publications

• Events and Training: http://old.libqual.org/events

• LibQUAL+ Bibliography: http://www.coe.tamu.edu/~bthompson/servqbib

• LibQUAL+ Procedures Manual: http://old.libqual.org/Information/Manual/index.cfm

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Acknowledgements

• Fred Heath, Bruce Thompson, Colleen Cook, Martha Kyrillidou and the rest of the LibQUAL+ team

• Stephen Town and rest of the SCONUL Working Group on Performance Improvement

• Helen Durndell and Jacqui Dowd, Glasgow University

• All SCONUL LibQUAL+ Participants

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LibQUAL+™

Selena KillickResearch & Development Officer

Cranfield University

s.a.killick@cranfield.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)1793 785561