Report on the

Conducted October 14 - 27, 2002

Submitted by

John Lamborn

Systems & Access Services Librarian

November 5, 2002

Objective

In preparation for accreditation review of WSU, the library has implemented biennial assessment of user satisfaction with programs and services. A survey of WSU faculty was conducted in 1999 and 2001. A survey of WSU students was conducted this during Spring Semester, 2000, and Fall Semester, 2002. The survey of faculty is planned and administered by the University Librarian. The survey of students is jointly planned and administered by Reference & Information Services and Systems & Access Services in consultation with the University Librarian.

Survey Instrument

The survey instrument for both the 2000 and 2002 survey periods for Systems & Access Services were development in consultation with the Reference & Information Services Librarian, the Instruction Services Librarian, the University Librarian, and members of the Systems & Access Services Team. Four separate but similar instruments were developed for each of the primary components of Systems & Access Services: Circulation Services, Media/Reserve Services, and the Student Computer Lab. Though not included in the 2000 survey, Interlibrary Loan Services did take part to the 2002 survey.

Each fo the four survey instrument consisted of approximately 20 "bullet statements" descriptive of a service, policy, collection, and/or attribute associated with the respective service area. Respondents were asked to assign a "satisfaction"rating ranging from 5 (highly satisfied) to 1 (highly dissatisfied) or to indicate that they had "no opinion" in regard to a particular statement. An explanation of the role/objective of each service being assessed is included on each survey instrument, as is a request for comments and suggestions from the respondent.

Samples of the surveys and instructions to area supervisors are provided at the conclusion of this report.

Survey Period

The survey for Circulation Services was conducted from October 14 - 20. Media/Reserve Services and Student Computer Lab surveys were conducted from October 21 - 27. Interlibrary Loan surveys were gathered throughout the survey period of October 14 - 27 in recognition of the fact that fewer users of that service would be physically present in the service area during the survey period..

Survey Sample

The survey sought input from currently enrolled students who were physically present in the service area being assessed during the time of assessment. The primary audience was to be students receiving assistance at a service desk or, in the case of the Student Computer Lab, using a workstation.. A secondary audience, if needed, was to be students studying in the immediate service area. A maximum of 20 or a minimum of 15 respondents was sought during each survey interval. This quantity was deemed adequate to provide a viable sample, and expected to minimize any negative impact the activity might have on both personnel and users.

In addition, a sample which was representative of the broad range of service hours (95 hours in a seven day period) was sought. To that end, personnel in the respective service areas assigned two hour intervals during which the surveys would be distributed on each of the seven survey days. At least two of the survey intervals were to target morning service hours(7am to noon), at least two were to target

afternoon service hours (noon to 6 PM), and at least two were to target evening service hours (6 PM to midnight). Both Saturday and Sunday were to be represented in the sample as well. At least the minimum and usually the maximum number of survey instruments was successfully distributed in this manner for most survey periods. .

The survey intervals for each service area during both the 2000 and 2002 surveys were:

Circulation

Monday: 8 to 10 PM Tuesday: 6 to 8 PM Wednesday: 4 to 6 PM Thursday: 10 to noon

Friday: 8 to 10 am Saturday: noon to 2 PM Sunday: 2 to 4 PM

 

Media/Reserve and the Student Computer Lab

Monday: 10 to noon Tuesday: 6 to 8 PM Wednesday: 8 to 10 PM Thursday: 10 to noon

Friday: 8 to 10am Saturday: 2 to 4 PM Sunday: 4 to 6 PM

 

Interlibrary Loan

All hours, all days. Surveys were distributed to anyone picking up Interlibrary Loan materials at the Circulation Services desk or in the Interlibrary Loan Office during the two week period..

Procedure

Two survey distribution boxes and a sign noting that a survey was in progress were placed in the service area. Twenty survey instruments for each day of the survey, inconspicuously "tagged" on the reverse side with the date of distribution, were prepared and distributed to each service area.

Personnel were instructed to begin distribution of the survey instruments each day at the beginning of the designated survey interval. Distribution was to stop once the maximum number (20) had been reached. If fewer than the minimum number (15) had been distributed during a given survey interval, personnel were to "extend" the interval until that number had been distributed. When distributing the survey instrument, personnel were encouraged to do as follows:

• Politely and pleasantly ask the individual to "participate in the survey" as he/she is offered a survey instrument and a pencil.
• Assure the individual that completion of the survey "only takes about three minutes" and that he/she will not be asked to do another in that service area for at least a year.
• Indicate where the completed survey instrument may be deposited.
• Thank the student for his/her participation.

 

At the end of each day, the completed survey instruments were given to the Systems & Access Services Librarian for tabulation. Responses of a rating of 3 or higher were interpreted as representing satisfaction with the service, policy, collection, attribute, etc. represented by the statement. Responses of a rating of 2 or lower were interpreted as representing dissatisfaction with the service, policy, collection, attribute, etc. represented by the statement. "No opinion" responses were interpreted as representing a lack of familiarity, for a variety of possible reasons, with the statement=s subject matter.

 

Return Rate

 

Service Area	Distributed (2000) (2002)		No Returned (2000) (2002)		% of Return (2000)       (2002)
Circulation	131	135	131	123	100	91
Interlibrary Loan	0	25	0	25	0	100
Media/Reserve	141	116	181	116	87	100
Student Lab	140	120	127	106	91	89

 

 

Observation and Analysis

A summary of responses to the surveys distributed in each of the Systems & Access Services components (except Interlibrary Loan) is found at the end of this narrative. To draw a comparison between 2000 and 2002 surveys, I have compiled tables (pages 6-9) from which the following "highlights"are taken:

 

 

All Service Areas

 

Service or attribute	Satisfaction Rating 2000	Satisfaction Rating 2002
Services in general	98%	95%
Friendliness and approachability of personnel	96%	92%
Thoroughness of the assistance provided	92%	92%
Weekday service hours	95%	93%
Weekend service hours	97%	84%
Photocopying/printing facilities	85%	80%

 

When the difference between the total number of surveys completed for each survey period and the number of "dissatisfied" or "no opinion" responses are taken into account, the satisfaction level in these general service areas has remained fairly stable. The 13% difference in the satisfaction rating for weekend hours is more a reflection of "no opinion" responses than "dissatisfaction" with the hours. In fact, there has been a 1% decrease in the level of dissatisfaction in this category between 2000 and 2002.

 

Individual Service Areas: Circulation Services

3M Self-check System.

42% of respondents in the 2002 survey were satisfied with the system whereas only 40% had expressed satisfaction in 2000. 59% in 2002 62% in 2000 had no opinion

 

Internet Service

55% and 44% respectively were satisfied with or had no opinion about the option to extend a library loan via the Net. In 2000 36% were satisfied and 51% had no opinion.

 

Weekday Service Hours

0% expressed dissatisfaction and 93% expressed satisfaction in the 2002 survey, whereas 3% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the hours in 2000.

 

Late Return/Lost Item fees

As in 2000, the greatest dissatisfaction was expressed for the Library=s late return and lost item fees. However, improvement is evident even in this case. In 2000 12% were dissatisfied with the lost item fee and 21% felt similarly about the late return fee. In 2002 those percentages were reduced to 4% and 9% respectively.

 

Individual Service Area: Interlibrary Loan Services

Since this area was not included in the 2000 survey, no comparisons are possible. Though the 2002 survey give uniformly favorable ratings, the small number of responses makes the data less useful. In the future the survey will be conducted via the Net and in-house over a longer period of time.

 

Individual Service Area: Media/Reserve Services

Personnel

Satisfaction with the friendliness and approachability of personnel, the quality of assistance, and the appropriateness of referrals was virtually unchanged between the 2000 and 2002 surveys. Less than 1% of expressed any level of dissatisfaction.

 

Ereserve System

75% of respondents were satisfied with the Ereserve system, compared to 59% in 2000. 22% of respondents in 2002 and the 41% in 2000 who had no opinion about the system.

 

Collections

Satisfaction with the content of the CD, Video and Curriculum collections showed little change between 2000 and 2002. There was an 8% gain in the satisfaction level for the content of the Young People's collection. 40% gave no opinion about the content of these collections.

 

Individual Service Areas: The Student Computer Lab

Overall Improvement

Of the service areas surveyed, the Lab showed the greatest overall gains in level of user satisfaction. Of particular note were increases in satisfaction with the friendliness of personnel, quality of assistance provided, the number and quality of PCs, access to a scanner and zip drives, and the overall suitability of the work stations

 

 

Circulation Services	High Sat		Fair Sat		Sat		F Disat		H Disat		No Opinion
	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000
Friendliness of staff	78	83	32	40	6	5	0	0	0	0	7	3
Assistance provided	70	84	32	34	10	7	0	1	1	0	10	5
Referrals when needed	43	55	30	30	7	11	2	3	1	0	40	32
Length of loan periods	48	40	22	29	14	22	4	5	0	2	35	33
Extend loan via phone	50	50	13	21	7	5	0	0	0	0	53	55
Extend loan via the Net	51	36	13	21	4	6	0	0	0	1	55	67
Service hours weekdays	87	82	15	33	12	10	0	1	0	3	9	2
Service hours weekends	55	64	26	32	14	15	5	10	7	5	16	5
Services hours breaks	40	29	18	25	13	25	3	11	8	7	41	34
Lost item fee	31	20	11	11	15	17	5	8	1	8	60	67
Late return fee	34	23	13	15	14	19	8	13	3	14	51	47
3M "Self-check" system	30	26	13	12	5	9	1	1	1	1	73	82
Online catalog stations	58	58	31	42	9	11	1	2	0	1	24	17
GW/WP/Net stations	58	55	30	43	8	9	3	2	1	3	23	19
Tidiness of the shelves	65	77	36	43	4	4	0	2	1	0	17	5
Ease of locating material	48	53	39	50	13	17	6	2	0	0	17	9
Microform readers/printers	41	35	18	20	11	11	4	0	0	0	49	65
Photocopy machines	38	42	29	32	17	27	6	8	2	7	31	15
Quiet study areas	68	68	30	30	7	15	3	7	3	5	12	6
Group study areas	54	45	26	31	9	13	1	7	0	2	33	33
Overall satisfaction	71	69	36	54	5	5	1	0	0	1	10	2
131 completed surveys in 2000 123 completed surveys in 2002

 

Interlibrary Loan Services	High Sat		Fair Sat		Sat		F Disat		H Disat		No Opinion
	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000
Friendliness of staff	17		4		0		0		1		3
Assistance provided	17		4		0		0		1		3
Referrals when needed	12		3		3		0		0		7
Length of loan periods	8		8		2		1		1		5
Extend loan via phone	5		3		3		0		0		14
Request loan via the Net	12		4		3		0		0		14
Printed request forms	10		3		1		0		0		11
Online request forms	14		3		3		0		0		5
Weekday hours	13		4		1		2		1		4
Weekend hours	10		3		2		1		1		8
Semester break hours	6		4		1		1		2		11
Loan notification process	16		4		0		0		1		4
Loan pick-up process	15		3		2		0		0		5
Loan return process	9		4		2		0		0		10
Lost item fee	1		3		1		0		0		20
Quality of photocopies	9		3		4		0		1		8
Email delivery option	6		2		0		0		0		17
Turn around time	16		5		0		0		1		3
Overall satisfaction	19		5		0		0		1		0
0 completed surveys in 2000 25 completed surveys in 2002

 

 

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Media/Reserve Services	High Sat		Fair Sat		Sat		F Disat		H Disat		No Opinion
	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000	2002	2000
Friendliness of staff	67	84	38	27	4	7	1	0	0	0	6	0
Assistance provided	65	67	38	38	17	12	1	0	0	0	6	1
Referrals when needed	39	35	26	31	17	16	4	2	0	1	30	33
Length of Reserve loans	30	37	29	43	24	17	8	5	2	2	24	14
Length of Media loans	35	na	24	na	16	na	7	na	2	na	30	na
Reserve late fee	26	26	18	20	18	17	5	9	12	3	37	43