Lib QUAL An Introduction PRESENTED BY Martha Kyrillidou

Lib. QUAL+®: An Introduction PRESENTED BY: Martha Kyrillidou Association of Research Libraries Bern, Switzerland July 9, 2007 old. libqual. org

Overview • Introduction and Overview • Lib. QUAL+® in the UK • Research Foundations – Qualitative Process – Quantitative Evidence • The Survey Process • General Discussion and Q&A old. libqual. org

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World Lib. QUAL+® Survey old. libqual. org

Rapid Growth in Other Areas • Languages – – – – – • Types of Institutions American English British English Chinese (2007) French Dutch Swedish Norwegian Finnish Danish • Consortia – Each may create 5 local questions to add to their survey • Countries – Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, U. K. , U. S. old. libqual. org – – – – – Academic Health Sciences Academic Law Academic Military College or University Community College Electronic European Business Family History FFRDC High School (2007) Hospital National Health Service England Natural Resources New York Public Smithsonian State University/TAFE

® Lib. QUAL+ Participants old. libqual. org * 2007 data reflects Session I data only

® Lib. QUAL+ First Year Participants old. libqual. org * 2007 data reflects Session I data only

Lib. QUAL+® Surveys by Type Years 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Academic law 1 25 10 Academic military 6 1 13 41 111 244 150 201 219 Community college 16 29 3 15 27 Electronic 1 European business 5 16 Family history library 1 2 FFRDC 5 1 Health sciences library 1 35 23 13 13 9 Hospital 10 1 1 National Health Service Eng. Natural Resources New York Public library 1 Public 4 1 Smithsonian 1 1 State 1 1 3 University/TAFE 2 1 College or university old. libqual. org 2005 2006 6 10 4 1 3

Lib. QUAL+® Languages old. libqual. org

Surveys by Session: 2004 -2006 Year Session 1 Session 2 2004 202 2 2005 199 56 2006 205 93 old. libqual. org

Survey methods used in the UK Source: Stephen Town, Paris, March 22 -23, 2007 old. libqual. org West, 2004 A Survey of Surveys

The UK approach • 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 • 2004 -17 UK & Irish HE institutions • 2005 - 16 UK & Irish HE institutions • 2006 – 20 UK & Irish HE institutions • 2007 – 22 UK & Irish HE institutions • 62 different institutions Source: Stephen Town, Paris, March 22 -23, 2007 old. libqual. org

Response Comparisons • • SCONUL 2003 – 20 institutions – 11, 919 respondents SCONUL 2004 – 16 institutions – 16, 611 respondents • Increase by 4, 692 SCONUL 2005 – 16 institutions – 17, 355 respondents • Increase by 744 SCONUL 2006 – 20 institutions – 19, 108 respondents • Increase by 1, 753 • • Lib. QUAL+ 2003 – 308 institutions – 128, 958 respondents Lib. QUAL+ 2004 – 202 institutions – 112, 551 respondents • Decrease by 16, 407 Lib. QUAL+ 2005 – 199 institutions – 108, 504 respondents • Decrease by 4, 047 Lib. QUAL+ 2006 – 298 institutions – 176, 360 respondents • Increase by 67, 856 Source: Stephen Town, Paris, March 22 -23, 2007 old. libqual. org

SCONUL Response by User Group 2006 old. libqual. org

SCONUL Response by Discipline 2006 old. libqual. org

Respondent Comparisons • Glasgow University – 2006 = 1, 535 – 2005 = 1, 384 – 2004 = 2, 178 – 2003 = 503 • London South Bank University – 2006 = 700 – 2005 = 766 Source: Stephen Town, – 2004 = 568 Paris, March 22 -23, 2007 – 2003 = 276 old. libqual. org

General findings Source: Stephen Town, Paris, March 22 -23, 2007 • 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 old. libqual. org

Free Text Comments Received • Total number of comments 2005 = 8, 368 • Total number of comments 2004 = 8, 161 • Total number of comments 2003 = 7, 342 Source: Stephen Town, Paris, March 22 -23, 2007 old. libqual. org

Why Lib. QUAL+? • • • Benchmarking Cost effectiveness Analysis compiled by Lib. QUAL+ Fast delivery of results Support available, especially regarding analysis of results • Trialling alternative survey methods • More library focused than previous in-house method • Planned institutional survey failed to happen. Lib. QUAL+ was cost effective way of doing something to fill the gap. Source: Stephen Town, Paris, March 22 -23, 2007 old. libqual. org

Research Foundations old. libqual. org

Total Circulation Note. M. Kyrillidou and M. Young. (2003). old. libqual. org ARL Statistics 2002 -03. Washington, D. C. : ARL, p. 8.

Reference Transactions Note. M. Kyrillidou and M. Young. (2003). old. libqual. org ARL Statistics 2002 -03. Washington, D. C. : ARL, p. 8.

Assessment “The difficulty lies in trying to find a single model or set of simple indicators that can be used by different institutions, and that will compare something across large groups that is by definition only locally applicable—i. e. , how well a library meets the needs of its institution. Librarians have either made do with oversimplified national data or have undertaken customized local evaluations of effectiveness, but there has not been devised an effective way to link the two. ” Sarah Pritchard, Library Trends, 1996 old. libqual. org

Multiple Methods of Listening to Customers • • • Transactional surveys* Mystery shopping New, declining, and lost-customer surveys Focus group interviews Customer advisory panels Service reviews Customer complaint, comment, and inquiry capture Total market surveys* Employee field reporting Employee surveys Service operating data capture *A SERVQUAL-type instrument is most suitable for these methods Note. A. Parasuraman. The SERVQUAL Model: Its Evolution And Current Status. (2000). Paper presented at ARL Symposium on Measuring Service Quality, Washington, D. C. old. libqual. org

Premises Three Seminal Quotations old. libqual. org

Lib. QUAL+™ Premise #1 PERCEPTIONS SERVICE “…. only customers judge quality; all other judgments are essentially irrelevant” Note. Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry. (1999). Delivering quality service. NY: The Free Press. old. libqual. org

Lib. QUAL+™ Premise #2 “Il est plus nécessaire d'étudier les hommes que les livres” —FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD old. libqual. org

Lib. QUAL+™ Premise #3 “We only care about the things we measure. ” --Bruce Thompson, CASLIN, 2006 old. libqual. org

13 Libraries English Lib. QUAL+™ Version 4000 Respondents Emergent 2000 QUAL PURPOSE Describe library environment; build theory of library service quality from user perspective Lib. QUAL+® Project DATA Unstructured interviews at 8 ARL institutions ANALYSIS Content analysis: (cards & Atlas TI) PRODUCT/RESULT Case studies 1 Valid Lib. QUAL+™ protocol Lib. QUAL+™ QUAN Test instrument Web-delivered survey Reliability/validity analyses: Cronbachs Alpha, factor analysis, SEM, descriptive statistics Scalable process Enhanced understanding of user-centered views of service quality in the library environment 2 QUAL Refine theory of service quality Unstructured interviews at Health Sciences and the Content analysis Smithsonian libraries Cultural perspective 3 QUAL Refine Lib. QUAL+™ instrument E-mail to survey administrators Content analysis Refined survey delivery process and theory of service quality 4 QUAN Test Lib. QUAL+™ instrument Web-delivered survey Reliability/validity analyses including Cronbachs Alpha, factor analysis, SEM, descriptive statistics Refined Lib. QUAL+™ instrument 5 QUAL Refine theory Iterative Focus groups Content analysis Vignette Re-tooling 2004 315 Libraries English, Dutch, Swedish, German Lib. QUAL+™ Versions 160, 000 anticipated respondents old. libqual. org Local contextual understanding of Lib. QUAL+™ survey responses 6

Dimensions 2000 2001 2002 2003 -2007 41 items 56 items 25 items 22 items Affect of Service Affect Library as Place Reliability Personal Control Information Control Provision of Physical Collections Self-Reliance Information Access to Information old. libqual. org

Survey Structure (Detail View) old. libqual. org

Interpreting Service Quality Data Three Interpretation Frameworks old. libqual. org

Interpretation Framework #1 Benchmarking Against Peer Institutions --1, 000 Users; 1, 000 Institutions! NORMS! old. libqual. org

Score Norms • Norm Conversion Tables facilitate the interpretation of observed scores using norms created for a large and representative sample. • Lib. QUAL+™ norms have been created at both the individual and institutional level old. libqual. org

Interpretation Framework #2 Benchmarking Against Self, Longitudinally “Nobody is more like me than me!” --Anonymous old. libqual. org

Interpretation Framework #3 Interpreting Perceived Scores Against Minimally-Acceptable and Desired Service Levels (i. e. , “Zones of Tolerance”) old. libqual. org

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“ 22 Items and The Box…. ” Why the Box is so Important – 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. old. libqual. org

“…and Five Ancillary Items” Either Zero or Five Ancillary items are selected to address local or consortial concerns – Items from the initial Lib. QUAL+TM item pool. – Items written by previous consortial groups. old. libqual. org

Qualitative Grounding old. libqual. org

Premise for Mixed-Methods • “The underlying premise of mixed-method inquiry is that each paradigm offers a meaningful and legitimate way of knowing and understanding” (p. 7). Note. Greene, J. C. and Caracelli, V. J. (Eds. ). (1997). Advances in mixed-method valuation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. old. libqual. org

Lib. QUAL+ Process Ø SERVQUAL dimensions served as a priori theoretical starting point old. libqual. org

76 Interviews Conducted • • York University of Arizona State University of Connecticut • University of Houston • University of Kansas old. libqual. org w w w University of Minnesota University of Pennsylvania University of Washington Smithsonian Northwestern Medical

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Dimensions of Library Service Quality old. libqual. org

Reliability “You put a search on a book and it’s just gone; it’s not reacquired. … There’s more of a problem of lost books, of books that are gone and nobody knows why and nobody’s doing anything about it. ” Faculty member old. libqual. org

Affect of Service “I want to be treated with respect. I want you to be courteous, to look like you know what you are doing and enjoy what you are doing. … Don’t get into personal conversations when I am at the desk. ” Faculty member old. libqual. org

Ubiquity of Access “Over time my own library use has become increasingly electronic. So that the amount of time I actually spend in the library is getting smaller and the amount of time I spend at my desk on the web … is increasing. ” Faculty member old. libqual. org

Comprehensive Collections “I think one of the things I love about academic life in the United States is that as a culture…, we tend to appreciate the extraordinary importance of libraries in the life of the mind. ” Faculty member old. libqual. org

Library as Place “One of the cherished rituals is going up the steps and through the gorgeous doors of the library and heading up to the fifth floor to my study. … I have my books and I have six million volumes downstairs that are readily available to me in an open stack library. ” Faculty member old. libqual. org

Library as Place “I guess you’d call them satisfiers. As long as they are not negatives, they won’t be much of a factor. If they are negatives, they are a big factor. ” Faculty member old. libqual. org

Library as Place “The poorer your situation, the more you need the public spaces to work in. When I was an undergraduate, I spent most of my time in the library, just using it as a study space. ” Faculty member old. libqual. org

Self-reliance “…first of all, I would turn to the best search engines that are out there. That’s not a person so much as an entity. In this sense, librarians are search engines [ just ] with a different interface. ” Faculty member old. libqual. org

Self-reliance “By habit, I usually try to be self-sufficient. And I’ve found that I am actually fairly proficient. I usually find what I’m looking for eventually. So I personally tend to ask a librarian only as a last resort. ” Graduate student old. libqual. org

Dimensions of Library Service Quality old. libqual. org

Core Items and Dimensions 22 core items (i. e. , questions) Three dimensions: • Affect of Service – 9 questions • Information Control – 8 questions • Library as Place – 5 questions old. libqual. org

Understanding a Radar Chart old. libqual. org

Key to Radar Charts old. libqual. org

Radar Chart Basics old. libqual. org

Understanding Thermometer Charts old. libqual. org

Dimension Summary old. libqual. org

Library Use Question (Unified) old. libqual. org

2006 Lib. QUAL+® Highlights: Overall old. libqual. org

Qualitative Analysis: User Comments • About one-half of users include comments on their surveys • User Comments available on the Lib. QUAL+ ® Web site – Download comments in Excel or text file • Skim the comments • Conduct Atlas. ti analysis old. libqual. org

General Discussion and Q&A old. libqual. org

Summary and Closure old. libqual. org

Lib. QUAL+® Resources • Lib. QUAL+® Web site: http: //old. libqual. org • Publications: http: //old. libqual. org/publications • Events and Training: http: //old. libqual. org/events • Gap Theory/Radar Graph Introduction: http: //old. libqual. org/Information/Tools/libqualpresentation. cfm • Lib. QUAL+® Procedures Manual: http: //old. libqual. org/Publications/index. cfm old. libqual. org

Contact Lib. QUAL+® • Martha Kyrillidou Director, Statistics and Service Quality Programs martha@arl. org • Ma. Shana Davis Technical Communications Liaison mashana@arl. org • Kristina Justh Customer Relations Coordinator kristina@arl. org • Gary Roebuck Technical Operations Manager gary@arl. org old. libqual. org Selena Lock, Research and Development, Cranfield University