2010 LibQUAL+ comments

What the Survey Participants Had to Say to Us

The 2010 LibQUAL+ Lite survey was completed by nearly 2,000 participants. Of those 858 added text comments which approximates what is typically seen nationally –approximately 40% of participants will add a text comment.

Survey comments ran the gamut from general kudos for the library and its staff, pointed complaints or concerns, requests for additional resources and services, as well as comments about the survey itself.

General themes which carried through this wealth of comment and observation included:

• More journals – electronic access preferred
• Longer hours – a particular concern of graduate students
• More places to work quietly and in groups, and better furniture
• Overall there is support for a library café as both a gathering place and study space but also many students and faculty are concerned about this
• Comments from students expressing concern about the age of materials in the library collections stand in contrast to comments from faculty concerned about increased reliance on digital resources and collections weeding
• Comments expressing an appreciation of the historic library building seem to be balanced by significant frustration that the unwieldy structure presents in finding print materials and use of modern technologies
• High praise for the library staff and the efforts they make to serve student and faculty needs
• And the survey itself… it’s a killer!

A selection of representative comments are linked below:

• Affect of Service – Library Services & Staff
• Information Control - Collections & Resources
• Library as Place - Facilities
• Other Comments

Affect of Service – Library Services & Staff:

Faculty – Humanities:
“The librarian assigned to our unit is excellent as is the staff at interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan, summit and collection development is my first priority as students and faculty in my unit depend on such collections.”

Graduate Student – Sciences / Math:
“I am a post-bac secondary student and have had great service at the library.”

5^th Year Undergrad – Education:
Over the last five years I have been thoroughly impressed with our library staff here at Western. All of them deserve a pat on the back and a warm thanks.

4^th Year Undergrad – Humanities:
I've always been very pleased with library service. The one thing that I had to learn on my own is what the codes for books were. For example, w4 3.4858 (or whatever it might be) was difficult to figure out as a Freshman.  There might be posted information somewhere about decoding this but I didn't see it.

Faculty – Sciences / Math:
I have trouble finding library resources on computers and appreciate the help provided by the librarians. Sometimes when I have tried to use the computers in the library to find what I'm looking for, the person at the help desk has not been able to help or has suggested that I should have known how to get the information on my own. I suspect that is true: I should have known. But I did not, and I end up staying away from the library for months after such an experience. I don't know how to solve this problem; perhaps it will solve itself as us older folks retire.

Faculty – Humanities:
I am pleased with the level of service the library provides, and I have always thought that they do a very good job within the limits of their resources. I am especially pleased to see the library being proactive in meeting student and faculty needs in a rapidly changing environment.

3^rd Year Undergrad – Education:
For those of us who are in satellite programs, the electronic services are all we can use of the library, so it should be a huge priority to make sure that you have all the articles you can uploaded for us to use, since the other students in Bellingham could also benefit from them.

3^rd Year Undergrad – Humanities:
Awesome library, always there for what I need. Keep up the good work everybody, it's much appreciated. :)

Faculty – Engineering Technology / Computer Science:
I think the library overall has delivered a terrific amount of services for its funding level. You have always helped me deliver the highest quality courses possible. The level of caring for my students has been high. Equally caring has been for me. I appreciate all of it and your desire to do all you can! Bravo!!

4^th Year Undergraduate – Extended Ed / Off Campus Programs:
Being at an off-site campus if something is not available online it is extremely hard to get it in time for any projects/papers due. I can use public libraries in my home town but then I do not have the same kind of access that I do using Western's library.

Information Control - Collections & Resources:

4^th Year Undergrad – Humanities:
“The books in the not-reference area are, on the average, very old, the majority of which printed between 1950 and 1979. Why don't we have newer books? Is this a budget issue, too? Because if it is budget issue, I'd rather see new books in the checkout-able section than see a bagel cart put in the big empty room…”

4^th Year Undergrad – Business / Economics:
“The library staff has always been helpful and provided good service to me! Resources, depending on the subject can be scarce but is usually sufficient.”

Faculty – Sciences / Math:
“Most of my concerns about the library system and support relates to their budget cuts for journals, staff, and resources, not with the staff or buildings themselves. It's mostly a lack of funding.”

Faculty – Humanities:
Library faculty and staff are committed to service, reliable, and conscientious. Both my teaching and my research would be better served by access to more digital source material, such as historical newspapers from ProQuest. Also, the budget keeps decreasing for books, and this is not good for the humanities.

4^th Year Undergrad – Business / Economics:
“I'm a senior and I really don't have a full grasp on the electronic journals; I've tried to use them and it's pretty complicated with so many options that as a user do not always make sense to me.”

Faculty – Humanities:
The library has made great strides in making electronic resources available over the last five years. Unfortunately, the acquisitions budget for books and print journals has declined, not just in purchasing power but in actual dollar amounts. In my field, history, books remain an important academic resource, and many worthy journals are not available in electronic form, at least through the services to which the library subscribes. In a time of diminished funding, books should receive a higher priority than frills in the library like a coffee shop. Most library staff do their best with the available resources and will scramble to meet requests from faculty, but one has to wonder about the priorities of the higher levels of administration.

4^th Year Undergraduate – Fairhaven:
The library resources are amazing and have been a key to my success as astudent. Thank you! 

Faculty – Humanities:
I am truly very satisfied with the services the library provides. If anything, I wish that more journals were accessible electronically, since that gives access right away, instead of having to wait for ILL. That said, the new electronic delivery system for articles in ILL is really fast and very convenient.

Faculty – Social Sciences:
I deplore the fact that students can check out journals! These journals cost a LOT of money from department- library allocations and should be available to all, at all times. Furthermore, I also deplore the disappearance of the "current journals" display - This was a source of a wealth of information and encouraged interdisciplinary research awareness! PLEASE bring this back!!

5^th Year Undergraduate – Fine & Performing Arts:
The library home page is far too crowded. It has over 50 links on it! It should be redesigned with simplicity in mind and an emphasis on electronic article resources. There are many redundant links on it. Also, clearly marked quiet areas where people understand that cellphone use is not okay would make studying much easier. Finally, I would appreciate increased hours but I understand that it is difficult. Otherwise, using the library is a great pleasure and I look forward to being a patron even after I graduate.

Faculty – Sciences / Math: (Collections & Service)
“The staff is excellent. The journal holdings aren't great, but I understand that's a resource issue that none of us on campus can do much about. Best way to compensate for limited resources: strengthen electronic access and update book collection (dump the fragmentary journal collections--they're worthless and take up space unnecessarily). Individual help? If you offer any, please advertise what you offer--most of us would shy away from asking for individual help (with researching a subject, for example) for fear of imposing on your staff's time.”

Graduate Student – Humanities:
Love the staff at the library...you are all amazing. my only complaint is that we sometimes don't have a big selection of texts but i guess that is what Illiad is for!

Graduate Student – PEHR / CSD:
I feel like the library does not offer enough sources specific to speech-language pathology. The sources you do have (at least in terms of books) are outdated and thus useless. For example, just today I went to the library in search of book that explains the basic physiology of female sex hormones for a paper I'm writing on hormonal affects on voice and I could not find a relevant book that was less than twenty years old. Even if the information in the books I found had been useful, my professor would still have graded me down for using a reference from the 1970s.

Considering the fact graduate students are held to a higher standard in terms of research, it would make sense for the library to cater specifically to graduate programs.

3^rd Year Undergraduate – Environmental Sciences / Studies:
Library website is quite confusing and only seems simple to those who use it for their job and profession.

Faculty – Fine & Performing Arts:
I think the library is working hard to maintain levels of excellence. I work with its staff both for my classes and my own research areas of interest. I am concerned about the heavy cuts in acquisitions, and notice the meager displays of new materials. If we want our students to be researchers and scholars, we need to keep the resources at a sustainable level for their use, and those of faculty for whom electronic delivery is becoming an increasing substitute for direct access to archives, libraries and other research institutions.

Library as Place - Facilities:

2^nd Year Undergraduate – Fairhaven:
I love the library. I honestly think of it more as a space for studying than a resource. It would be great if there was more information online about the cataloging system and where things can be found in the library because I get really lost whenever I try to look for a book.

Faculty – Humanities: (Collections & Faciltiy)
“The library needs better funding support for acquisitions and online journal subscriptions. This is an institution-wide responsibility, and it would be good to have a robust formula that increases the collection development budget as other programs expand/grow/age… A remodel of Wilson would be good--but in the end, I think the quality of the collection and its findability is more important. I think we get a good value for what we get out of the library--I strongly support more investment in this resource.”

4^th Year Undergraduate – Business / Economics:
The library is sometimes too loud to study in, which is a major  problem/concern for me.

3^rd Year Undergraduate – Engineering Tech / Computer Science:
“I think that the library is a great place for resources and a wonderful place to study. Keep up the good job!”

Faculty – Social Sciences:
“ … I support the library's efforts to create good learning spaces, but more on behalf of my students than for myself.”

5^TH Year Undergraduate – Other:
“Preserving quiet spaces for individual work is something I see as a priority, and one of the most important aspects of the library environment/experience. I've noticed more signs pointing out areas for group work, such as the group area on Wilson 4, which help to keep other areas more quiet.”

2^nd Year Undergraduate – Psychology:
I love the library! I think it's done an excellent job of providing a place for students to gather for studying and individual study. One improvement could be putting larger emphasis on which floors are for quiet, individual study. Sometimes on the 5th floor people miss the signs that say "no cell phones". I also love the daylight lounge which has all the magazines and newspapers.

3^rd Year Undergraduate – Social Sciences:
I really enjoy the "Harry Potter" 5th floor quiet area. I really can accomplish a lot when I am there as well in other areas of the library. It has become one of the only places I can study on campus.

4^th Year Undergraduate – Education:
“I'm usually very happy with the library, the only bother is that frequently there's a long line for the printers.”

Faculty – Business / Economics:
For students, I understand the library may provide the physical location for meetings, studying, doing research, etc. For faculty, so much of the information is available online that I hardly feel the need to use the physical resources. Even when borrowing resources, delivery services do a good job so I do not need to walk over at all. Perhaps providing more inviting/friendly spaces in the library might be important. For instance, expanding the limited spaces like the Skybridge, which must be terribly cramped during exam time, comes to mind.  More and more, as resources become available in electronic format, there should be increasingly the role of librarians might be to deal with non-routine queries from patrons (students and faculty) in addition to supporting the electronic resources.

2^nd Year Undergrad – Undecided:
“Locating books in the library is very confusing. People at the help desk are very friendly and helpful but it would be nice to simply be able to locate the area of the book on my own. I can locate call numbers once in the area but because there are so many different sections where books are located, that's what makes it hard… I love the bean bag chairs! There are only a couple of them though and I'd like to see more of them!”

Other Comments:

Graduate Student – Environmental Sciences / Studies:
“Questions 1 -9 are confusing and have far too many levels of quantification. I have taken some weird surveys before but these questions were by far the most confusing …”

Faculty – Business / Economics:
Other than space constraints, I love our library. It is the BEST I have ever had in a university setting when considering holdings, staff, librarians, and resources. We don't appreciate our library enough!

3^rd Year Undergraduate – Other:
My one big complaint is that the printers are always broken or jammed and the computers in the Skybridge are always "out of order." Okay well I guess that's two things.

4^th Year Undergraduate – Sciences / Math:
I think that the library focusing on its electronic stores and creating a unified center for student learning are great focuses that should be continued. As a student I really appreciate listening to our concerns and I hope that the library is able to really start interacting with students and working on information literacy and learning.

Faculty – Humanities:
“I am very concerned about why this essay is being conducted and to what purposes the survey will be put. If this is an attempt to build ongoing support for a program that transforms the library primarily into a social space, or limits the library budget in ways that reduces an already almost non-existent budget for the purchase of books, primary source research materials as well as online journals, I am going to be very unhappy.”

4^th Year Undergraduate - Humanities:
More stuff online please!! 

5^th Year Undergrad – Business / Economics:
The library does a wonderful job of keeping up with the most up to date on-line resources for business majors. The staff are always knowledgeable and friendly. I appreciate having quiet areas as well as rooms for group study in the library.

Graduate Student – Social Sciences:
Please be open 24 hours.

3^rd Year Undergrad – Environmental Sciences:
Wish the library opened at 7 instead of 7:30. Also, faster repair of broken computers would be nice since it can be hard to find an open computer at certain times.

Faculty – Communication / Journalism:
In general, I am very happy with library staff, service, and resources. My only suggestion is that it would very helpful if the process of book or journal article searching, downloading, or requesting could be more fully integrated.  For example, if I start in EBSCO, find an article I need, it would be nice to minimize the number of clicks, windows, systems, and/or form filling enroute to down-loading a full-text pdf file or ordering a copy from another library. The integration of these systems has been getting better each year. I am simply encouraging the library to keep pressing hard in this direction as resources and technology allow. Thanks for all you do!

4^th Year Undergraduate – Social Sciences:
Item's 1-9 on the questionnaire were extremely confusing to understand with all the corresponding bullets.

2^nd Year Undergraduate – Fairhaven:
The library is great! I love the resources that the library provides and it is like my second home when I'm doing research.