LibQUAL Survey FAQ

LibQUAL+^TM is a standardized survey that was developed as a project of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in collaboration with the Texas A&M University Libraries. The project’s goal is to define and measure library service quality across institutions and to create useful quality-assessment tools for libraries. A total of 248 institutions, represented academic and research libraries of all sizes in North America, are participating in the spring 2006 LibQUAL+^TM survey project.

Service quality has always been important to libraries. LibQUAL+^TM is intended to provide a measure of the value of library service quality across multiple academic and research libraries. The survey measures library users' perceptions of their libraries' service quality and identifies gaps between minimal, desired and perceived levels of service.

This project will allow libraries to compare their service quality with other peer institutions, to develop benchmarks, and to reveal best practices across institutions. By participating in LibQUAL+^TM and initiating action based on the results of this survey, the JMU Libraries can be more responsive to users' needs and provide services that are better aligned to reflect users' expectations.

There is increasing pressure for libraries to move towards more outcome-based assessment efforts, instead of relying solely on input or resource measurements. This pressure comes from funding authorities as well as users themselves. Outcome measures show how well an organization serves its users, and assist in finding new measures of library efficiency and effectiveness.

A random sample of approximately 4800 undergraduates and all graduate students and full-time faculty members will be surveyed. On Tuesday, March 13, 2006, these individuals will receive an email message from Ralph Alberico, Dean of Libraries and Educational Technologies, containing an imbedded URL for the LibQUAL survey. The survey will be available at that site from March 13 through April 2. Automatic reminder notices from the Dean will be sent on Tuesday, March 28, 2006, and on Tuesday, April 4, 2006.

The data for all 248 participating institutions will be collected on secure servers located in the Texas A&M Library. Each response will be disaggregated as it reaches the server, and survey results will ultimately be reported back to the participating institutions as aggregate mean score data. Individual responses of participants will be wholly confidential.

The LibQUAL+^TM survey is patterned after the SERVQUAL instrument developed by Leonard L. Berry (Distinguished Professor, Texas A&M University), A. Parasuraman, and Valarie A. Zeithaml, which is used extensively in private industry.

The average time it takes to complete the survey is ten minutes. Respondents are asked to respond to each question on three separate scales, representing minimum, desired, and perceived levels of service. The questionnaire is straightforward and involves no deception or coercion. Potential respondents may elect not to proceed with the survey after reading the guarantees of confidentiality and privacy.

Respondents not able to complete an online questionnaire may obtain a paper copy of the survey by contacting Gerald Gill at 540.568.6898 or at libqual@jmu.edu.

The JMU Libraries continuously seek feedback from library users, to set priorities and to improve collections and services. If you are not selected as part of the random sample, but would like to complete a survey, please contact Gerald Gill at 540.568.6898 or at libqual@jmu.edu.

Only those surveys from members of the random sample will be forwarded to LibQUAL+^TM national coordinators for multi-institutional analysis and comparison (as well as be eligible for the incentive prize). However, the JMU Libraries welcome completed surveys from other interested users, and will review these returns along with those gathered from the random sample.

The survey tests a variety of dimensions of library service, each represented by multiple (and seemingly redundant) questions. The use of multiple/redundant questions allows us to analyze the validity of each dimension through statistical means.

In general, reminders are sent because research indicates that the single highest predictor of response rates in web-based surveys is the number of contacts made, including reminders. (See: Cook, Heath, and Thompson, “A meta-analysis of response rates in web- or internet-based surveys, Educational and Psychological Measurement, v. 60, 2000, p.821-836.)

The fact that reminders are sent to all respondents, including those who have already completed the survey, is a result of the project’s built-in mechanisms for security and confidentiality. Once a return is submitted to the project server, its contents are disaggregated and disassociated from the respondent’s email address. This provides maximum security, but doesn't allow for any differentiation between respondents and non-respondents. Thus, everyone gets a reminder.

Because this is a multi-institution survey, discipline categories have been standardized for ease of comparison. This will assist with future benchmarking activities. To determine what standardized discipline you should use to identify yourself, consult the following list:

JMU College/Department

Corresponding Discipline on Survey

College of Arts & Letters


	Anthropology	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Art	Performing & Fine Arts
	Art History	Performing & Fine Arts
	English	Humanities
	History	Humanities
	Interdisciplinary Social Science	Social Sciences/Psychology
	International Affairs	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Justice Studies	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Media Arts & Design	Performing & Fine Arts
	Modern Foreign Languages	Humanities
	Music	Performing & Fine Arts
	Philosophy & Religion	Humanities
	Political Science	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Public Administration	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Sociology	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Speech Communication	Communications/Journalism
	Technical & Scientific Communication	Communications/Journalism
	Theater & Dance	Performing & Fine Arts

College of Business (all)

Business

College of Education (all)

Education

College of Science and Math (all)

Science/Math

College of Integrated Science & Technology


	Athletic Training	Health Sciences
	Biotechnology	Science/Math
	Communication Sciences & Disorders	Health Sciences
	Computer Science	Engineering/Computer Science
	Counseling Psychology	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Dietetics	Health Sciences
	General Psychology	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Geography	Science/Math
	Health Education	Health Sciences
	Health Sciences	Health Sciences
	Health Services Administration	Health Sciences
	Hearing Disorders	Health Sciences
	Integrated Science & Technology	Engineering/Computer Science
	Kinesiology	Health Sciences
	Nursing	Health Sciences
	Recreation	Health Sciences
	School Psychology	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Social Work	Social Sciences/Psychology
	Speech Pathology	Health Sciences

Undeclared

Undecided

Libraries participating in the LibQUAL+^TM Survey, Spring 2006
(248 libraries)