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What is the LibQUAL+TM Lite survey and what will it measure?
The Henry Whittemore Library uses the LibQUAL +TM survey to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users' opinions of service quality. LibQUAL+TM is a standardized web-based survey that was developed by the Association of Research Libraries and Texas A&M University Libraries. The survey measures three quality dimensions:
- Affect of Service
- Library as a Place
- Information Control
The respondents are asked in three parts to indicate:
- the minimum service level they will accept
- the desired service they expect and
- the perceive level of service currently provided.
This design will permit analysis of gaps between expectations, perception and minimum acceptance levels of service.
Our library surveyed the campus community in 2007 and used a version of the survey that contained 22 core questions. For 2010, we used the LibQUAL+TM Lite survey - a subset of the 22 core questions.
"The Lite protocol uses item sampling methods to (a) gather data on all 22 LibQUAL+TM core items, while (b) only requiring given individual users to respond to a subset of the 22 core questions. Each participant completes only eight of the 22 core survey items. Every participant completes the same single Service Affect, single Information Control, and single Library as Place items, plus two of the remaining eight (i.e., 9 - the 1 core item completed by everyone) randomly-selected Service Affect items, two of the remaining seven (i.e., 8 - the 1 core item completed by everyone) randomly-selected Information Control, and one of the remaining four (i.e., 5 - the 1 core item completed by everyone) randomly-selected Library as Place items."
The Whittemore Library selected the Lite survey version to make it less time consuming for our campus community to complete the survey. The survey should have taken about six minutes to complete.
What will we do with this data? How will this survey benefit Framingham State College?
By analyzing the results from the LibQUAL+TM survey, the library can be more responsive to library users' needs and provide services that are better aligned with user's expectations. In addition, the survey allows our library to compare our services with other peer institutions, to develop benchmarks, and to reveal best practices across institutions.
How and when will the survey be conducted?
On March 22, 2010 the campus community received an email invitation from Millie Gonzalez, Reference Librarian, encouraging everyone to complete the web-based survey LibQual+TM Lite. The email contained a URL that will lead respondents to a web-based hosted survey. The campus community had the opportunity to respond to the survey from March 22 until April 2. A reminder email was sent the second week of the survey. Please email questions regarding the survey to Millie Gonzalez at vgonzalez@framingham.edu or contact her at 508.626.4655.
Will there be an incentive to take the survey?
For those who took the survey and submitted their email address, they were eligible to participate in a drawing to win one of three prizes. The first prize was an iPod nano; the second prize was a Framingham State University sweatshirt. After the survey closed on April 2, the library selected three email addresses from those who completed the survey and announced the winners during the month of April.
Are responses confidential?
The responses are confidential. LibQUAL+TM is guided by the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association (see ethics code, section 5). Although some information, such as network and email addresses, is captured from respondents, the responses remain confidential because personal information is separated from the survey responses. Email addresses are not saved with the responses. After the incentive drawing, all email addresses were purged.
Although it is a web-based survey, can I complete a paper version?
Paper versions of the survey were available for those who were unable to complete the web-based survey. Contact Millie Gonzalez at 508.626.4655 or Peg Snyder at 508.626.4027 for a paper copy.
How can I get more information about LibQUAL Lite?
For more information, refer to the LibQUAL+TM homepage, http://www.libqual.org.
1. Kyrillidou, M. (2009). Item Sampling in Service Quality Assessment Surveys to Improve Rates and Reduce Respondent Burden: The 'LibQUAL+® Lite' Randomized Control Trial (RCT) (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/14570/Kyrillidou_Martha.pdf?sequence=3
