Abstract
There is a growing body of literature on the development of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) assessment tool, LibQUAL+ (Cook, Heath, Thompson). Because LibQUAL+ is a fairly recent innovation, there has been little published on its use in individual libraries. The 2001 LibQUAL+ survey at Texas Tech (Kemp) and the 2002 survey at the University of Washington (Hiller) are two exceptions. Both were conducted at ARL libraries, which is appropriate as LibQUAL+ is an ARL program. ARL has announced a forthcoming title, From Data to Action: Libraries Report on Their Use of LibQUAL+™ Survey Findings, but this has yet to be published. According to the publisher’s announcement, “This special collection of articles will highlight practical examples of how libraries are using LibQUAL+ data in their local libraries as an assessment and evaluation mechanism. It will present the continued efforts in which librarians have engaged to promote service quality assessment within their respective organizations as well as externally across peer institutions.” (Askew) When reading this blurb one would expect to learn how the results of the LibQUAL+ survey were used to improve services, but nothing is promised regarding the mechanics of instituting the survey. This paper will elaborate on the survey process at a non-ARL library, from conducting the survey through the implementation of service improvements in response to the results as provided by ARL.
Publication Date
Spring 2005