LibQUAL+ 2004 Survey: We're listening

The University of Chicago Library strategic planning process used your responses to the LibQUAL+™ 2004 Survey. We were one of over two hundred institutions that participated in the LibQUAL+™ survey, a standardized survey developed by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to gauge users' perceptions, preferences, and expectations of library services. The survey results have informed the Library's strategic planning process and have led to many service and collection improvements. The following are specific actions the Library has taken or planned in response to concerns raised by the survey participants.

The Library needs more print, media, and online resources and better ways to find out about the resources.

  • Purchased additional online journal backfiles
  • Improved the electronic resources and online journals lists
  • Posted online purchase request form
  • Spent over $2.5 million on electronic resources in 2004-2005
  • Moved video collections in Regenstein Library to a public, browsable area
  • Created a searchable database to make it easier to find videos
  • Reviewing collection development policies

The Library needs to improve and add more access, productivity, and discovery tools for both on- and off-campus research.

  • Conducted website survey and redesigned library home pages
  • Posted online search request forms and improved turn-around time on searches
  • Conducted a study of failure points locating books in the Regenstein Library
  • Eliminated some 70,000 duplicate catalog records and added links to improve electronic access
  • Added RefWorks, a Web-based bibliographic management tool
  • Installed MS Word on all library public workstations
  • Deployed new electronic resource discovery tools including Cross-Search which allows users to search multiple databases
  • Working with campus computing on remote access authentication issues

The Library needs to be more dependable in handling users' service problems.

  • Improved customer service training
  • Improved turnaround time on book searches

The Library needs to improve its physical facilities.

  • Secured capital budget monies to locate power outlets more conveniently and to purchase reader chairs for Regenstein
  • Convened Faculty Task Force on the University Library to study library spaces and their use
  • Upgrading Crerar and Regenstein entrance control equipment and system (slated for October 2005)