Library use survey: Print material still highly valued

Even as the information environment becomes increasingly more complex, users give UW Libraries high marks across the board. That’s the result of the University’s triennial survey designed to measure library relevance to both students and faculty. Data from the survey confirms that at a time when demand for services is unprecedented, satisfaction levels remain remarkably high.

User input from surveys has played a major role in shaping library programs and services during the 1990s. Director of University Libraries Betty G. Bengtson credits that groundwork for this year’s showing. “We are very pleased with the efforts we have made over the last years to survey our users, to talk with them and to consider their needs as we plan our services and collections,” she said. “The return rate for this survey is higher; it gives us more confidence in the results.”

The 1998 survey revealed significant increases in the number of users who report at least weekly visits to use library resources. Graduate/professional students and undergraduate visits increased 30 percent and 18 percent respectively over 1995 levels. As expected, remote use grew considerably, especially by home computer and via the Web (52.3 percent average increase). Nevertheless, in-person visits increased among all users compared to the 1995 survey. In fact, 70.3 percent of undergraduates responding to the survey indicated they visit the library in person at least weekly. Graduate/professional students were even heavier in-person users with nearly 78 percent reporting weekly visits. Almost half the faculty (47.3 percent) visit weekly, a 12.6 percent increase from the 1995 survey.

UW Libraries is the most important source of information for faculty, professional and graduate students—out polling the World Wide Web, other libraries, department sources, colleagues and personal files by nearly a two-to-one margin. However, undergraduates ranked the Web (41.5 percent) nearly equal to UW Libraries (44.1 percent) as their most important source of information.

Steve Hiller, co-chair of the survey task force and Head of Science Libraries, is not surprised by undergraduates reliance on the Web. “Entering freshmen are more savvy about using Internet resources and the Web, they grew up with it in high school.” He believes future surveys may not even be able to separate library resources from Web resources. “It may not be that apparent to users, for example, that the library is paying for access to Lexis-Nexis [via the Web] and we did make the decision to use the Web as the basic interface for many of the electronic resources,” said Hiller.

Nearly half of the faculty queried (44.3 percent) acknowledged that information technology and electronic access to information have changed the way they teach. Faculty members are most likely to access library information and materials remotely. Slightly more than 71 percent responding to the survey said they did so at least weekly via office or campus computer, while 37.4 percent accessed materials using their home computer—a significant increase from 1995 results.

“We try to provide the best information resources, whether it happens to be print or electronic,” said Bengtson. “Obviously, the convenience of extended access is a tremendous advantage to our faculty and students—both those who are on campus, or working from homes and offices, or in the case of distance learning students who may be located anywhere in the state, or in fact, anywhere in the world.”

When queried on satisfaction with library services, all groups of users ranked assistance by librarians and library staff highest, with reshelving, course reserves and article delivery close seconds for faculty and graduate students. Bengtson concurred, “The judgment of our users is correct, the staff here is just tremendous. They work very hard to provide the level of service our faculty and students expect.”

Bengtson acknowledges that UW Libraries faces budget constraints in allocating resources, both traditional print or electronic, but survey results show UW Libraries has risen to the challenge. “We continually try to balance. We don’t have enough dollars to buy everything we would like to have or that our users would like to have, but we try to compensate with a strong and efficient inter-library loan and document delivery program,” said Bengtson. “A knowledgeable staff member or a good librarian can compensate at times for deficiencies in the collection. You certainly can’t have a library without books and journals, but you also cannot have a library without an excellent staff.”

What did survey respondents see as the top priorities for library improvements in the next two years?

Faculty and graduate/professional students place a heavy emphasis on maintaining the quality of the print collections and delivering full-text data via computer. Nearly 70 percent of the faculty and 52 percent of professional/graduate students ranked the print collection as their highest priority, while 60.4 percent of faculty and 56 percent of graduate/professional students put full-text delivery to their desktop highest on their wish list. Continuing the emphasis on an electronic access model, the next priority of both groups of users is to see bibliographic databases delivered through the Web.

For undergraduates, access appears to be the top priority. More than half (54.5 percent) would like to see more computers added to libraries. Nearly as many (50.8 percent) want to see course reserve materials provided electronically. Following closely behind access concerns, undergraduates would most like to see more training in using library/Web resources and consultations with staff on how to do library research. Also high on the undergraduate priority list is an increase in library hours (41.9 percent).

To compile the data, questionnaires were mailed to 3,750 faculty members, a sampling of 1,000 graduate and professional students and 2,000 undergraduates. A second mailing in May targeted those individuals not initially responding. The rigor of the survey and size of the sample are vital to library planning and may be unrivaled. “I know of no other academic library that surveys as large a population,” said Hiller. “We are unique in our approach.”

Of the 6,750 questionnaires mailed, slightly more than 40 percent were returned overall. Graduate students participated most enthusiastically, returning 457 of the 1,000 queries (46 percent), followed by faculty, 1,503 of 3,750 questionnaires (40 percent), and undergraduates, 789 of 2,000 (39 percent). A comprehensive analysis of the 1998 survey, including charts and tables, can be found on the library’s Web site at http://www.lib.washington.edu/surveys ¶

Bart Arenson