LibQUAL+ Library Survey 2019 Results

In keeping with our commitment to continual assessment and service improvement, PolyU Library participated in the joint issue of the 2019 LibQUAL+ survey. LibQUAL+ is a web-based survey offered by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) that helps libraries assess and improve library services and measures library users’ minimum, perceived, and desired levels of service quality across three dimensions: Affect of Service, Information Control, and Library as Place.

Library as Place (LP):

According to our users, the physical library is the most pivotal service provided by PolyU Library, with the Library as Place (LP) dimension receiving the highest scores in the minimum, perceived and desired levels. The raw perception of this dimension of Library performance saw the most rapid increase over time (+0.19 since 2015), reflecting the success of our efforts in revitalizing library space. Although users regarded LP as the best performing dimension, they also expressed high expectations for this dimension, leaving room for our Library to further improve our performance and meet evolving user needs.

Information Control (IC):

The availability of relevant and up-to-date information sources remains a top priority for academic staff and postgraduates who have advanced research needs.  Over a decade, collection development at the Library has been guided by an e-preferred policy to prioritize the acquisition of electronic resources. The outcomes of our development of the library collection has been positive, as reflected in the steady improvement in the overall raw perception (+0.10) in the Information Control (IC) dimension — and relatively small gap below desired expectation (+0.23) — when compared with 2015 data.

Affect of Service (AS):

Ongoing professional development and training help equip our staff with the knowledge and attributes to provide top quality customer services. Affect of Service (AS) has been rated by the PolyU community as the dimension which most closely meets their expectations. This was reflected in the AS score, with the highest gap over minimum acceptable level (0.93) and smallest gap below desired expectation (-0.14).

General satisfaction:

Our users reported a steady increase in all satisfaction ratings over time. The questions about general satisfaction pertained to three areas: how users are treated, the level of support provided, and the overall quality of Library service. The results indicated that postgraduates (average score=7.55) and academic staff (7.52) were overall more satisfied than undergraduates (7.09).

Our Thanks:

Thank you for taking part in the survey to share your suggestions and comments. All survey participants were entered into a lucky draw. Congratulations to the winners!

Library Survey 2019 Prize Winners