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How was I chosen to participate in this
survey?
All NUS faculty, staff and students including
affiliated institutions are invited to participate in this
university wide survey.
How long will the survey take?
The survey typically takes about 10 to 15
minutes to complete.
Can I skip questions that don't apply to
me?
Please do not skip any questions in the
LibQUAL+™ survey! If you do not wish to answer a question or feel
that a question does not apply to you, select NA (not applicable).
Surveys with core questions not completely filled out are not
counted in the aggregate scores.
Will there be any special incentives for
participating?
There will be no compensation per se for
completing the survey, although an opportunity to be in the draw for
incentive prizes will be offered to interested participants. At the
end of the web-based survey, respondents may choose to include their
NUS email addresses (NUSNET IDs), which will enter them in a lucky
draw. Winners will be notified via email after the survey.
What Web browsers are supported for the
survey?
The NUS Library Service Quality Survey uses
LibQUAL+™ survey instrument that has been developed to work in many
settings, including academic and research libraries. It does not
rely on browser features such as Java or cookies.
Is the survey exclusively web-based, or can
I complete a paper version?
We are conducting web-based survey to save the
environment.
What if I cannot open the URL from my
email?
If you have trouble opening the URL from
within your email message, you can copy the URL and paste it into
your Web browser. If you still cannot access the survey, you can
email to LibQUAL@nus.edu.sg for assistance.
Why does the survey seem to repeat the same
question(s)?
The survey examines a variety of dimensions of
library services, each represented by a number of questions.
Repetition or redundancy in questions allows the survey designers to
analyse the validity of each service quality dimension through
statistical methods.
What discipline category in question 43
should I choose?
As this is designed as a multi-institution
survey, discipline categories have been standardised for ease of
comparison. This will assist with future benchmarking activities. We
have customised the survey to try to equate the disciplines with
terminology the NUS community will be comfortable with. Please
select the one discipline which best fits your area of study,
teaching, research, or responsibility. Staff not engaged in
discipline-based research may choose "Other”.
What position for Academic Staff should I
choose in question 44?
Please choose 1 option that best describes
you. You may choose ‘Other Academic Status’ if none of the titles in
‘Academic Staff’ category is applicable to you.
Can I save the survey as draft and continue
at a later date?
LibQUAL+™ does not provide option for
respondents to save survey as draft and continue at a later date.
Please complete the whole survey and submit via ‘Complete the
Survey’ button.
Why is there a reminder about this survey
sent to people who have already completed the survey?
Due to security and confidentiality features,
everyone in the random sample for the survey will receive thank
you/reminder irrespective of whether they have responded or not.
When submitted, survey responses and identification information are
immediately separated, so we have no way of knowing who has already
responded. Reminder/thank you e-mails, therefore, are distributed to
everyone.
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What is the LibQUAL+™ survey?
Service quality has always been the focus of
libraries; LibQUAL+™ is intended to provide a measure of the value
of library service quality across multiple academic and research
libraries. The current LibQUAL+™ instrument measures library user
perceptions of their libraries' service quality and identifies gaps
between minimum, desired and perceived levels of service.
LibQUAL+™ is a suite of services that libraries use to solicit,
track, understand, and act upon users' opinions of service quality.
These services are offered to the library community by the
Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in the United States.
The programme's centrepiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey
bundled with training that helps libraries assess and improve
library services, change organisational culture, and market the
library. As of 2008, more than 1,000 institutions have participated
in LibQUAL+™, including colleges and universities, community
colleges, health sciences libraries, law libraries, and public
libraries—some through various consortia, others as independent
participants. LibQUAL+™ has also expanded internationally, with
participating institutions in Canada, the UK, Hong Kong, South
Africa, Australasia and Europe. The growing community of
participants and its extensive dataset are rich resources for
improving library services.
When is the NUS Libraries LibQUAL+™ survey
being conducted?
NUS Libraries LibQUAL+™ survey is open from 2
to 27 March 2009.
What does the survey measure?
The instrument addresses three service quality
dimensions that have been found to be valid in previous assessments
of library services: Affect of Service, Library as Place,
Information Control. Each question has three parts that ask
respondents to indicate:
1. the minimum service level they will accept
2. the desired service level they expect
3. the perceived level of service currently provided.
This design will permit analysis of gaps between expectations,
perception, and minimum acceptance level of service.
How will this survey benefit the NUS
community?
As NUS Libraries receive information about
areas needing improvement, this will allow NUS Libraries to compare
their service quality with other peer institutions, to develop
benchmarks, and to surface best practices. By using the LibQUAL+™
instrument and initiating action based on the results of this
survey, NUS Libraries can be more responsive to user needs and
provide services that are better aligned to user expectations.
Are responses confidential?
Yes. The LibQUAL+™ approach to confidentiality
is guided by the ethical standards of the American Psychological
Association
(see
http://www.apa.org/ethics/code.html
Section 5). Although some information is
captured from respondents, such as email address, privacy is
protected in two ways.
First, only very indirect information is captured which would be
difficult to trace back to an individual. Second, everything
possible is done to separate personal information from survey
responses. Email addresses are not saved with the responses, and
once they are saved there is no way to link an individual's
responses to their email address — assuring confidentiality when
entering the incentive drawings. After the prize draw, the email
addresses are discarded.
What survey instrument is being used?
The LibQUAL+™ survey evolved from a conceptual
model based on the SERVQUAL instrument, a popular tool for assessing
service quality in the private sector grounded in the "Gap Theory of
Service Quality". It was developed by Leonard L. Berry
(Distinguished Professor, Texas A&M University), A. Parasuraman, and
Valarie A. Zeithaml. The Texas A&M University Libraries and other
libraries used modified SERVQUAL instruments for several years;
those applications revealed the need for a newly adapted tool that
would serve the particular requirements of libraries. From 1999, ARL,
representing the largest research libraries in North America,
partnered with Texas A&M University Libraries to develop, test, and
refine LibQUAL+™. This effort was supported in part by a three-year
grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the
Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). The questionnaire
is straightforward and involves no deception or coercion. Potential
respondents may read the guarantees of confidentiality and privacy.
What other libraries are participating in
LibQUAL+™?
You may refer to LibQUAL+™ website for a
complete list of participants:
http://www.libqual.org/Information/
Participants/index.cfm
Do all libraries use the same questions?
All libraries participating in the 2009
LibQUAL+™ survey will use the same 22 core questions and demographic
questions. In addition, each Library may select 5 optional
questions.
Why isn't the survey at NUS website?
The survey is administered through the
Association of Research Libraries and Texas A & M University, the
survey and data are housed on secure Texas A & M servers.
How can I get more information about
LibQUAL+™?
For more information, see the LibQUAL+™
homepage at
http://www.libqual.org/. To e-mail the national headquarters for
LibQUAL+™, contact the Association for Research Libraries at
LibQUAL@arl.org.
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