Item sampling in service quality assessment surveys to improve response rates and reduce respondent burden: The ???LibQUAL+?? Lite??? randomized control trial (RCT)

The purpose of the study was twofold: (a) identifying whether item sampling using matrix sampling methods improved the well-known survey protocol, LibQUAL+??, and produced a viable alternative, LibQUAL+?? Lite; in particular, improvements regarding participation rates, completion time for the survey, and results comparisons are examined in the Lite version of the protocol within different institutional settings through a series of randomized control trials; (b) identifying whether there are differences in the total, subscale, and linking item scores between the long and the Lite protocol overall as well as within the three main user groups: undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty. For the purposes of this study data from more than 10,000 library users from 14 institutions that implemented randomized control trials during the spring 2008, fall 2008, and spring 2009 survey cycles were analyzed. Findings indicate that LibQUAL+?? Lite is a viable and preferred alternative to the long form of 22 core items that has been established since 2003. LibQUAL+?? Lite uses item sampling methods to: (a) gather data on all 22 LibQUAL+?? core items, while (b) each individual participant responds to only a subset of items. Every Lite user responds to one ???linking??? item from each of the subscales, and to a randomly-selected subset of five items from the remaining 19 (22-3) core LibQUAL+?? items. As a consequence, survey response times are roughly cut in half, while the library still receives data on every survey question. The matrix sampling method, the randomized control trial framework, and the statistical analysis methods outlined in the current study are useful heuristic methods for other high stakes library survey implementations whether for a physical as well as a digital library environment. These methodological approaches add rigor and thoughtful perspectives as they inform ways libraries shape their services and ???touch??? their users through improvements and innovations in the years to come

Assessing the Design of the Library\u27s Discovery Interface and Online resources: A Case Study at the University of Maryland

This presentation was offered as part of the CUNY Library Assessment Conference, Reinventing Libraries: Reinventing Assessment, held at the City University of New York in June 2014

La mise en oeuvre interculturelle de LibQUAL+MC : le cas du français

Traduit de l'anglais par Jimmy Légaré et Olivier Paradis (Direction des bibliothèques de l'UdeM).Cet article présente une analyse contextuelle des problèmes interculturels et linguistiques de traduction reliés à la version française du questionnaire LibQUAL+MC, tel qu’utilisé dans des bibliothèques canadiennes à l’automne 2003. On répond par l’affirmative à la question de recherche qui consiste à déterminer si le processus de traduction française a produit des résultats équivalents aux versions anglaises du questionnaire. Les dimensions de l’outil LibQUAL+MC utilisées pour mesurer la qualité des services sont validées par une analyse factorielle et une analyse de fidélité des données recueillies par la participation de l’Université Laval et de l’Université d’Ottawa. Un questionnaire comportant trois dimensions ressort de ce processus, c’est-à-dire les dimensions de bibliothèque en tant que lieu, de soutien du personnel et de contrôle informationnel. Le processus de validation assure que les versions du questionnaire sont culturellement pertinentes dans la langue cible et équivalentes à l’original sur le plan conceptuel, et ce processus garantit l’équivalence interculturelle de la version française. L’importance d’un cycle itératif continu d’analyse contextuelle est également apparu comme une composante importante qui fournit l’assurance que LibQUAL+MC peut être appliqué avec succès à l’intérieur d’environnements différents