Western Washington University Library Survey Series, Fall 1996-97: Faculty and Staff and Administration

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Section One: Faculty At the request of the new University Librarian, Western\u27s Office of Survey Research (OSR) and Office of Institutional Assessment and Testing (OiART) worked with the library\u27s faculty and staff to conduct a series of surveys focusing on library resources and services. Drafts of this report were reviewed by library personnel and their comments and insights were extremely valuable. These surveys were intended to provide a base of information to help guide an in-depth assessment and planning effort aimed at improving Western\u27s library. Indeed, Western Washington University Libraries: Organizational Directions and Major Strategies: I998- 2003 was published December 31, I 997, a strategic plan which utilized, among other sources of information, the findings found in this report. The library\u27s strategic plan is available in hard copy through their main administrative offices, and on-line via the Western Libraries home page(http://lis.wwu.edu/screens/ mainmenu.html). During Fall quarter, surveys were conducted of faculty, administration/staff, returning under¬ graduates with more than 120 credits, returning graduate students, newly entering undergraduate and graduate students, the library faculty and staff, and community library users. Section One of this first technical report presents the findings of one of these surveys: the survey of Western Faculty members. Faculty completed an extensive survey, with questions concerning their own use and evaluation of library holdings, facilities and services, perceptions of the library\u27s ability to serve student needs, recommendations for changes to the library, and recommendations regarding a variety of library policy questions. This report summarizes basic findings from the faculty survey. Two notes of mention are: Although Western\u27s library system includes some satellite holdings, the largest being the music library, the great majority of use is of Wilson Library. For convenience of expression, this report adopts the convention of referring to the Western library while recognizing the existence of plural holdings. Two: This report is intended to provide information as background to strategic planning efforts by the library staff, faculty, and administration of Western. This creates a natural division of labor between this report and the planning bodies that will use it. This report provides concrete empirical observations with little comment, and planning bodies will interpret these and other observations within the WWU context, as a basis for planning recommendations. With this in mid, this report is written with a minimum of interpretation or discussion

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