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Francine DeFranco
Social Work Reference Librarian, Trecker Library
William Uricchio
Senior Manager, Bibliographic Control Department, Babbidge
Library
In April 1995, the Library's Strategic Planning Committee conducted a survey of UConn faculty, students, and staff to gather their views about our proposed mission statement and strategic initiatives. The survey also sought comments on existing library services and operations, new services, and future initiatives. A total of 926 surveys were returned, 783 from users on the Storrs campus and 143 from regional campus clients, providing a vision of the libraries and their services system-wide. Ten percent of the responses were from faculty, 26% from graduate students, 59% from undergraduates, and 5% were from staff or non-UConn users. The Library's Mission Statement received strong support from virtually all respondents; 97% approved the statement as appropriate for the University of Connecticut Library system.
The survey asked respondents to indicate the relative importance of nine strategy areas by rating each as: critical, important, not important, or not important because current service is satisfactory. Users endorsed every strategy area listed as important or critical. The totals of those indicating a strategic area as important or critical clearly present the preferences and concerns of our users across all campuses. In rank order, the results are:
- Access to Information and Collections (91%)
- Collections (88%)
- User Services (85%)
- Staff (84%)
- Academic Partnerships (82%)
- Facilities (84%)
- Library Management (71%)
- The Library's Role Beyond the University (59%)
- Campus Information Policy (55%)
Two survey questions were open-ended and provided an opportunity for respondents to suggest improvements to existing library services and operations and to propose new services or initiatives. Areas targeted by users as needing improvement included (in rank order): copy services; journal holdings; library hours; general collections; the external appearance of the Babbidge Library; the number of reference staff; places for quiet study; air quality and temperature control; a better system for reshelving journals, reference materials, and books; access to electronic resources; and space for group study. Proposals for new library services, which turned out to be suggestions for improving current services, included: increase the number of workstations and access points to Lexis/Nexis and other sources of electronic information; expand library instruction sessions and the documentation on how to use the library, particularly for freshmen and undergraduates; increase and maintain professional staff; improve access to information within the library; and increase the fiction collection for leisure reading.
We appreciate the time and thought users demonstrated in responding to the survey. The quantitative and qualitative data generated provides a snapshot of how users view the relative importance of library collections, instruction and training, computer facilities, and overall organization. This valuable information breathes life into the strategic planning process, providing a framework within which thoughtful decisions can be made to generate effective changes in services and collections. As you read elsewhere in this newsletter, you will note that steps are already underway to improve services that respondents indicated are important to their work. We plan, in the future, to become more systematic in our efforts to seek input from library users. But you need not wait for a survey to let us know what you think; your opinions and suggestions are welcome at any time.
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