SECTION II:
ASSURING A STUDENT ORIENTED CAMPUS

Outcomes Assessment: The Spring Student Survey

 

Outcomes assessment has been a major theme at Brooklyn College, just as it has been for higher education across the nation. The Library is fortunate that so many assessment tools are built into its service program; we make inferences about services and collections based on data collected about circulation, interlending, the use of e-collections, building usage, Library instruction, and so forth. Our e-suggestion box provides readers with an easy way to communicate their needs and impressions. However, to further our understanding of readers' needs, in the fall 2003 we decided to undertake a student survey the following spring. We examined several survey tools and talked with libraries that had used them.

For several reasons, we eliminated the Association of Research Libraries' Lib-Qual : the tool is expensive to license,the survey is very long, and it must be completed online, linking to students' email addresses. Other schools that had used this tool told us that survey length had a very negative impact on questionnaire return; students complained about excessive redundancy; and difficulty with survey vocabulary generated incorrect responses. Since few Brooklyn College students use their free College-provided email accounts (preferring to stick with the Hotmail, AOL, and Yahoo accounts they had in secondary school) the issue of linking online survey completion to students' campus email addresses would have been insurmountable for us. (Another CUNY school embarked on a Lib-Qual survey without fully understanding the implications of this requirement; in the end, they printed paper copies of the survey and staff keyed in the responses.)

Instead, we decided to go with our own survey, something that would fit on an 8.5" x 14" page, adding questions of our own to an amalgam from the many tools we examined. Our goals were two: to find out how we were doing (as former NYC Mayor Ed Koch would say), and to learn which services were underutilized and could perhaps be better promoted. Our survey appears below.


Brooklyn College Library Survey


Spring 2004
In my view the Brooklyn College Library (please circle one):
 Excellent ... Poor
  • Provides a comfortable, quiet, well-lit place to study
    		•      1   2   3   4   5
  • Offers enough evening hours of service
    		•       1   2   3   4   5


    Offers enough weekend hours of service...........................................................................................    1   2   3   4   5
    Has signs to help me find my way around............................................................................................    1   2   3   4   5
    Contains books I need to use to write papers and do research..................................................    1   2   3   4   5
    Contains journals (electronic and print) I need to use
    to write papers and do research..............................................................................................................     		   1   2   3   4   5
    Offers electronic information that helps me to write
    papers and do research...............................................................................................................................     		   1   2   3   4   5
    Has courteous staff......................................................................................................................................    1   2   3   4   5
    Has librarians who are knowledgeable and help me find information......................................    1   2   3   4   5
    Provides an online catalog (CUNY-Plus) that is easy to use..........................................................    1   2   3   4   5
    Offers enough computers............................................................................................................................    1   2   3   4   5
    Has enough staff and librarians to assist me......................................................................................    1   2   3   4   5



    Which of these Library services have you used?
    Check the services you've used.
    Leave the block blank if you haven't used the service.
    SERVICE
         		  YES, I've used it.  
    Asked a reference question
    Requested an interlibrary loan
    Used the Library as a place to study
    Took a class or workshop on how to use the Library
    Used the Library Cafe (located in Whitehead Hall)
    Visited Special Collections or The Archives
    Used a computer in the Library
    Borrowed books at the Circulation Desk
    Used books kept in the Reserves Reading Room
    Used the Library's Web site
    Used the Internet-based online reference service
    Made a suggestion via the electronic suggestion box
    Used a Blackboard site for a course I in which I am enrolled        


    SERVICE
    		   YES, I've used it.  
    Made a suggestion via the electronic suggestion box
    Used a Blackboard site for a course I in which I am enrolled
    Used a computer at my home to access electronic Library collections   


    BROOKLYN COLLEGE STUDENTS: Please check all boxes that apply to you:

    I am: _______full-time (taking 12 or more credits) OR _______part-time (fewer than 12 credits)

             _______freshman ______sophomore ______junior _______senior

             _______graduate student

    I am: _______enrolled in Weekend College

             _______taking courses mainly during the day

             _______taking courses mainly in the evening


    OTHERS: Please check all boxes that apply to you:

    I am: _______Brooklyn College faculty     OR _______BC staff

             _______a guest from another CUNY campus (faculty or student)

             _______a guest from a high school

             _______a member of the Library Friends group

             _______other:



    LIBRARY USAGE:

    I go to the Brooklyn College Library:

             _______Every time I am on campus

             _______At least once a week

             _______Only at home, using the Web

    Report of the Brooklyn College Library & Office of Academic Information Technologies

             _______Only when I have a library assignment

    COMMENTS:

    The thing I like best about the Library is:





    The most frustrating thing about the Library is:





    ANY OTHER COMMENTS?


    Please deposit your survey in the boxes located at Library service points.

    Please complete only one survey.

    The Library appreciates your participation!

    The survey was available both (1) online from the Library Web site and (2) in paper at service points throughout the building, along with pencils and surfaces where the questionnaires could be completed. Posters all over the Library invited students to participate, as did our huge plasma screens.

    Survey demographics showed that full-time students made up 81% of our sample, part-time students constituting the remaining 19%. Daytime students (74%) gave us the highest response rate, followed by evening students (19%) and those enrolled in Weekend College (7%). The breakdown among classes was almost identical for all undergraduates:

    Freshman 18%
    Sophomore    20%
    Junior 21%
    Senior 18%
    Graduate      13%
    Other 09%
    479 readers responded to the survey. Our three "best" and "worst" scores were:

    Statement
    		 Agree
    Provides a comfortable, quiet, well-lit place to study          88 %
    Has librarians who are knowledgeable and helpful 82 %
    Has courteous staff 82 %


    Has signs to help me find my way around                            69 %
    Offers enough evening hours of service 62 %
    Offers enough weekend hours of service 60 %


    These results indicate a consistent trend: readers are highly satisfied with the Library environment and its staff and want more access to them. In terms of access and collections, results were mixed: although three-quarters of the sample was satisfied, we are not meeting the research needs of the remaining quarter in these areas:

    Offers enough computers 77 %
    Contains journals I need to use to write papers and do research              76 %
    Contains books I need to use to write papers and do research 74 %


    The survey included fourteen questions relating to the use of Library services. The top seven services were:

    Used library as a place to study 92 %
    Used a computer in the Library 90 %
    Used the Library Web site 82 %
    Asked a reference question 81 %
    Borrowed books at the Circulation Desk 80 %
    Used the Library Cafe (located in Whitehead Hall) 67 %


    The bottom seven included:
    Used book kept in the Reserves Reading Room 53 %
    Used computer at home to access electronic collections 48 %
    Took class or workshop on how to use the Library 45 %
    Used a Blackboard site for a course in which I am enrolled                42 %
    Requested an interlibrary loan 33 %
    Visited Special Collection or the Archives 32 %
    Made a suggestion via the electronic suggestion box 09 %
    It seems likely that students misinterpreted two questions: in the top cluster, 66% indicated that they "Used the Internet-based online reference service." This is a new service still in its pilot phase, and our data do not indicate this level of usage. It seems likely that respondents interpreted this question to mean that they used one of the electronic forms often associated with the Library's many subscription e-resources.

    Similarly, other data available to us suggest that a significant portion of students may have interpreted the question " Used a Blackboard site for a course in which I am enrolled" (42%) to mean that they used the site in the Library as compared to using it from home or from the Library Cafe. (Even if students interpreted the statement correctly, forty-two percent usage indicates extensive penetration of Blackboard on this campus.)

    We know from other Brooklyn College and CUNY surveys that a large portion (over 90%) of Brooklyn College students have personal computers at home. About half (48%) of the respondents reported using their computers from home to access library material. One of the more revealing and surprising results was in response to the question, "When do you use the Library?" A whopping 55% percent responded that they use the Library "every time that I am on campus," 36% reported weekly use, and only 7% used the Library only when they had an assignment. This is a remarkable testimonial to the Once and Future Library.

    Students were also given an opportunity to record free-form comments. In response to the question "The thing I like best about the Library is" two categories stood out above the others:

    Responses approximating "physical design of the building"              55 respondents
    "I can really study and get work done here."
    "The atmosphere is calm and beautiful; the staff
    is incredibly knowledgeable and helpful; and the books
    I need are on the shelves."
    "It's quiet for the most part. I love the availability &
    program accessability of the computers."
    "It's beautiful & clean!"

    The themes of "quiet," "clean," and "computers" appeared repeatedly.
    Other general categories emerged:

    Responses approximating "I like the computers"             30 respondents
    "I can use the computers whenever I want being that I don't have one at home."
    Responses approximating "Knowledgeable staff"             30 respondents
    "The staff at the Circulation Desk."
    "Librarians – best in the business."
    "The staff is very courteous and they always help
    (w/o making you feel like a pest)."

    [There were several comments singling out the Circulation staff. This is noteworthy in that Circulation is every library's most-used unit and one typically covered by support staff and part-timers; as such, it is the traditional service weakness in many academic libraries. Students, often late for class, must often queue until their selections are charged out; the frustrations generated at the Circulation desk can taint the entire library experience. That Brooklyn's students are not reporting the Circulation desk experience under "most frustrating" but rather specifically praising the staff is a surprising and highly satisfying finding of this study.]
    Responses approximating "Available research material"             20 respondents
    "Endless amount of research material."
    "Staff and variety of resource options."
    Responses approximating "I like the online services"             11 respondents
    In order to identify areas for improvement, students were also asked to relate "the most frustrating thing about the Library." The categories most frequently mentioned were:
    Responses approximating "Insufficient hours"             54 respondents
    "It closes before classes end and not open enough
    hours on weekend."
    "I find the hours are not accommodating to me who works
    full time. There needs to be more late hours instead of
    majority of services being cut off at 9:00 pm."
    "Opens too late. I am at class at 8 every day."
    Responses approximating "Disturbing noises"              45 respondents
    "People talking on their cell phones."
    "No selected place for talking on the cell phone."
    "Rude students and inconsiderate students."
    "People sleeping."
    "Cellphones, cellphone, cellphones."
    Responses approximating "Not enough computers"              25 respondents
    "That there is not enough computers that have
    Microsoft word on them so every time I come
    here, there isn't any space."
    "Slow internet speed doing my research online."
    "Not having wireless."

    [Steps have been taken to correct some of the computer frustrations. Wireless is being installed not only in the Library, but all over campus. Additionally, the speed of campus Internet service has improved. Student Technology Fee funds will allow for more Word capable-computers in the fall 2004.]

    Responses approximating "Need better collections"             19 respondents
    "All the books I need are always out."
    "When the Library computer says that the
    book in on the shelf but it really isn't."
    "Books are old."
    "Few books on reserve."
    Sometimes, individual responses point to problems that help to set future library directions:
    "Understanding how to find the books. They are numbered awkwardly."
    "Too confusing."
    "Finding way through the stacks."
    "Computers should be placed on the 2nd & 3rd floor for people to check the call number."

    [Clearly, there is a need for increased instruction on what is available and how to use the Library. (There are computers on the second and third floors that allow one to check for call numbers.)]
    Other comments point to problems that require the cooperation of other campus units:
    "Loud ventilation hum and sometimes low temperatures in Laguardia Room."
    "Untidiness."
    "Cleanliness of bathrooms."
    And still others will probably never be addressed:
    "No place to eat."
    "Room to eat, drink."

    [Readers may bring drinks into the building, so long as they are in screw-top bottles or travel mugs; for obvious reasons, food is forbidden. The Library Café, just across campus walk, serves and permits food and drink 24x7.]
    Of all of the comments and categories, the most satisfying was the fourth place response to the question "The most frustrating thing about the Library is":
    "Nothing." (24 responses)
    And one student followed up with another comment: "Money well spent."