Frequently Asked Questions LibQUAL+

What is LibQUAL+ ?

LibQUAL+ is a service quality assessment project sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The survey is designed to measure library users’ perceptions of service quality and identify gaps between desired, perceived, and minimum expectations of service.

By participating, The Sciences Po Library can identify where our services meet or indeed exceed expectations, where our services need improvement in the eyes of our users, and can compare our service quality with that of peer institutions in an effort to develop benchmarks and gain an understanding of best practices across institutions.

By completing the survey, you will be eligible to win a variety of gifts, or the grand prize, an IPad mini. 

It takes about 7 minutes to complete the survey. Respondents are asked to respond to each question on three separate scales, representing minimum, desired, and perceived levels of service.

• More about Libqual
• At Sciences Po Library, you can reach Cécile Touitou: enquete.bibli[at]sciencespo.fr

The Sciences Po Library has participated in LibQUAL+ in, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2017. 

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). The program’s centerpiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey bundled with training that helps libraries assess and improve library services, change organizational culture, and market the library.

More than 2,300 libraries 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 expanded internationally, with participating institutions in Canada, the U.K., and Europe. The growing LibQUAL+ community of participants and its extensive dataset are rich resources for improving library services.

What are the goals of LibQUAL?

The goals of LibQUAL+ are to:

• Foster a culture of excellence in providing library service
• Help libraries better understand user perceptions of library service quality
• Collect and interpret library user feedback systematically over time
• Provide libraries with comparable assessment information from peer institutions
• Identify best practices in library service
• Enhance library staff members’ analytical skills for interpreting and acting on data

How will LibQUAL+ benefit library users?

LibQUAL+ gives library users a chance to evaluate some of the services provided by The Sciences Po Library. We may be able to develop services that better meet our users’ expectations by comparing our data with that of peer institutions and examining the practices of those libraries that are evaluated highly by their users.

What is the format of  the survey?

• Nine core questions, with three scales for each question: your minimum service level, your desired service level, and your perceived service performance (9-point scale, low to high)
• Four questions: general satisfaction and outcomes (9-point scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree)
• Three questions: library and non-library gateway usage patterns (drop-down choices)
• Five demographic questions: library used most often, age, gender, discipline, and position (drop-down choices)
• One open-ended comments box

This edition of LibQUAL+® @SciencesPo will use the new LibQUAL+® Lite survey protocol. This shorter form uses item sampling methods to gather data on all 22 LibQUAL+® core items, while each individual participant responds to only a subset of items.

How is LibQUAL+ conducted?

Respondents complete the survey and their answers are sent to a central database. The data are analyzed by Association of Research Libraries researchers, and will be presented to Sciences Po Library in reports describing users’ desired, perceived, and minimum expectations of service.

What are the elements of the LibQUAL+ survey itself?

LibQUAL+ consists of a series of core questions, some demographics questions and a comments box. The questions measure user perceptions of Affect of Service, Library as Place, and Information Control. The comments box secures open-ended comments from users regarding their concerns and suggestions. These comments are an integral part of LibQUAL+; historically, almost 40 percent of respondents provide comments using the box. There are three parts to many of the questions: respondents are asked to indicate the minimum service level they will accept, the desired service level they expect, and the level of service they perceive to be currently provided.

Why do some questions seem repetitive?

The survey measures user perceptions and expectations of library service quality in three dimensions: Affect of Service, Information Control, and Library as Place. To ensure validity of responses, each dimension may be assessed through more than one question.

Why do the questions have three parts?

The three parts are

1. minimum - The number that represents the minimum level of service that you would find acceptable
2. desired - The number that represents the level of service that you personally want
3. perceived service levels - The number that represents the level of service that you believe our library currently provides

LibQUAL+ lets us see where library services are below the minimum acceptable level; where they are better than the minimum, but less than the desired level; and even where they exceed expectations.

How long will the survey run?

The survey is open from Thursday, November 9th, to Thursday, November 30th 2023.

How long does it take to complete the survey?

It takes about 7 minutes to complete the survey.

Can I skip questions that don't apply to me?

Do not skip any questions in the LibQUAL+ survey! If you do not wish to answer a question or feel a question does not apply to you, select NA (not applicable). Surveys whose core questions are not completely filled out are not counted in the aggregate scores.

Which discipline do I choose in point 43? (Section « please answer a few questions about yourself »)…

Disciplines have been standardized in order to facilitate analysis and comparisons between the many university libraries conducting the survey worldwide.

• ‘Undergraduate College’ students, please select 01. Bachelor in point 43 ‘discipline’ and then the year you are in from the drop-down menu in point 44. . You do not need to specify your field of study.
• All other students and academic staff, please select the discipline closest to your field of study from the drop-down menu.

If your field covers several of the listed disciplines and non-academic staff, please select ‘other’.

What Web browsers are supported for the survey?

Any browser should work so long as it is not too old. The survey does not rely on erratically supported browser features such as Java or cookies.

Is the survey compatible with text-to-speech web browsers?

Yes, the survey is compatible with the JAWS screen reader software.

What about confidentiality?

The LibQUAL+ approach to confidentiality is guided by the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association. Responses do not include email addresses and other information identifying individuals. In addition, responses will only be used in the aggregate survey analyses, and will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.

How your answers and data are processed

This survey is managed by the ARL (Association of Research Libraries) in its capacity as Data Manager. In this context, Sciences Po will act as Recipient of the data resulting from the survey responses.

Please note that your participation in this survey does not imply or require any collection of your personal data. Only your e-mail address may be collected, only if you wish to provide it, and only for the purpose of the prize draw. As such, this draw will have no impact on your consent to participate in this survey.

Responses to the questionnaire are therefore completely anonymous. They will be statistically processed and used solely for the purposes of this survey.

You can consult the page dedicated to the protection and security of survey data proposed by ARL at: https://www.libqual.org/resources/irb

If you have any questions about the processing of your answers to this questionnaire, or about preserving your anonymity in taking part in this survey, please contact Sciences Po's Data Protection Officer at dpo@sciencespo.fr.

What are the prizes?

When you complete the survey you may choose to submit your email address to participate in the draw for the various prizes that will be offered. (Sciences Po Staff including teachers can not take part in a prize draw.)

How do I find out if I have won a prize?

Winners will be notified via sciencespo email. For a chance of winning, please include your sciencespo email address at the end of the survey.

Will the results of the survey be made available?

Once the data analysis is complete and available to us, we will keep the Sciences Po community informed as to outcomes through postings on our website and via such channels as the Twitter library’s page.

Who can I contact at Sciences po Library if I have further questions?

You can contact Cécile Touitou: enquete.bibli[at]sciencespo.fr

Is there more information on the LibQUAL+ survey?

For more information, see the LibQUAL+ website.

LibQUAL+  is a registered trademark of the Association of Research Libraries.