VCU LibQual+™ 2011 Survey Results
Building on its history of improving services through assessment of patrons' expressed needs and preferences, VCU Libraries conducted an online survey of service quality in spring 2011. It is general practice for libraries to seek opinions of their users using a variety of tools including surveys and focus groups. One survey stands out. 
The tradmarked LibQUAL survey, developed by Association of Research Libraries and Texas A & M University, is used by many top research libraries. Librarians use the LibQUAL suite of services to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users’ opinion of service quality. We use the information gathered to make changes in operations and collections.
The survey included undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty and collected information about their perceptions of collections, services, expertise of librarians and library facilities.
- 13,518 survey invitations
- 2,849 responses
- 15 disciplines
- 21% participation
Highlights of the Results
- Survey participants, students and faculty, from all disciplines rate the customer service and professional knowledge of librarians highly.
- Perceptions of facilities and spaces improved significantly. Heightened satisfaction can be largely attributed to the advent of the Cabell Learning Commons.
- Patrons continued to report that the facilities are crowded and often noisy and not always sufficient to meet their study or research needs.
- Graduate students and faculty, groups who care most about the depth and breadth of library collections, reported that adequacy of the collections have improved since 2008. Faculty still see much room for improvement.
- Accessibility of information remains an issue for users in varied disciplines.
- The Web site is perceived by some users as difficult to navigate for finding information on their own.