Library Blog

Thank you to everyone who responded to the 2017 Library Services Customer Satisfaction Survey just before Christmas. The focus of the survey was on overall satisfaction, speed of service delivery, quality of staff interactions, etc. and was sent to a 20% sample of staff, students and other Library user groups.

An average response rate of 9.8% was achieved across all user groups and we are very grateful to all those who took the time to respond. The survey results indicate that the Library is very positively perceived by a high percentage of its users.

144 survey respondents left comments and those about Library staff were overwhelmingly positive. The environment, services and resources were the main source of more negative comments.

As a result of the survey:

1. A review will be undertaken to consider, among other topics, survey timing – e.g. moving the survey to spring each year when first year students will have had more time to become familiar with the range of library services.
2. Library Services will continue to work to maintain and improve the quality of the library environment. In particular, the McClay Library Phase 3 development project which will commence in spring 2018 and run until autumn 2019 will deliver over 300 additional study seats and 10 additional group study rooms.

Seats and desks in the McClay Library are at a premium in the weeks leading up to, and during exam time. Comments from the staff/student survey and general feedback highlighted a particular problem. Students were frequently holding desks for extended periods of time meaning others could not access them. Part of the issue was that students were unaware that this contravenes Library Regulations.

As a response the Marketing Group developed a targeted campaign to promote and raise awareness of library regulations, with particular emphasis on reserving seats at high demand times. At such times, students are reminded that they can only leave their desks for 30 minutes, after this another student is entitled to move their belongings to the side in order to use the desk. Library staff will support them in doing so.

• We created pull up banners containing an acronym (RESPECT) which summarised the main library regulations.
• A5 signs stating ‘Reserving seats: you can leave your desk for up to 30 minutes’ were distributed on Floor 1.
• Posters containing the same information were placed on the plasma screens and the self-issue machines.
• Each enquiry desk was issued with time-slips that could be distributed by staff, or students could take and fill out when they were leaving their desk.
• A targeted social media campaign was run simultaneously.

Following positive feedback and social media statistics it is intended that this campaign will be run each year at busy times. An additional pull up banner has been ordered to improve the impact of the campaign.

Richard Fallis, Subject Librarian for Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, is running drop-in sessions in the Biomedical Library, MBC, at the times below. Feel free to drop in, or if you’d prefer to book a slot then please contact Richard ahead of time – his contact details are at:

http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/TheLibrary/Contact/SubjectLibrarians/

Tuesday 27/02/2018 3.00 – 5.00 pm

Tuesday 06/03/2018 9.30 – 11.30 am

Thursday 15/03/2018 9.30 – 11.30 am

Tuesday 20/03/2018 3.00 – 5.00 pm

Monday 26/03/2018 3.00 – 5.00 pm