Purpose & Goals
The University of Tennessee Libraries (UT) is currently engaged in a fourth iteration of the Measuring Information Services Outcomes (MISO) survey (https://www.misosurvey.org). This survey is designed to evaluate our campus community’s use of and satisfaction with various library services, as well as the value they place on our services. We have implemented this survey in 2017, 2019, and 2022. The poster will examine longer-term changes in our community’s understanding of the library as revealed through this series of surveys. The existing three surveys span five years, ending with the first ‘normal’ academic year following the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2024 survey should allow us to determine whether changes in perceptions of the library that we observed in 2022 represent a ‘new normal’ for our university or were temporary changes that can be more directly related to pandemic-driven disruptions to academic life.
Design & Methodology
The MISO survey is a web-based survey distributed electronically to a sample of students, faculty, and staff at each participating institution early in the Spring semester of each data collection year. The protocol for sampling and recruitment is controlled by the MISO survey organization. The survey instrument is customized by each participating institution but uses a common format and bank of selectable questions that allow for benchmarking across the institutions participating in any given year. Respondents indicate their frequency of use of library spaces and services on a five-point Likert-type scale (Never through More than 3 times a week) and the importance they place on various services and their satisfaction with those services on a four-point Likert-type scale. Additional questions allow respondents to rate their awareness of library services and the perceived value of library service to their academic work. While questions have been added and subtracted from the survey across the iterations, several questions have been asked on all versions of the survey at UT. These continuing questions deal with core library services including study space, physical and electronic collections, the library’s virtual services, and library services overall.
Findings
While current data is still being collected, the 2022 study noted some changes from previous years that we plan to continue to explore with this year’s iteration. Some trends may be fairly expected: physical collections were viewed as less important in 2022 than they were in 2017, while e-book collections have become more important to the faculty than before. Others were less expected: The percentage of undergraduates who rated overall library service “Very important” declined considerably between 2019 and 2022. Gender-based differences in service perception also appear to be increasing.
Action & Impact
The MISO survey has been used at UT to inform our strategic planning process and to support some changes in services – a dedicated space for graduate students is being enlarged based in part on feedback from these surveys. Specific action on the longer-term trends examined here may be more difficult. These broad surveys may only suggest future targeted assessment with particular user (or non-user) groups.
Practical Implications & Value
Many academic libraries do some kind of user satisfaction survey, whether through MISO, LibQual+, or a homegrown instrument. Sometimes the feedback from these surveys is specific and can have immediate value to the sponsoring library: takeaways are “We need more electrical outlets” or “The new website is great.” Examining the broader results of a series of such surveys, however, may provide insight into broader changes in academic life and the environment we are all working in. This project should also provide the conference with an overview of the MISO instrument and its use in evaluating a large academic library.