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LibQUAL+ Canada Workshop. The Saint Mary’s University Experience Madeleine Lefebvre Ottawa, June 14, 2006. Focus of this presentation: How we promoted the process. A few facts about Saint Mary’s…. “The world in one city block” Approx. 9000 students 15% international
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LibQUAL+ Canada Workshop The Saint Mary’s University Experience Madeleine Lefebvre Ottawa, June 14, 2006
Focus of this presentation: How we promoted the process
“The world in one city block” Approx. 9000 students 15% international Undergraduate, Master’s and PhD programs
Approx. $4 million budget 10 FTE prof; 41 FTE support 600,000 user visits per year 385,000 volumes CRKN and Novanet member
Background to LibQUAL+ Decision: • Academic Plan • growth of research agenda
Concerns about the process • amount of local resources needed (i.e., time, IT help) • quality of email addresses
Consulted other local campuses • UNB • Dalhousie
Established LibQUAL+ Committee: 3 librarians plus the University Librarian as Chair
First steps: -Chair attended ARL workshop -Committee analyzed procedures, divided responsibilities and established a timeframe
Emphasized promotion from Day One: • within the library • outside of the library • enlisted support of Academic VP and Public Affairs
Within the library -kept all staff informed about the purpose and the process • encouraged staff to fill out the survey • assured staff it wasn’t a punitive process
Outside of the library -discussed at Deans’ meetings • Senate Library Committee • Student Reps Council of SMUSA • Senior Administrators meetings
The food factor Discussed enthusiastically in coffee shop line, at faculty lounge, etc
Chose survey dates carefully -at start of winter semester, letter from Academic VP went to entire university community
End of week before survey went live - global voicemail from Academic VP went to entire university community
Week survey went live • email to entire university community • dedicated webpage with FAQs www.smu.ca/library/survey
-news release on university homepage -tent cards on carrels -button on library homepage -bookmarks
-Emphasized the planning process and the need for input: “Be part of the solution” -Emphasized everything from the user point of view, not the library’s
Our Philosophy: -make it clear and concise -user friendly -visually appealing promotional material
-emphasized prizes! -placed ads in student newspaper -large banner by coffee shop -Students’ Centre marquee
During the survey period: -monitored survey progress -follow up global emails -follow up targeted phone calls -final global voicemail from VP
After the survey period: -wide publicity of winners -thanks everywhere
-Publicized our success rate: 1537 participants 717 substantive comments Statistically relevant coverage
Next Steps: • begin planning process from results • attend follow up workshop at ALA
Recommendations for smaller campuses: -have involvement at senior levels • don’t sample • monitor the survey progress closely • use all the excellent resources from ARL
-make it exciting! • make it fun! -make your users feel you care about them!
Most Important: Plan what you are going to do with the results, and tell your users!
Thank you! We’re happy to help others: Madeleine.lefebvre@smu.ca Ron.houlihan@smu.ca