CSUN Virtual Reference Pilot Program Part 2: Survey Results
April 28, 2003
Contacts:
Marcia Henry, (818) 677-3012, marcia.henry@csun.edu
Katherine Dabbour, (818) 677-4706, kathy.dabbour@csun.edu
Overview:
Survey Dates: September 10, 2002 to April 18, 2003
Distribution: Automatic email form from the CSUN IP.
Total completed transactions: 361
Total surveys returned: 110
Return Rate: 30%
Service Issues:
Overall, patrons were quite satisfied: Ninety-one percent found the
information relevant or very relevant; and 86% found the librarian to be
helpful or very helpful.
Technical Problems:
Ninety-six percent reported having technical problems. Of the 17 users who
commented on the problems they encountered, six (35%) seemed related to
the co-browsing feature. The rest ranged from slowness complaints to error
messages and disconnects. However, despite this, 89% found the service to
be easy or very easy to use, and 84% reported that they would use the
service again.
CSUN Patron Characteristics:
Students made up 80% of the respondents. Of the 81 respondents who
indicated their major, a variety of departments in each of the eight colleges
at CSUN were represented. Most came from the colleges of social and
behavioral sciences (14); arts media and communication (14); health and
human development (13), and business (13). Humanities, including the
liberal studies program, had nine respondents. Engineering and computer
science had seven, and science and mathematics had six respondents. These
data are in keeping with overall enrollment percentages by college.
Question
Relevance
Number of
Responses
Percent*
100
91%
9
1
8%
1%
94
86%
14
2
12%
2%
106
0
4
96%
0%
4%
98
89%
Very Relevant
Or Relevant
Somewhat
Or Not
Relevant
No Answer
Helpfulness
Very Helpful
Or Helpful
Somewhat
Or Not Helpful
No Answer
Technical Problems?
Yes
No
No Answer
Ease of use
Very Easy
Or Easy
Somewhat
Or Not Easy
7
No Answer
5
Use again?
Yes
92
Maybe
13
No
3
No answer
2
CSUN Status
Student
88
Faculty
7
Staff
1
Unknown
14
*Percentages Were Rounded
6%
5%
84%
12%
3%
2%
Sample Comments:
Most who commented seemed satisfied:
 I used this "program" before and got lots of help. This time I got the
80%
same quality. Thanks for all your help!!!
6%
 The Ask a Librarian feature is wonderful. I plan on telling all my
1%
friends and colleagues. Thanks again for making a search so easy.
13%
There really was not much printed info that I'd been able to find.
This prevented further delays.
 Wonderful service. Saves me from having to pull my hair out and stay up all night trying to find and figure out
stuff.
However, some who commented seemed quite dissatisfied:
 The librarian never answered my question on the live chat.
 I would have liked to continue to talk to the librarian before they logged off. The conversation was not complete.
 Librarian didn't have a clue and said to call someone else.
 It would be more helpful if one could chat with a librarian at a specific library. The librarian I chatted with knew
no more than I had already found out by searching the catalog.