Library & Information Services
LibQUAL+ 2012—
responding to
your comments
Thank you to all our customers who took the time to fill in
our recent LibQUAL+ customer satisfaction survey.
A high volume of positive comments were received about
the levels of service we provide and compliments aimed
at named members of staff have been passed on to the
individuals concerned.
Many respondents also provided comments suggesting
improvements to the Library service, which have been
grouped into a number of headings below.
Content
Comments relating to the Kings Norton Library:
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Environment
Group study space
Noise
WiFi
Dedicated Library Catalogue terminals
Access to electronic resources
Provision of books and journals
Borrowing journals
Interlibrary loans
Opening hours
Referencing
Comments relating to the Management Information and
Resource Centre (MIRC):
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Noise
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Opening hours
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Group study space
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Provision of books and journals
Comments relating to the Kings
Norton Library
Environment
There were a few comments about the low temperature in
the library in the winter.
We apologise for the cold temperatures that were
experienced last winter. We have been working with our
Estates Department over a long period to try to resolve
the issue before the coming winter and the temperature
has now been raised. Please contact a member of library
staff if you feel uncomfortable owing to the cold.
In the summer the temperature in the Library rose due to
a fault with the chiller units on the air conditioning system
which prevented the air being cooled. This fault has now
been repaired.
Group study space
A number of comments were received on the need for
more group study spaces.
We are currently reviewing space as part of our strategic
planning, and the need for more group study spaces will
be considered as part of this process.
We are aware that the group study spaces in the Library
can fill up quickly at certain times of the year. As well as
group study tables located on the first and second floors,
there are three seminar rooms which can be booked up
to a week in advance, to help you to reserve a space
when required. The University has also addressed the
need for more group study areas in the design of the new
Learning and Teaching Centre in the Stafford Cripps
building, located a short walk from the Library.
www.cranfield.ac.uk/library/resources
Noise
Various comments complaining about noise were
received as were requests for more quiet study areas.
We introduced a Discovery Service called SearchPoint in
2009 which searches across a selection (though not all)
of our resources to help alleviate some of these interface
problems.
Different customers require different types of study space
depending on how they need to use the Library. Whilst
we have group study spaces for collaborative work, we
also have designated quiet areas of the Library for
individual study which are located on the ground floor
and College Road side of the second floor. If you find
you are trying to use quiet study space and other
customers are making too much noise, then please
contact a member of Library staff.
We also moved our web content to the intranet in
September, one of the benefits of which is that the
majority of our resources are now available from logging
into the system once.
We would also like to reiterate that mobile phones (or
other mobile devices) should be on silent mode, and
customers should move away from quiet areas to take
any calls, preferably down to the ground floor.
If you have problems accessing or using our electronic
resources, please contact a member of Library staff.
The need for more designated quiet areas and their
location in relation to group study spaces will also be
taken into consideration during the review of library
space currently being undertaken as part of our strategic
planning.
WiFi
A few comments reported difficulties with the strength of
the WiFi connection.
The comments we received have been fed back to the
University’s IT Department and as a result a survey of
WiFi connectivity will be carried out in the building.
If you find you are having difficulties with the strength of
the WiFi connection or find the speed of the connection
slow, please contact a member of our staff.
Dedicated Library Catalogue terminals
A couple of comments asked us to provide terminals
dedicated to searching the Library Catalogue.
Dedicated terminals to access the Library Catalogue are
already available and are located on the first floor, beside
the Welcome Desk. We also offer access to the
Catalogue via mobile devices (IoS and Android) via the
Bookmyne app.
Access to electronic resources
A range of comments mentioned a desire for simpler
access to electronic resources, problems with using
electronic resources, having to adapt to changing
interfaces and a request for a single login.
We are particularly grateful for the comments we have
received concerning access to electronic resources. We
appreciate that we have many electronic resources with
different interfaces provided by different suppliers.
We plan to run focus groups at the start of the new year
to understand the issues you are facing in this area
further, with the intention of helping to improve your
searching experience.
Provision of books and journals
Comments were received about our electronic and print
collections. These included requests for more copies of
recommended and high demand textbooks and more
recent editions (for example in IT and computing).
Recommendations for specific subject areas in which our
eBooks could be improved included: Indian authored
books on stress, fatigue and mechanical engineering,
factory design, CAD, and management. Several
comments suggested that our eJournals collection
needed strengthening, particularly in: mechanical
engineering, hydrology, water resources, fluid mechanics,
and combustion.
All of this feedback is tremendously useful and will
certainly help us to make informed decisions about what
books and journals to acquire. The references to specific
titles and subjects are especially useful. A couple of
comments asked about the process for recommending
items for purchase. The easiest way to do this is for you
to Contact your Information Specialist or complete our
online form to Suggest a book for our stock.
There were several requests for items that we already
have in our collections. This suggests that we must make
it easier for you to discover what we have and minimise
the risk of you missing something. Always let us know if
you don’t find what you are looking for.
Borrowing journals
A number of respondents suggested that we should
reconsider our policy of not lending printed journals.
This is a policy change which followed an increase in the
opening hours of the Kings Norton Library and the
introduction of a self-issue and return service for our
printed books, reports and theses. With our extended
hours the print journals have become more accessible.
However if we lend journals, especially those that are
bound, all of the articles contained in volumes or issues
that are borrowed are not available to other customers.
www.cranfield.ac.uk/library/resources
This is likely to inconvenience anyone who urgently wants
to read or photocopy an article from a journal which is
out on loan.
Interlibrary loans
In addition to the compliments our interlibrary loans
service received, there were a couple of comments
asking for the request process to be made simpler and
quicker, and to use electronic signature in place of
printed copyright declaration forms.
We are very pleased to report that since the survey was
carried out we have introduced electronic signatures so
that requesters do not have to physically sign, print and
return a form. The implementation of Secure Electronic
Delivery (SED), which enables PDFs of requested
material to be sent directly to customers via email, has
also speeded up the service and has generally been
welcomed. (Laptop and remote users will need to
download software to use this service – find out more by
following the link provided at the end of this document).
Comments relating to MIRC
Noise
When MIRC was refurbished we aimed to improve the
way that we manage noise by creating more clearly
defined areas. Our “Quiet area” consists of individual
carrels for private study. We also have two facilities, the
Media Room and a more informal meeting pod, which
are intended to support group study and discussion.
Generally these seem to work well. We don’t treat the
computer desks in the centre of MIRC as a silent study
area because we recognise that students sometimes
work together. However we ask all of our customers to
respect the needs of others and we will intervene if we
think the level of noise is likely to cause disturbance.
Students who wish to make or receive mobile phone calls
or who simply want to chat with friends will be asked
politely to do this in others areas of the building, such as
the Forum.
Opening hours
There were suggestions that MIRC opening hours should
be the same as the Kings Norton Library.
Opening hours
Comments included requests that the opening hours of
the Kings Norton Library be extended, including requests
for 24 hour access.
The opening hours of the KNL have been extended
during the last couple of years and are constantly under
review. There is clearly a demand for even more access.
However a further extension in opening hours would have
an impact on the Library’s resources budget, and
therefore has to be balanced against the need to
maintain expenditure on books, journals, databases and
other services.
Rather than replicate the KNL service model, our
intention with MIRC is to ensure that a full reference and
enquiry support service is provided during all the hours
that it is open. The strategy in MIRC has been to focus
our investment on electronic resources in particular.
While we appreciate that there is interest in having MIRC
open for longer this would have an impact on the
resources budget, and therefore this has to be balanced
against the need to maintain expenditure on books,
databases and other services. Our compromise is to
encourage our customers to make use of the adjacent
computer studio which available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week.
Referencing
Group study space
Comments included a request that the Library guide is
updated, and that EndNote and Mendeley are supported
in preference to RefWorks, which we use currently.
Several comments suggest that our customers would like
to see the size of MIRC extended, in particular to provide
more group study space.
We agree that our guide needs updating and are also
intending to make more information available online. As
part of this process we are evaluating RefWorks against
other referencing tools.
There are many benefits associated with MIRC’s location
in Building 111. It is conveniently accessible and staff can
support the Computer Studio and are able to work
closely with other School of Management services.
However because we work alongside these other
services we have to make the very best use of the space
we have. We have tried to strike the right balance
between the needs of individual and group study. These
comments suggest that our customers are not
necessarily aware that the School of Management
provides bookable Group Study rooms elsewhere in the
building. We will consider ways to promote awareness of
these other facilities.
www.cranfield.ac.uk/library/resources
Provision of books and journals
There were comments about our eJournal collection, with
one person reporting access can sometimes be slow and
another suggesting that there are gaps in our collection,
including some practitioner journals. Psychology, and
consumer psychology in particular, were highlighted as
areas in which we need to strengthen the book collection.
All of the feedback we receive about our collection is
tremendously useful especially if it highlights any gaps.
Specific recommendations and examples help us to
make informed decisions about what books and journals
to acquire. We regularly refer to the School of
Management’s “Recommended Journals list” when
making decisions on which titles to subscribe to, retain or
stop taking. We have been trying to invest in the provision
of more eBooks as a way of ensuring that customers
have access to the texts they need, even popular,
recommended / reading list titles. With this emphasis on
electronic access we want our customers to be able to
easily discover, access and use all of our resources. Our
aim is to provide individual support to customers so
please don’t hesitate to contact any member of the MIRC
team if you require help.
Links
To access the services mentioned in bold text in this
document, or to find out more about them, please go to
www.cranfield.ac.uk/library/resources, and log in if
required. From the main Cranfield Campus Library and
Information Services intranet homepage, use the
following paths:
Bookmyne app:
Go to Resources by format > Mobile apps
SearchPoint:
The search box is visible on the Cranfield Campus Library
and Information Services intranet homepage.
Contact your information specialist:
Go to Contact us > Contact your information specialist
Suggest a book for our stock:
Go to Contact us > Suggest a book for our stock
Secure Electronic Delivery (SED):
To find out more about this new service, and to download
the software, go to Placing interlibrary loans > What is
Secure Electronic Delivery?
This leaflet is available in other formats on request
Published December 2012
www.cranfield.ac.uk/library/resources