Your Library – Your Say! LibQUAL+ Survey 2023
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all individuals who took the time to complete the LibQUAL+ survey in November 2023. We have received 2,825 valid responses. Your feedback is invaluable to us as we strive to continually improve our services and offerings. We appreciate your willingness to share your thoughts and opinions with us, and we will carefully study all of the comments and suggestions provided in the survey. Your input will help us develop services that better meets the needs and expectations of our patrons. Thank you again for your participation and support!
Responses and Action Plans
We have reviewed the survey results, suggestions and constructive remarks, and has developed plans to follow up on six key areas. See Responses And Action Plans
Survey Results
For complete Survey results, see the result notebooks produced by LibQUAL+®.
Key findings
Response Rates
2,825 HKUST students, faculty, and staff (library staff excluded) completed the Survey, which is about 13% response rate. A breakdown of respondents by user groups is shown below. All 8 UGC-funded libraries conducted the Survey. HKUST respondents made up 18% of the total JULAC respondents of 15,422.
| User Group | Population | Respondents | Response Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | 10,712 | 1,730 | 61.24% | 16.15% |
| Postgraduate | 7,157 | 606 | 21.45% | 8.47% |
| Academic & Research Staff | 2,373 | 127 | 4.50% | 5.35% |
| Staff (excluding Library Staff) | 2,039 | 362 | 12.81% | 17.75% |
| Overall | 22,281 | 2,825 | 100% | 12.68% |
Service Dimensions and Scores
LibQUAL+® measures three service dimensions:
- Affect of Service: Customer services provided by library staff
- Information Control: Library collections and access to resources
- Library as Place: Library spaces, facilities, and environment
Respondents were asked to give their ratings for 22 core questions in these three service dimensions on the following three scales:
- Minimum level of service they are willing to accept
- Desired level of service they would like to receive
- Perceived level of service they are provided
The Minimum, Desired and Perceived Mean Scores, along with the Adequacy and Superiority Mean Scores are shown below.
| HKUST Service Scores | 2023 | 2019 | 2015 | 2011 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Average Score | 6.05 | 6.10 | 5.90 | 5.75 | 5.73 |
| Desired Average Score | 7.45 | 7.48 | 7.49 | 7.50 | 7.62 |
| Perceived Average Score | 7.06 | 7.11 | 7.01 | 6.88 | 6.87 |
| *Adequacy Mean Score | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.09 | 1.12 | 1.14 |
| **Superiority Mean Score | -0.39 | -0.36 | -0.49 | -0.62 | -0.75 |
* “Adequacy Mean Score” indicates the extent to which the library is meeting the expectations of our users (Adequacy Mean Score = Perceived Mean Score – Minimum Mean Score). The higher the Adequacy Mean Score, the better the library is performing.
** “Superiority Mean Score” indicates the extent to which the library is exceeding the desired expectations of our users (Superiority Mean Score = Perceived Mean Score – Desired Mean Score). The smaller the negative Superiority Mean Score, the closer to the superiority level the library is performing.
Core Questions Summary
This radar chart shows the aggregate results for the 22 core questions. Each axis represents one question. They are grouped into sections: Affect of Service, Information Control, and Library as Place.
On each axis, respondents’ minimum, desired, and perceived levels of service quality are plotted, and the resulting “gaps” between the three levels (representing service adequacy or service superiority) are shaded in blue (perceived greater than minimum) and yellow (perceived less than desired).
Core Question Dimensions Summary
The scores for each dimension of library service quality have been plotted graphically.
The exterior bars represent the range of minimum to desired mean scores for each dimension. The interior bars represent the range of minimum to perceived mean scores (the service adequacy gap) for each dimension of library service quality.
General Satisfaction
This table displays the mean score for each of the general satisfaction questions: Satisfaction with Treatment, Satisfaction with Support, and Satisfaction with Overall Quality of Service. Respondents rated their levels of general satisfaction on a scale from 1 to 9.
| General Satisfaction Questions | 2023 | 2019 | 2015 | 2011 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In general, I am satisfied with the way in which I am treated at the Library | 7.29 | 7.36 | 7.29 | 7.20 | 7.14 |
| In general, I am satisfied with library support for my learning, research, and/or teaching needs | 7.22 | 7.27 | 7.17 | 7.07 | 6.99 |
| How would you rate the overall quality of the service provided by the library? | 7.28 | 7.32 | 7.24 | 7.12 | 7.03 |
Information Literacy Outcomes
This table displays the mean score for each of the information literacy outcomes questions. Respondents rated their levels of general satisfaction on a scale from 1 to 9 with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 9 representing “strongly agree.”
In 2023, we have higher ratings in all information literacy outcomes questions.
| Information Literacy Outcomes Questions | 2023 | 2019 | 2015 | 2011 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The library helps me stay abreast of developments in my field(s) of interest. | 6.65 | 6.63 | 6.57 | 6.48 | 6.39 |
| The library aids my advancement in my academic discipline or work. | 7.05 | 7.04 | 6.95 | 6.87 | 6.78 |
| The library enables me to be more efficient in my academic pursuits or work. | 7.23 | 7.18 | 7.07 | 6.94 | 6.86 |
| The library helps me distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy information. | 6.45 | 6.34 | 6.22 | 5.93 | 5.61 |
| The library provides me with the information skills I need in my work or study. | 6.85 | 6.80 | 6.79 | 6.65 | 6.52 |
Benchmarking with JULAC Libraries
The following table summarizes the mean scores of HKUST library and JULAC participating libraries* in terms of service adequacy and service superiority.
| Service Dimension | Adequacy Mean Score | Superiority Mean Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HKUST | JULAC | HKUST | JULAC | |
| Affect of Service | 1.14 | 0.93 | -0.23 | -0.26 |
| Information Control | 1.01 | 0.77 | -0.38 | -0.51 |
| Library as Place | 0.80 | 0.71 | -0.68 | -0.61 |
| Overall | 1.01 | 0.81 | -0.39 | -0.45 |
*Participating libraries: CityU, CUHK, EdUHK, HKBU, HKU, HKUST, LU, PolyU
Comments
At the end of the Survey, respondents were asked to give their comments about library services and we received 1,164 comments. Thank you very much for the praises and words of appreciation. Below are some examples of the written comments:
- 自修和小組討論的位置總是很緊張，希望可以擴充更多的位置。
- Maybe staff can patrol more frequently to see if there are people occupying the seats with their stuff.
- Please do something to divide the library into a quiet part and a discussion part and reduce the noise in the quiet part. Because I always see students talking and discussing in the library. I think discussion is vital for our study, but making a lot of noise in the library may sometimes annoy others.
- 學習空間方面, 新建的Study Pods 十分有用! 因為 STUDY ROOM 一般比較難book, study pods 比較容易, 以及study pods能提供一個獨立&安靜空間畀同學 recite script, interview 等等.提供更多空間獨立空間學習.未來也可以再考慮增設更多study pods 或其他類似設施. Thank you!
- I greatly appreciate the library services provided. The library offers a wide range of resources, including books, journals, and digital materials, which have been invaluable for my studies and research. The staff is knowledgeable and always ready to assist, making the library a welcoming and supportive environment. The online catalog and database access have simplified the process of finding and accessing relevant information. Overall, the library services have been instrumental in enhancing my learning experience.
Survey Link
As part of our continuing efforts to provide service excellence to the University community, the Library is conducting a Services Quality Survey among current students, faculty and staff in Fall 2023. ITSC authentication is required to enter the questionnaire, but your responses will remain anonymous. All personal data collected will be handled in compliance with the Library’s Privacy Policy.
This web-based survey opens from November 1 to 30, 2023. It takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. For questions about the Survey, contact us at lbsurvey@ust.hk.
This survey is now closed |
Lucky Draw
To show our gratitude for your participation, we will have a lucky draw with 75 prizes. To join the Lucky Draw, current students, faculty and staff may enter your HKUST e-mail address after filling out the questionnaire. Duplicated e-mail addresses or email addresses in other domains will be excluded from the lucky draw.
Results will be announced in December 2023 and winners will be notified by e-mail directly. HKUST Library reserves the right to determine whether a person is eligible to enter the lucky draw and/or to receive a prize.
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About the Survey
The Survey is a joint project of all libraries at UGC-funded institutions (JULAC libraries). Using LibQUAL+®, a survey instrument developed by the Association of Research Libraries that is widely adopted by libraries worldwide, the Survey allows a comparative analysis of our services with our peer institutions in Hong Kong. This is the 5th time we conducted such a Survey. The last four Surveys were conducted in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019.
LibQUAL+® uses 22 core questions to measures user perceptions of service quality in three dimensions:
- Affect of Service: Customer services provided by library staff
- Information Control: Library collections and access to resources
- Library as Place: Library spaces, facilities, and environment
Respondents were asked to give their ratings for 22 core questions in these three service dimensions on the following three scales:
- Minimum level of service they are willing to accept
- Desired level of service they would like to receive
- Perceived level of service they are provided
last modified 05 April 2024