News from the Library: Survey of graduate students

During the Spring 1999 semester, the Library User Needs Team (LUNT) developed and administered a survey of Brown graduate students. This survey measured how graduate students use library facilities, collections and services and whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with them. As the sole statistical resource for the Library, LUNT obtains information about Library users’ needs and preferences. Its mission is to help make the Library become more "user-centered." The data gathered by LUNT helps set priorities, establish policies and programs, make decisions and provide services that our users describe as important to them. So far, survey results compiled by LUNT have directly led to decisions made to improve photocopy services and Library elevators, and allocate more funds for the purchase of electronic texts. Below are some of the key findings.

Overall, graduate students were satisfied with the Library system.

Graduate students were most satisfied with Library services and least satisfied with Library collections:

Graduate students considered the following areas of the collections to be most important to their research:

In regard to Library services, items that graduate students were most satisfied about included Web access to Library and electronic resources, assistance offered by staff and Josiah, the Library online catalog. Library services that graduate students were most dissatisfied with included searches for missing books, shelving, and hours of Library operations. Overall, graduate students ranked the following services as most important to them:

When questioned about Library facilities, graduate students were most satisfied with Reference computer workstations, signage, instruction space, and building layout and stack organization. Library facilities that graduate students were most dissatisfied with included photocopiers, elevators, temperature/air quality, chairs/desks and lighting. Overall, graduate students ranked the following facilities as most important to them:

Which libraries on campus do graduate students use the most? 53 percent said they use the Sciences Library as their primary library; and 43 percent said they use the Rockefeller Library as their primary library.

Overall, 94 percent of graduate students said they visit the Library in person at least once a month or more frequently. Of these, more than two-thirds said they visit the Library in person daily or at least once a week.

Finally, what were the most important reasons why graduate students come to the Library in person?

LUNT has administered surveys to the faculty and to the off-campus medical faculty, with full reports due to be published shortly. The team is currently submitting a Web-based survey to undergraduate students and has just finished conducting a series of focus groups of Brown graduate students and faculty. If anyone in the Brown community wants to know more about the surveys just conducted, or wants to give the team suggestions about what to include in future surveys, please contact us.