Survey Result

The University Library conducted its bi-annual Client Satisfaction Survey in September 2007. This was the fourth survey of its kind to be undertaken, the first having been administered in 2001.

The survey provides us with a valuable opportunity to evaluate our present levels of service, to make comparisons with past practice and to compare our performance with other university libraries across Australia.

We thank the 5,604 respondents who took the trouble to complete the survey. The higher than average response rate provides a high degree of confidence in results obtained at university level. The majority of respondents (77.3%) were undergraduates, followed by postgraduates (17.1%) with staff at 5.6%.

UWS Library has performed well within the top quartile of Australian tertiary libraries, with an average satisfaction score of 5.62 of a possible 7. The 2007 result continue to show significant improvement over previous years a very positive result for UWS. Results across all categories are significantly above the national average, with UWS Library highest performing areas represented by Library Staff and Virtual Library.

The top 5 items in importance are:

• Library staff are friendly and helpful
• Library staff treat me fairly and without discrimination
• The Library web site is easy to use
• Access to electronic resources is easily available
• Off campus access to electronic information resources & services is adequate

The survey identified that the library's top 5 performance items are:

• Library staff treat me fairly and without discrimination
• Library staff display professionalism
• Library staff are friendly and helpful
• Library staff provide clear and accurate answers to my queries
• Library staff provide quality service

Areas of lowest performance (although all fall above national averages) are:

• Access to computers to support study / research
• Library collection adequacy
• Ease of access to course-specific resources
• Adequacy of quiet study facilities
• Adequacy of off campus access to electronic information resources and services

Of the 5 items identified above, the issue of adequacy of off campus access to electronic information resources and services is also identified within the top 5 importance items. This is an area where our efforts will continue to be deployed in order to ensure wide utilisation of UWS extensive electronic collections and services. Redesign of the library website is intended to ameliorate a number of the difficulties experienced.

Other improvement opportunities (including access to computers) relate to the physical infrastructure of our libraries. Redevelopment of the Penrith campus library and major refurbishment and redesign at Parramatta will build upon completed enhancements at the Bankstown and Campbelltown Library.

Collection adequacy remains an issue. We will continue pro-active collection building work, adding to the breadth and depth of our collections.

More detailed analysis of the survey results by campus and school level will be undertaken to enable specific improvement strategies to be put into place at these levels. Detailed analysis of the extensive verbatim comments received will also be undertaken to identify trends and possible areas requiring further effort.

View a PDF summary of the survey (1.3mb)

View a PDF of the full survey (Warning large download - 4.2mb)