by Katy Knapp
and Brandale Mills
Daily Lobo
For the fourth year in a row, University Libraries is asking UNM students to fill out a survey to identify what the library is doing right and what needs to be improved.
Johann van Reenan, interim director of Zimmerman Library, said 450 academic libraries across the nation are participating in the survey.
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"It shows what people's highest needs for services are and the least amount they expect (from the library)," he said.
Van Reenan said the survey also measures students' personal experiences at the libraries and how the department has met their needs.
Half of the questions are focused on a rating system for different subjects, such as the availability of library space or whether employees have the knowledge to answer questions. The survey has 44 questions, including a space for additional comments.
When student Lora Mondragon looked at the survey, she said she hadn't heard about it or received one online.
"If I did get one, I probably wouldn't fill it out," she said. "It seems very long, and other students probably won't respond either."
Van Reenan said all UNM students were sent a link to the survey this year. He said the libraries have an 11 percent to 12 percent response rate, which is normal because it could take a while to fill out.
"About 300 to 400 people respond, but it really shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to complete," he said.
Graduate student Elo Shapiro said she does a lot of her research before coming to the library but is pretty happy with the facility and wouldn't change much.
"The library has a pretty good collection," she said.
She said she received the e-mail and will fill it out if she has time.
To make sure the survey is fair, Texas A&M University will be tallying all the results, van Reenan said.
"We never see the results until it's accumulated," he said.
He said the survey is especially useful for making small changes right away and working on the bigger changes.
For example, when survey results came in two years ago, van Reenan said people wrote they had a hard time finding books on the shelves.
"We had every single staff member in there shelf reading," he said. "They had to make sure they were all in place. That took three months to complete."
Another concern was that signs in the libraries were unclear, van Reenan said, so the libraries hired an architecture student to make new signs.
The libraries also added what floor to find books or journals on in the Libros system.
"Small changes like that make big changes in the effectiveness of the library," van Reenan said.
Sisters Stephanie and Elizabeth Johnson work in Zimmerman at the circulation counter. They said the most common complaint they hear is from students who have late fees but haven't received a notice in the mail.
"Or they say they returned the book but got a notice they had a late fee," Elizabeth said.
Stephanie said people also complain they can't find books in the stacks, but she hopes people are happy with the service.
She said she also received the e-mail with the link to the survey.
"I haven't had time to yet," Stephanie said. "I thought I should do that."
The survey is available for another week, van Reenan said. The results are expected to be out in late July.
