The College’s library is conducting its triennial survey this week, an examination that in past years has led the library to extend its hours from midnight to 2 a.m. and add more group study rooms. The survey, conducted by the Dartmouth library assessment committee, will be sent to 1,528 undergraduates and 771 graduate students over the next few days.
“Help shape your library,” the survey begins, before asking about respondents’ library usage and experiences, tools they find helpful and what they would like to see in the future.
The survey aims to collect “big-picture” information on the library’s current performance, library assessment committee chair John Cocklin said. Although the library also conducts regular, smaller surveys, this one provides broader data every three years, he said.
The most recent survey, conducted in 2011, revealed that graduate students, undergraduates and professors used online resources more than they had previously, Cocklin said. This information, he said, has led the library to increase its collection of online materials over the past three years, especially its e-book collection.
As a result of the 2011 survey, library staff added more group study rooms with televisions, white boards and computers to Baker-Berry Library. The library also bought new, more comfortable furniture.
The 2014 survey will ask respondents how they learn about library services and asses how important specific tools are to students’ coursework. The committee will use survey results to compile a report suggesting potential changes. Library managers then review the report and begin to act on new ideas.
“We don’t make a decision solely on this survey, but this definitely contributes to decisions that are made,” Cocklin said.
The library conducted its first large-scale survey in 2004, using a nationally standardized survey tool from the Association of Research Libraries, called LibQUAL+.
The 2008 survey saw a low completion rate and did not provide information about Dartmouth-specific services, Conklin said. The completion rate, defined as the percent of students who answered the first through the last questions, was 40 percent in 2008 and around 85 percent in 2011, according to the 2011 final report.
The 2011 survey was independent of LibQUAL+, made with help from the Office of Institutional Research, Cocklin said.
“We want it to be as straightforward as possible,” Cocklin said.
This year’s survey contains only slight modifications.
Cocklin said the library is also working to bring its response rate — the percent of people who receive the link to the survey and complete it — to above 30 percent for the first time.
Aside from the triennial survey, the library also seeks feedback from faculty, staff and students on the Council on the Libraries. The group compiles an annual report on the library’s educational resources, acquisitions and funds.
“The library takes it seriously, they are always looking for comments and ways to improve things for students and faculty alike,” council member Doug Irwin, an economics professor, said. “They encourage everyone to fill them out because they do read them all and make changes from them.”
Students said library services could be improved by teaching students to better use its resources.
Scott Gladstone ’15 said that he thinks the library does not sufficiently teach freshmen how to check out books. The open stack system can be “daunting” at first, he said.
Others said they would like to see additional changes to study spaces. Joshua Tupler ’16 said he wants more 24-hour study locations that facilitate group work.
Jordana Composto ’16 said she would like a greater variety of study locations.
“There are social environments like [King Arthur Flour] and quiet areas like the stacks, but not many in between,” Composto said.
