In the spring of 2010, we launched a survey of the Drew Community to explore both what you thought about the Library, and where you thought we should be putting our energy – and you responded! Almost 450 students took the survey (about 17% of all students currently enrolled). Most of the responses came from CLA students (56% of all student respondents), followed by the Theological School (23%), and the Caspersen School (15%). About a quarter of both faculty and staff completed the survey as well.
What did you tell us?
- You use the Library!
- Among student responders, 65% said that they came into the Library at least once a week, and another 19% visit us about once a month.
- 90% of students reported using the Library’s online resources at least monthly (not quite as often as you use Google . . . )
- The public computers are important to you: 75% of those who responded said that they used our workstations at least once a semester, while 45% use them once a week or more.
- Most students who come in the library also use the wireless – and more than 5% of you complained about how well it functions (or doesn’t).
- Students are generally fairly satisfied with the Library.
- Well over 90% of everyone who responded said they were either satisfied or very satisfied both with the Library’s collections and with the Library’s staff and services. Thank you! We enjoy working with you, too!
- 87% thought the Library’s space was satisfactory. Negative comments centered around noise levels (most commentors thought they were too high – hey, this came from you, not us!), shortage of group study space and uncomfortable seating.
- Most people (80%) thought the hours were satisfactory. Some students – about 5% - wanted 24/7 hours, while others suggested expanded weekend hours (9%) and more morning hours (mostly commuters and Theo School students)
- You’re forward-thinking about technology and the Library’s part in that.
- We were urged to get more electronic books, and to find a way to enable users to access the collection through e-readers.
- You thought a deeper integration of the Library into your courses’ Moodle pages would be helpful.
- You want to be able to access our resources through iPhones and other mobile devices.
What are we doing in response?
- We’re providing additional group study spaces on the main level, and adding large monitors that can be connected to student computers to facilitate your work on group projects.
- We’ve added the ability to use our chat reference service through text messaging, and have implemented a mobile-friendly interface link for four of our most popular EBSCO databases.
- Instructional Services has added a link to the Library’s resources as a default for Moodle course pages.
- The Library’s wireless is being upgraded (thank you, CNS!).
- We’re continuing to advocate for increased resources to improve our collection and to add more hours of service.