Article Review #1

Diane Mick

LIS 7996-Research

September 20, 2011

Mclean, E. & Dew, S. H. (2004). Assessing the library needs and preferences of off-campus students. Journal of Library Administration, 41 (1-2), 265-302. doi: 10.1300/J111v41n01_20

Evadne McLean from the Mona Campus at the University of the West Indies teams up with Stephen H. Dew from the University of Iowa to study the library wants and needs of distance education students. The team will review the literature on user surveys, compare their surveys to one conducted by Dew at the University of Iowa in 1998-1999, run self-administered questionnaires (SAQ)tailored to the two distinct universities, compile and compare results.

The study lacks a clear hypothesis, relying rather on the results to help formulate plans for improving the services of the respective university library services. For Dew it is an opportunity to access improvements in services made after the previous survey in 1998-1999. At the University of Iowa only 11% of over 1600 distance learners responded to the SAQ. At the University of the West Indies, the study was returned by 52% of the sample population of 148 students who had completed at least one year of distance education classes.

The independent variables include: age, gender, ethnicity, student status, library availability, instruction in library use, and major. Dependent variables include: satisfaction with library services, satisfaction of the collections, opinion of website, satisfaction with document delivery, and accessibility of internet services.

The study was designed using self-administered questionnaires. This enabled students to complete the questionnaires at their convenience. In the West Indies though, the study was often handed to students as they entered the off-campus learning center, early for their classes. The surveyor then gathered the SAQ before the student left class. With questionnaires there is often a lack of interest in participation which may skew the results towards only the people who have complaints, or towards only the people who already use the services.

The results of the studies were compiled separately and then compared in the summary. The two universities are so different in their operations that it seems to compare apples to oranges.

The 2003 University of Iowa study included students enrolled in the Guided Independent Studies (GIS) Program. The 1998-1999 study did not include these students as they did not have library privileges at that time. The study results showed that the library needs to be promoted to encourage use by GIS students. The Distance Education Library Services website was rated to be good or excellent, as were the handouts describing the services. Most thought the toll-free reference desk hotline was good or excellent; however, eight percent rated it as below average. E-mail reference services were rated mostly good or excellent, but rated below average or poor by ten percent of respondents. Over ninety percent of respondents graded the document delivery as good or excellent. The researcher was happy with the overall response to the services, noting that email and telephone references need to respond quicker to the needs of students.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) researcher used a survey tailored to the unique structure of the university. UWI has three campus libraries and the researcher is located at the library on the Mona, Jamaica Campus which is responsible for the Northern Caribbean and ten intra-Jamaica sites. Other campus libraries are located in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago and at Cave Hill in Barbados. The university is unique as it serves the three counties where campuses are located, as well as

the Easter Caribbean States (OECS)—Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines—and those in the Northern Caribbean—Belize, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. (p.273)

The SAQ included twenty-one questions, most were partially close-ended and one was fully open-ended to allow respondents to make suggestion for improving library services. Three of the questions used a five point Likert-type scale. The resources most used at the sites were: textbooks, 72%; photocopies of articles and chapter books, 63%; and book on loan, 53%. The students used reference services, 49%; collection, 37% and interlibrary loan, 8%. The researcher makes many inferences as to the cause of the reported statistics. This may be helpful in designing another survey, but could be problematic if major changes are made without conducting a causal comparative study.

One large difference in the two universities is the number of students who had internet access at home. Respondents of the University of Iowa survey reported ninety percent have internet access at home; over half with access at their office, and over forty percent used their public library’s access. On the hand, respondents of the University of the West Indies reported less convenient access to the internet. Thirty-seven percent of University of West Indies respondents reported home access to the internet, twenty-five percent have access at work, and twenty-one percent have access at the distant education site they attend. The studies are eight years old and much has changed in the world of internet access and it would be interesting to know the change in access of these two universities.

The study is useful to each library to help improve the services extended to distance students. However, the libraries, universities, and students are so diverse from the Iowa location to the West Indies location that there is little point in comparing the two university library services side-by-side. On the collaboration side, it is helpful to find another librarian who contends with many daily adversities in providing excellent library service to students and faculty. In that sense, the study results may help spur new ideas for each in developing new and enhanced services. The study would be helpful to another researcher who desires to survey students. By following the article’s ideas on how to conduct a study, examples of questions, and explanations on how the design was decided, a researcher would have a starting point in mind.