ACRL Assessment Discussion Group

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Charge: To provide a forum for assessment librarians – and those with responsibility for, and interest in, library assessment – to discuss methods, training, results, impact, institutional needs and challenges, and seek solutions to common problems faced by the library assessment community.
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  • 1.  Ideas for assessing customer service at circulation desk

    Posted Oct 12, 2023 05:18 PM

    We would like to evaluate customer service at our circulation desk. Ideally, I'd like to have one of those machines where users press a button after their service interaction (green smiley face, yellow neutral face, red frowning face), but I suspect that they are out of our price range. 

    Does anyone have experience collecting user satisfaction data at a service point immediately after the interaction? I would love to hear your approaches. And if you have a smiley face machine and don't mind sharing the cost, I'd love to hear that, too! Most of those companies make you meet with their representative to get any pricing info. 

    Thanks so much!



    ------------------------------
    Sarah Dahlen
    Reference and Instruction Librarian
    California State University, Monterey Bay
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Ideas for assessing customer service at circulation desk

    Posted Oct 17, 2023 11:32 AM

    Timely, Sarah (and hello!),

     

    I have a need for an "on-the-spot" feedback mechanism too – so I'd be very curious to hear what others have done (purchased, improvised, etc.).

    We have a super-tight budget, so I was thinking ballot box approach ("likert smileys" on slip of paper??) – and 3 question QR-accessed online survey for those willing to say more.  (I have a furniture feedback need!  Both the need to evaluate a new piece of furniture and also the need to have students compare said furniture to similar-but-slightly-different furniture).  And I'm talking booths, not chairs!     ��

    [And if anyone's gotten feedback on soundproof booths, what method(s) did you use]

    Not meaning to hijack your question, Sarah – I'm interested in any & all cool/new/creative/simple instant feedback mechanisms!

     

    There must be some great "we did this" examples out there – please share!


    From fall-like (but still not peak) Connecticut,

    Susanna (one of your DG co-conveners)

     

    PS – don't forget our monthly Third Tuesday Talk, which meets online today 3-4 p.m. here (that's a Teams link).

     

    Susanna M. Cowan

    she|her|hers

    Coordinator for Library Research & Assessment

     

    UConn Library

    lib.uconn.edu




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Ideas for assessing customer service at circulation desk

    Posted Oct 18, 2023 06:18 PM
    Hi Susanna and all,

    Regarding gathering student feedback on furniture ....

    A few years back we had the opportunity to buy two floors worth of new furniture for our library! We worked with our campus designer to select a bunch of different options that vendors delivered for our students to "try out" for a few weeks. We called this a "furniture fair" and used student feedback to drive our decisions on what to actually purchase. 

    To gather student feedback we created little signs with QR codes that we placed on each item of furniture that then linked to a quick Google feedback form (PDF of survey questions attached). (See screenshot below of a sample of the little signs we placed on the furniture ... also linked as an attachment.)  

    For students who couldn't make it to the library, we also sent out a survey via our campus newsletter in which folks could share their opinions about all of the various options that we were considering. (PDF of the full survey is attached.) 

    With that data, we then created Tableau Dashboards, with different pages for different types of furniture (e.g, casual seating, tables, chairs) that allowed us to easily see how different items stacked up against each other. Furniture Fair Tableau Dashboard.  (Initially, photos were included in the dashboard, but for some reason, the photos don't show up anymore; I suspect the image file locations changed and broke the links.)

    A year or so later, we conducted what we called an "in the space" follow-up survey to gather student feedback about the furniture .... after they'd had a year to use it.  This time we printed out a poster that we set out on the floors with the new furniture ... and invited students to share their feedback via an online Google survey (PDF attached). The posters included a QR code so students could easily access the survey. Once again, we created a Tableau Dashboard so we could visualize the findings and feedback, and used that info to guide our purchases for additional furniture. (Spring 2022 2nd & 3rd Floor Seating Survey Dashboard -- this time the pictures show up in the dashboard -- check out the Casual Seating page in the dashboard for an example with rankings + photos.)

    All in all, this was a very fun and rewarding project ... and too hard to implement. It was terrific to be able to gather student feedback and let that drive our purchases.

    Becky  

    Furniture Fair Item Survey_Brody Study Lounge.png
     
    -----------------------------------------------------------
    Rebecca Croxton, PhD | Professor
    Head of Strategic Analytics & Special Projects
    UNC Charlotte | J. Murrey Atkins Library
    9201 University City Blvd. | Charlotte, NC 28223
    becky.croxton@charlotte.edu | 704-687-0480 | charlotte.edu
    Pronouns: she, her, hers
    -------------------------------------------------------------

    UNC Charlotte is located on the traditional homelands of five different native groups including the Catawba, Cheraw, Sugeree, Wateree, and Waxhaw peoples. (What are land acknowledgements and why do they matter?)




    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    Brody Study Lounge - Atkins Library Furniture Fair - Goog...pdf   191 KB 1 version
    pdf
    Seating Post Furniture Survey_Review the Newest Furniture...pdf   2.22 MB 1 version
    pdf
    Atkins Library Furniture Fair - Survey - Google Forms.pdf   5.44 MB 1 version
    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Ideas for assessing customer service at circulation desk

    Posted Oct 19, 2023 08:15 AM

    Rebecca,

     

    Thank you so much for the lengthy and wonderful response!  My own immediate "space" assessment needs are relatively small, but I'm filing away your terrific and encompassing study for when we're ready for a bigger space (re)assessment.

     

    I'm responding to say thank you (and also to Sarah for the original question about point-of-service-desk assessment) but also because your post got me thinking about this (Susanna's Thursday reflection):

     

    We've all come to assessment work in different ways.  Some members of this community have been doing it for years, wearing an "assessment librarian" hat.  Others came to it recently – by appointment or by increment or by job re-focusing (meaning it was gradually added to what you already do or represented an adjustment within your organization, resulting in you finding yourself the de facto assessment person!). 

     

    We're all somewhere on the continuum – and for that reason, we all "know" different things about the breadth of assessment projects the community has undertaken over the past decade or so.  How many Library Assessment Conferences have you been to?  Four? One? None?  Read The Library Assessment Cookbook...and wish it were a series?  (hint hint to anyone with connections).

     

    I invite us all to share and re-share what we've learned doing this work.  That cool photo-journaling project you did eight years ago?  Your "aha!" moment about increasing campus participation in a user survey five years ago?  Share!  Even if we've come across your work before, it might have been months or years before we needed it, if you follow me.  Just in Case vs. Just in Time, eh?

     

    So please share.  If you think we've heard it before – I bet we haven't.  Or we weren't ready for it (yet).

     

    I know there's other good stuff out there about "immediate feedback" mechanisms.  Maybe you did something big (like Rebecca's great project).  Maybe you did something informal and small.  All good.  There are many ways to answer a question.  I'd love to hear more!

     

    Susanna

     

    (PS – sorry if a technical challenge kept us from seeing you at this week's Third Tuesday Talk.  Next month!)

     

    Susanna M. Cowan

    she|her|hers

    Coordinator for Library Research & Assessment

     

    UConn Library

    lib.uconn.edu




    Original Message