For immediate release:
September 8, 2008

For more information, contact:
Kristina Justh
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296 ext. 136
kristina@arl.org

“Using LibQUAL+^® Effectively” Workshop to Be Held October 27, 2008, in Washington DC

Register by September 29

Washington DC—The LibQUAL+^® team is offering its “Using LibQUAL+^® Effectively” workshop on October 27, 2008, at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) office in Washington DC.

Audience

This event is geared toward LibQUAL+^® survey administrators and members of assessment groups/teams who want to learn more about working with the survey results.

Instructors

• Martha Kyrillidou, ARL, Director of Statistics and Service Quality Programs
• Raynna Bowlby, ARL Consultant and Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Recruiting and Administrative Coordinator

Overview

The administration of a user survey is a significant investment for any library and it raises expectations among members of the user community and among staff. Many aspects of the LibQUAL+^® survey administration process have been streamlined and there is rapid access to survey data and results. But some libraries indicate that they are not well-prepared to work effectively with and act upon the results, once received. This workshop will enable staff responsible for administering the LibQUAL+^® survey to develop work plans that they can apply in their libraries in order to:

• perform some simple analyses of the quantitative and qualitative results data;
• present the results visually;
• make comparisons;
• identify what is actionable;
• organize their colleagues and committees to work with LibQUAL+^®;
• present the results effectively to different stakeholders;
• utilize data to target areas for improvement; and
• develop a process of continuous assessment.

Topics to Be Covered

• Calculating statistics
• Determining representativeness
• Preparing customized charts & graphs
• Using norms tables
• Making peer comparisons
• Conducting longitudinal analysis
• Identifying what is actionable
• Identifying roles & responsibilities
• Presenting results to stakeholders
• Engaging others in understanding & utilizing the results
• Targeting incremental improvements
• Applying data in decision making
• Identifying & using best practices
• Integrating with other assessments
• Planning next steps

Event Details

Date: Monday, October 27, 2008
Time: 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (lunch will be included)
Location: ARL office, 21 Dupont Circle, 8th floor, Washington DC 20036
Fee: $125
Register by September 29 at http://www.libqual.org/Events/index.cfm

LibQUAL+^® is a suite of services that libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users’ opinions of service quality. These services are offered to the library community by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The program’s centerpiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey bundled with training that helps libraries assess and improve library services, change organizational culture, and market the library. LibQUAL+^® is on the Web at http://www.libqual.org/.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.