D OING L IB QUAL+ AT THE W ORST P OSSIBLE T IME
HOW CHANGES IN THE UNIVERSITY AND LIBRARY AFFECTED RESULTS
Changes
Duquesne University
Urban Catholic University Founded in
1878 9,000+ FTE Pittsburgh 
Gumberg Library serves all 10 schools
What We Learned
Immediately preceding LibQUAL+ and university mandated:
 Building access restricted; ID required
 Website updated
 Budget cut by 5% mid-year
 Building access—low superiority gap
 Website—worst adequacy gap in 2012
 Budget issues clearly reflected in
comments for first time
Core Questions
Comments
Adequacy Gap Means for
Affected Questions
Number of Comments
3%
3%
21%
0.4
0.2
2006
0
 Survey every 3 years
2006, 2009, 2012
 1st time lite — 100% lite
 Convenience sample
Budget
68%
Door Swipe
Website
2009
-0.2
 1,413 completed survey
of negative comments
5%
0.6
LibQUAL+ Lite Survey
 Computers and printers—highest number
-0.6
IC-2
IC-3
IC-4
IC-8
LP-1
Reactions to changes weren’t as scary as
anticipated...
Print and Electronic
Resources
2012
-0.4
Despite howls about building access, the
security question received the highest
minimum and desired means.
Other
LP-3
Comments for affected areas versus
overall comments
Comparison of adequacy gap means for
questions affected by changes
Longitudinal Comparison
Adequacy Gap Means
0.45
0.40
0.35
What We Expected
Due to changes in the
library, we expected
survey results to reflect
negative opinions about those changes.
0.30
0.25
IC
0.20
0.15
LP
0.10
Overall
0.05
0.00
-0.05
Implications
 Don’t get scared by a few vocal comments.
 Focus on the big picture through assessment.
 Screams about change decrease over time.
 Don’t let fear of user reaction overshadow
 sound decision-making!
-0.10
2006
2009
2012
Adequacy gap improved for overall core questions.
Library Assessment Conference 2012 — Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment
Marcia E. Rapchak Allison B. Brungard David A. Nolfi Tracie J. Ballock Bridget Euliano Joseph A. Nelson