After the survey: An integrated strategic approach to action

Purpose: Surveys have long been a staple of library performance measurement and user needs assessment. There is a substantial body of literature related to the design, development, implementation and analysis of survey... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose:

Surveys have long been a staple of library performance measurement and user needs assessment. There is a substantial body of literature related to the design, development, implementation and analysis of survey results. However, a continuing concern lies in the challenge of moving from analysis and communication of results to actions that lead to improvements for users. This paper will illustrate methods that can provide a more integrated and strategic approach to using quantitative and qualitative survey data to improve library services. These approaches include an emphasis on communicating results more effectively to library staff; taking a more rapid and agile approach to follow-up assessments through methods such as design thinking; aligning survey development and results with strategic planning; and using survey results to underpin organizational change processes. In discussing these methods, the authors aim to provide attendees with concrete strategies they can employ in their own efforts to use survey data for library improvement.

Design, methodology or approach:

The paper will review literature on issues involved in moving survey results to action and identify common barriers as well as best practices from existing studies. The paper will also highlight the importance of key steps in the survey design phase that are critical to the effective use of results. These include clearly articulating survey goals and engaging both staff and user input during survey design in order to develop a survey that elicits actionable results.

We will use as a case study the University of Washington (UW) Libraries 2016 Triennial Survey. This is the eighth iteration of the Triennial Survey, which began in 1992. As a locally-designed and implemented survey, changes are made for each survey iteration in order to gather the most relevant and timely information for our library. Questions focus on user needs and experiences, especially as they relate to library and institutional mission and goals. Separate surveys are conducted for undergraduate students, graduate and professional students and faculty. The authors have extensive survey experience and have employed a variety of methods to make use of survey results, including several new ones for the 2016 survey.

Findings:

The findings are highlighted by examples from four areas.

Targeted & Multifaceted Communication of Survey Results to Libraries Staff: One key finding from our approach was the importance of communicating results in a variety of formats for different Libraries audiences, including topic-specific reports (e.g., on scholarly communication, teaching & learning) and interactive Tableau dashboards. While the topic-specific reports provided stakeholders with a focused, highly detailed window into the results that mattered most to them, the dashboards enabled staff to drill down into both qualitative and quantitative results and identify patterns across groups. In making both the qualitative and quantitative results more accessible via targeted reports and dashboards, we found that staff were more empowered to act on these results within their own units or working areas.

Rapid follow-up assessments: A second key finding was the necessity of a more nimble and strategic approach to following up on survey results using other assessment methods such as design thinking. Like many large-scale user surveys, the UW Libraries Triennial Survey sometimes yields results that are indicative of important user needs and patterns, but may not point directly to concrete actions for improvement. Using these high-level survey results to inform focused follow-up assessments enabled us to move more rapidly from survey results to actionable steps for service improvement. The assessment team, working closely with key Libraries stakeholders, identified selected areas from the survey results that warranted further investigation. These areas (including citation management tool support for graduate students) are now being explored in more depth using approaches such as design thinking, which enables libraries to take a more agile and focused approach to specific service improvements.

Alignment with Strategic Planning: Survey results play an important part in evaluating and informing the UW Libraries strategic priorities and directions. Visibly aligning 2016 survey questions with our strategic priorities facilitated the process of gathering information needed to move forward in such areas as scholarly communication, data management, resource discovery, research support, teaching and learning, and digital scholarship. Survey results and follow-up discussions were also used in the initial phase of creating the next iteration of our strategic plan.     

Organizational Change/Institutional Alignment: An additional finding was that survey results can be used strategically to help in initiating organizational change. For example, survey results were used as part of a mixed-method approach for an organizational review for our Research and Learning Services unit to ensure that services were configured in the most effective and efficient way to address user needs. Survey results were also highlighted in our annual budget narrative to the University and were effective in demonstrating the need for increased collections support, funding personnel transitions, and in showing how the Libraries was aligned to institutional priorities.  

Research or practical limitations or implications:

While the case study will focus on the example of a large U.S. research library, the approaches outlined in this paper can be used across a range of libraries.

Conclusions:

A multifaceted and integrated approach to survey design, analysis, and communication will help turn survey results into action. Utilizing new methods of communication to facilitate understanding and create engagement with results, employing strategies such as design thinking to follow-up on survey data, and closely aligning survey results with strategic planning, budgeting, and organizational change initiatives can all assist libraries in producing meaningful changes for their user communities.

Originality and value:

Surveys are widely used by libraries to acquire user input, evaluate library services, and understand user needs and priorities. While a substantial amount of data is collected through surveys, the application of survey results is mixed, especially in terms of advancing larger library and institutional strategic priorities. This paper provides a overview of the issues involved in turning results into action and uses the long-established UW Libraries Triennial Survey as a case study in applying a strategic approach that focuses on improving services that are aligned with institutional and community needs.