Year 2002 Library Survey Results

• Abstract

• Introduction to survey

• Question 1: Role at OHSU.

• Question 2 and 3: Primary school, institute or fields of interest.

• Question 4: Sources of information used for your work.

• Question 5: Frequency of use of OHSU Libraries.

• Question 6: Reasons for visiting the library In PERSON.

• Question 7: Sources of information about library services and resources.

• Question 8: TOP priorities for the Library during the next two years.

• Question 9: Use the libraries in various locations.

• Question 10: Overall evaluation of OHSU libraries?

• Library staff responses to survey results

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Abstract

The purpose of the 2002 Library survey was to evaluate current resources and services and assess future information needs of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) community. The survey was posted throughout May on the OHSU Library Website. About 8% of current faculty, students and staff responded (1,098/13,930).

The World Wide Web was considered the most important source of information, followed closely by the Marquam Hill and West Campus libraries. On a weekly basis, respondents used library resources via their office or home computers more often than they visited the library in person. The top four reasons for visiting the library were to locate a journal article, photocopy materials, locate a book or video and study.

Respondents most commonly learned about the library from its Website. They ranked the following as the top six priorities for the OHSU library over the next two years:

• Provide increased access to electronic journals
• Provide free interlibrary loans to OHSU faculty, students and staff
• Provide increased access to electronic books
• Maintain quality of OHSU print book and journal collection
• Purchase permanent electronic back files of core electronic journals
• Provide seamless access to OHSU library resources among all libraries on Marquam Hill and West campus

Role at OHSU Number of Responses Percent of Total Responses Staff 467 43 Faculty 229 21 Student 212 19 Post Doctoral Fellow 62 6 Resident 60 5 Graduate Research Assistants 52 5 Other 16 1 Total 1098 100

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Unit/Field of interest Number of Responses Percent of Responses Clinical Sciences 543 41 Basic Sciences and Institutes 173 16 Nursing 158 14 Dentistry 68 6 CDRC 30 3 School of Science & Engineering 27 2 ONPRC 15 1 OSU College of Pharmacy at OHSU 12 1 Total 1095 100

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Percentage and number of responses/question 1 Not important 2 3 4 5 Very important Internet/World Wide Web 1% 9 2% 28 6% 72 19% 212 72% 813 OHSU Libraries (including electronic access) 3% 38 5% 56 11% 130 14% 164 66% 747 Personal books, journals, files etc 3% 31 10% 110 24% 276 32% 358 31% 355 Departmental Resources 5% 53 15% 165 26% 295 31% 353 23% 263 Other libraries (academic, public, etc) 22% 246 23% 262 26% 291 16% 184 13% 149

Some of the libraries mentioned that were important sources of information were Casey Eye Institute Library, Veterans Administration Library, the Multnomah, Clackamas, Tigard, Wilsonville, Beaverton and Tigard Public Libraries, OSU, PSU, UO, SOU, EOU, PCC, University of Portland, Reed, Lewis and Clark Libraries, WSU and UW libraries, Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and Good Samaritan Hospital Library. There was a general recognition of important role of Interlibrary Loan and the network of agreements among libraries to share resources.

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Percentage and number of responses/question 1 Never 2 Less Often 3 Quarterly 4 Monthly 5 Weekly Look for a journal article 13% 144 19% 215 27% 294 29% 321 12% 131 Photocopy 36% 398 24% 264 16% 176 13% 147 10% 110 Look for a book, video, other materials 22% 237 32% 347 25% 278 17% 182 5% 53 Use as place to study 49% 534 20% 224 10% 106 9% 98 12% 132 Use library computers to search library electronic resources 38% 414 26% 285 16% 176 11% 120 9% 94 Review newly received books and journals 40% 433 30% 327 14% 154 11% 119 5% 60 Use library computers for word processing, e-mail, etc. 63% 694 15% 166 6% 66 6% 63 10% 108 Browse the collection 43% 470 28% 301 17% 188 8% 89 4% 39 Consult library staff 34% 376 41% 456 15% 168 7% 72 2% 27 Meeting place 61% 656 24% 257 8% 87 5% 54 2% 25

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Number of responses Percentage of Responses Visit OHSU Library Web site 936 84 Campus-wide e-mail 513 46 Library e-mail alert service 312 28 Colleague 298 27 OHSU Outlook 229 21 What's New 95 9 Computer Fair 85 8 STAT 73 7 Library classes 65 6

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Number of Responses Percentage of Response Provide free interlibrary loans to OHSU faculty, students and staff 530 48 Provide increased access to electronic books 521 47 Maintain quality of OHSU print book and journal collection 445 40 Purchase permanent electronic back files of core electronic journals 419 38 Provide seamless access to OHSU library resources among all libraries on Marquam Hill and West campus 357 32 Provide a quiet library work/study environment 266 24 Provide access to digital video and images 229 21 Provide training in using library electronic journals 205 18 Provide training in using library/Web resources 201 18 Preserve library materials from deterioration 188 17 Provide additional study space 184 17 Add more PC computers 171 15 Provide increased library study hours 144 13 Provide one on one library reference research consulting 113 10 Add more Mac computers 44 4

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1 Never 2 Less Often 3 Quarterly 4 Monthly 5 Weekly Main Library on Marquam Hill 8% 90 12% 137 18% 198 19% 211 43% 477 Van Hassel (Dental Science) Library on Marquam Hill 87% 933 6% 62 1% 12 1% 11 5% 55 CDRC Library on Marquam Hill 77% 823 15% 160 4% 43 2% 20 2% 21 OGI Science & Engineering Library on West campus 87% 925 8% 83 2% 25 1% 13 2% 22 Isabel McDonald Library on West campus (Primate) 90% 963 5% 54 2% 18 2% 22 1% 13 SOU Library 95% 1004 3% 33 1% 9 0% 3 1% 8 EOU Library 97% 1016 2% 24 1% 6 0% 1 0% 1 OIT Library 96% 1000 3% 33 1% 10 0% 0 >0% 3

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Library staff response to survey results

Results of this survey were distributed to members of the Library Operations team in June 2002. Members of the team responded many individual questions and concerns at that time. All journals, books and database recommendations were forwarded to the Collection Development Committee for consideration.

Electronic journals. The importance of electronic resources was made clear in the question on how respondents used the library, the top 5 priorities and in what was liked best and least about the library. In August 2002, the library was told that they would not receive the budget requested. To save cutting many journals, some titles duplicated in print and electronic format were considered for print cancellation and online access only was continued.

Off-campus access. Nearly half of all respondents used library resources from off-campus at least monthly, but only 16% were very satisfied with off-campus access to library resources. To improve off-campus access, in the summer of 2002 we began using different hardware and software to provide off-campus access. The new system provides faster connections, and users do not have to remember usernames and passwords--only a last name and barcode is required. Also, with the new system, users at OGI have off-campus access to library resources. Though we still have occasional problems, the new system is more reliable than our old one, and we hope it better serves the needs of our users. As with all other library services, we welcome comments about off-campus access.

More electronic books. ACS Surgery was added in 2003. More e-books will be considered this year.

More individual study areas. Over 20 study carrels were added in 2002.

Quiet work area. An engineer has been hired to evaluate the noise problem in the library and make recommendations for improvements.

Improve print book and journal collection. Funds for new print books have been diverted to support the growth of the electronic collections. In 2003, more dollars will go towards strenthening the print collections.

Free Interlibrary loans. The Library subsidizes most costs, including copyright fees, associated with interlibrary loan. However, any direct costs from document suppliers are passed through to requestors. For the last few years, the library has requested additional funding to cover these costs ($45,000 per year) without success.

In FY 2002, the Library obtained 8,000 documents for OHSU faculty, staff and students. Of that number, 50% were obtained at no cost to requestors from public and academic libraries in Oregon. With the merger of the Orbis and Cascade Alliance consortia this summer (see What's New article), public universities in Washington will become "free" sources for interlibrary loan. This should significantly increase the percentage of requests that can be obtained at no cost for OHSU faculty staff and students.

Seamless access to e-resources between Marquam Hill and West Campus. As of January 2003, OGI Class B Network has access to 97% of the ejournals open to OHSU workstations. The 200 remaining titles still need to be licensed for OGI.

More PCs.More PCs will be added with normal replacement of computers.

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Contact us: Members of the OHSU Library Collection Development Committee developed and implemented this survey. For further details or discussion of results, please contact:

Diane Carroll, PhD - Chair of the OHSU Library Collection Development Committee at carroldi@ohsu.edi or call 503 494-6659

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