MISO Survey 2010 Participants

The call for 2010 MISO Survey participants has closed, and the 2010 cohort includes seventeen schools:

• Allegheny College
• Baylor University
• Beloit College
• Brandeis University
• Bryn Mawr College
• Bucknell University
• Colby-Sawyer College
• DePauw University
• Ferrum College
• Lafayette College
• Massachusetts College of Art & Design
• Middlebury College
• Mount Holyoke College
• St. Lawrence University
• The College at Brockport
• University of Richmond
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Most of the schools participating in this survey cycle have participated previously.  New to the MISO Survey are DePauw University, Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  Preparations for the survey will begin shortly at each institution, with the survey becoming available to students, faculty, and staff early in the Spring term.

NERCOMP 2010

The entire  MISO Survey team presents at NERCOMP 2010.  “The Perfect Storm: Assessing Trends in IT and Library Services; MISO Survey Results from 2005 to 2009” takes place from 4:30-5:20 on Tuesday, March 9.

Download the presentation slides.

2009 Benchmarks: Faculty Frequency of Use, Importance, and Satisfaction

Faculty: Frequency of Use

Most frequently used resources by faculty 2007-2009. A mean score of 3 represents one to three times a month, while a score of 4 represents one to three times a week.

Less frequently used services and resources by faculty 2007-2009. A mean score of 2 represents once or twice a semester, while a score of 3 represents one to three times a month.

Infrequently used services and resources by faculty 2007-2009. A mean score of 1 means the item is never used, while a score of 2 represents one or two times a semester.

Faculty report less than weekly use of library and technology services and resources.  No area in the survey scored in the 4.0 or higher range.  The most frequently used services and resources had means in the 3.0 to 3.9 range, meaning use was one to three times a month or so.  Of the areas in this most frequently used range, there are no library or technology services – all seven areas are resources.

Technology in meeting spaces / classrooms is the resource with most frequent use, followed by the course management system, off-campus access to online resources, and four other web resources.  Of the seven most frequently used resources, all but technology in meeting spaces / classrooms come from the ability to research and learn anytime, anywhere.

Services emerge among the less frequently used areas: library circulation services, help desk, ILL, library reference services, and support for technology in meeting spaces / classrooms are all used once or twice a semester.  It is worth noting that while higher frequency of use is desirable for some services, like library reference services, it may not be desirable for others like help desk, support for technology in meeting spaces / classroom, or even ILL.  Use alone is not a sufficient gauge of a resource or service’s value to faculty.

Infrequently used areas fall into two categories: niche services and resources, like digital image collections and borrowing technology equipment, and location-based resources like public computers in the library or quiet work space in the library, that are perhaps less relevant to faculty who have computing resources and quiet space in other locations.

Frequency of use in the MISO Survey is set on a five-point scale:

1. Never
2. Once or twice a semester
3. One to three times a month
4. One to three times a week
5. More than three times a week

Faculty: Importance

More Important services and resources for faculty, 2007-2009. A mean score of 3 means Important, while a score of 4 represents Very Important.

Somewhat important services and resources for faculty, 2007-2009. A mean score of 2 means Somewhat Important, while a score of 3 represents Important.

Less important services and resources for faculty, 2007-2009. A mean score of 1 means Unimportant, while a score of 2 represents Somewhat Important.

Every most frequently used resource is considered to be more important, in the 3.0-4.0 range.  In addition, all of the services mentioned previously in the less frequent use range are considered to be more important by faculty.  In contrast, only one of the three less frequently used resources – wireless access to the internet – is considered to be more important.  Even though faculty do not use these services more than a couple of times a semester, they consider these services vital to their research and teaching.

Almost every other service or resource is considered somewhat important by the faculty.  Only two resources, borrowing laptops and video conferencing, are considered less important by faculty.  Both resources were reported to be least used by the faculty as well.

Importance in the MISO Survey is reported on a four-point scale:

1. Not important
2. Somewhat important
3. Important
4. Very important

Faculty: Satisfaction

High Satisfaction with services and resources, 2007-2009. Mean responses above 3.5 are considered to be highly satisfied.

Moderately High Satisfaction with services and resources, 2007-2009. A mean response of 3.0 means Somewhat Satisfied, while a response of 4.0 means Satisfied.

Faculty report high satisfaction overall. No service or resource received a mean response of anything less than somewhat satisfied (3.0).  Faculty report high satisfaction (3.5 or higher) with 15 services and resources.  Of these 15, 12 are library services and resources, with library circulation services and ILL at the top of the list.

Satisfaction for all other services and resources is in the moderately high (3.0-3.49) range, with many computing services and resources close to the high satisfaction (3.5) mark.  Infrastructure items, such as networking and e-mail, as well as communication and engagement items, such as input into computing decisions and support for specialized computing needs, are found toward the bottom, but even in these cases, faculty are somewhat satisfied.

Satisfaction in the MISO Survey is reported on a four-point scale:

1. Dissatisfied
2. Somewhat dissatisfied
3. Somewhat satisfied
4. Satisfied