Empowering your institution through assessment.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study are to describe the process of linking Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) data with 2002 LibQUAL+ data and to address four analytical questions created by the AAHSL Task Force on Quality Assessment that relate both to user satisfaction and to services provided by AAHSL libraries.


METHODS
For the thirty-five AAHSL libraries that participated in the 2002 LibQUAL+ survey, nested-effect of variance was analyzed using a linear mixed model. Using the Pearson correlation coefficient, this study explored four questions about the effect of user demographics on perceived levels of satisfaction with library services.


RESULTS
The supposition that library user satisfaction may differ according to library institutional reporting structure was unsupported. Regarding effect on mean overall satisfaction, size of library staff is not significant (P = 0.860), number of constituents is slightly significant (P = 0.027), and ratio of staff to constituents has a moderate and significant effect (P = 0.004).


CONCLUSIONS
From a demographic perspective, the 2002 LibQUAL+ survey represents the largest cross section of AAHSL libraries. Increased understanding of how qualitative assessment can supplement quantitative data supports evidence-based decision-making and practice. It also could promote changes in data collection and usage.
Joubert
Douglas J
DJ
National Institutes of Health, Library Bldg. 10 Room 1L09A, Bethesda, MD 20906-1150, USA. joubertd@ors.od.nih.gov
Lee
Tamera P
TP
D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016245:Librarians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007992:Libraries, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007993:Libraries, Medical / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007996:Library Associations; D007999:Library Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008000:Library Surveys; D016014:Linear Models; D009096:Multi-Institutional Systems; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D015397:Program Evaluation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012107:Research Design; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States