Library Surveys

Plough Library administered a survey to CBU faculty in fall 2018. Faculty were asked for feedback on how they use the library and its resources as well as how they perceive the library's usefulness for themselves and their students.

Demographics

28% of the fulltime faculty responded to the survey. Although we asked for the survey to be forwarded to adjunct faculty, only one adjunct responded.

• Schools: The most responses came from the Schools of Arts and Sciences, about 75% of the total. The fewest responses came from the School of Business and CAPS (one each).
• Years: Most (69%) responses came from faculty who have been here 10 years or less.

• Rank: 65% of the responses came from full or associate professors.

Rating the Collections

Surprisingly, almost as many rated the collections inadequate as did those who rated them average. The effectiveness of the collections for student research and for teaching were also closely divided between inadequate and average. Only when it came to faculty research needs did the inadequate assessment significantly exceed the others.

Support for Teaching

Save for linking, more than half of the respondents have NOT taken advantage of library resources/services that support teaching. The most used Teaching support activities were requesting a session with a librarian, putting items on reserve, and linking to resources.

Class Preparation and Research

On the other hand, more than half of the respondents have used library resources/services at one time or another during the year for class preparation or research—most commonly: visiting the library, visiting the website, downloading an article. The least commonly used resources were eBooks and subject guides.

Addressing Information Literacy Issues

The majority of the respondents address such issues as using scholarly resources, plagiarism, citing, etc. either by putting the information in their syllabi or by mentioning them in the introduction to the class. Between 30 and 40% of the respondents address information literacy issues with every assignment. Faculty perception of students’ skills in these areas are thus: Freshmen and Sophomores’ skills are predominantly Poor or Minimal with very few ranked Good and none Excellent. While Juniors and Seniors had a bare handful of Excellents, there has been an upward shift, with growth in the ranks of Good. Overall, the area in which faculty perceived the greatest student weakness was in the ability to find appropriate resources.