LibQUAL 2002 Faculty Comments

Very good support of class activities in the library.

A very good undergraduate library. I am very impressed with library faculty and staff.

i would love to be able to use library services remotely but currently am not set up to do so.

While I am quite satisfied with virtually every aspect of HSU's library - the service is good, the staff helpful and personable - I found the format of this survey to be, well, boggling.

I have few needs. I can usually find things or explain things to students on my own. The librarians are GREAT, though--if I weren't so self sufficient, I would be very happy to use their services. The professional staff does a great job; some of the student workers are surly. Maybe they need to do the survey.

I think I have a good HSU Library service.

This was quiz needed some editing. Many of the categories seemed redundant. I feel if you want best responses you will shorten the survey and get rid of the three tiers. Boring. Too much accountability makes for dullness.

I am satisfied with library services.

I think that I would use services more frequently if there were a more complete selection of journals or journal access. I have difficulty with home computer based research of library data banks.

Kumi has been an amazing and helpful person. I appreciate how helpful everyone has been.

The only real difficulty I have experienced in terms of library service has been in having documents posted on ONCORES in a timely fashion. My sense is that that department is somewhat overworked, and I would suggest adding additional support for what is an extremely useful and important library resource (and one which I'm sure will only increase in use by the faculty and student population).

I teach in a small department. I continue to find that the print resources my students need for their research is not available in this library. I realize that the library cannot be all things to all people. However, I know that my students' needs are not being met. That concerns me.

the questions about the quiet, contemplative, etc. etc. space were really redundant. But it was worth the aggravation to let you know what a great job you are doing.

Keep up the good work. I appreciate Sharon Chadwick's willingness to help at the drop of a hat for the students and nursing faculty!!!

The largest limitation with our current library is the lack of journal holdings - online or print. While I understand the financial limitations of our system, I wonder whether the decreased costs of interlibrary loan would offset new online journal holdings.

Online remote access to journal articles and databases is great! I also support the acquisition of print materials, especially books but also journals. The recent automation of the interlibrary loan and renewal functions is very helpful. You also do a pretty good job (compared with many other libraries I've known) at getting books reshelved in a timely manner. Finally, I have been quite pleased with the willingness of the library to acquire materials I request. One area where I have been less than pleased is in knowledge of the reference librarians. It seems that many (not all) are not familiar with the range of print and online sources available, and the contents of each. I have frequently found that I can do better stumbling around on my own than consulting a reference librarian. But bottom line- You're doing a great job!

Additional and more complete journal selections would be helpful

All the library staff I have met with have been very helpful. As a new professor, I am unclear on how to obtain certain items or get books ordered and it would be helpful to have some sort of reminder of that. Otherwise, my interaction has been somewhat limited due to the press of classes but I hope to change that shortly. Thank you.

why do huge departments like psychology get less than their share of resources -- you seem to have no way to address any changes in department size that occur, sticking with outdated allocations, always afraid to take away from departments that no longer have the #s they used to.

Another microfilm reader with a printer would really be nice. There is presently only one (I think) and that can put a cramp on research at times. I would also like more information about faculty book ordering policy. I am new faculty and I have never (at least I don't think I have) received any information on collection development policy, how I can make suggestions for books to be ordered etc. Giving new faculty some indication of collection development practices (and, I suppose) ideals, would be beneficial. A memo or email or something. I would also like to say that the ILL services here have been great. Delivery has been prompt and the on-line requests through Pharos work really well too. I'm very impressed by ILL services so far.

I would like to see the library work on compatibility between online databases and bibliographic software such as Procite. I maintain a database of articles and books but each entry has to be done manually. If the information from the online databases could be provided in a format that can be read by bibliographic databases, it would save me a lot of time and money.

The hours are scandalous. I would use the library much more often and insist that my students use it much more often if it were open much more often. You get full marks for your staff - they are nearly universally polite and knowledgeable. Using the special computing facilities is quite frustrating - so bad that after two or three tries where the defaults were set wrong or the hardware wasn't working, I just gave up.

Being able to use the electronic services from my office is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The main difficulty I have is with the small journal selection. The staff are knowledgeable, quick, and very helpful. I would judge the journal collection in my discipline as about half what it should be. I know this requires lots more budget than we have, and that fact is the most telling regarding the CSU's and this campus's lack of support for the library.

We need more rhetoric and composition journals and books. That's my only "beef." Otherwise, it's a superb, excellent library.

Services have improved greatly in the last few years. The major problem is the change in vendors periodically which requires learning new search techniques. Most of the electronic data bases i use are now pretty user friendly, but there are lots I haven't tried because I don't know how.

I had a sense that the servey is trying to distinguish between priority for remote access and priority for on-site access. While I appreciate very much having access from my desk and being able to take student into labs and do searches with them, the library for me still needs to be a place for thoughtful reflection and focused intellectual search where there are knowledgeable people who can help brainstorm and challenge search strategies. While I realize that resource constraints require priorities and sometimes tradeoffs, a library is much more than a data base and reducing it to one would be a great disservice to the learning community.

Library hours during breaks and holidays are not
satisfactory.

Over many years I have come to value the staff of the library. In recent years, my use of the library has declined due to a change in my teaching assignments.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to evaluate the library's services. I am personally very satisfied with the quality of our library staff, services, and physical layout.

Library staff, in particular Joan Berman, and Mary Kay have assisted me greately.

I have had a fine experience with all depts except the periodicle section. When I ask for assistance with something it appears that they don't know how to help, don't want to help, or can't help. This is the area of the library that I use frequently and the only area that has an "attitude!"

I feel that the HSU library has made great advances in the past 10 years in providing convenient access to materials, especically online. However I often know which journal(s) I wish to find articles in but find it cumbersome to locate those journals within the various databases. It would be useful to have a lookup table of databases by journal title and topic.

I have found it frustrating over the years for the library to be closed the weekend before the first week of classes. But the library faculty/staff are, in my view, pleasant and hard-working and helpful.

I have an extensive professional library purchased through grant money; I am mostly concerned that the library serve my students.

Professional staff is excellent--competent, friendly, helpful. Library is weak on journal collections and electronic bases do not completely do the job yet. Some databases are difficult to use, though most are fine.

Too many books in my field are not in the library which forces me to buy the books or use interlibrary loan. The latter time constraints make it too difficult to use the loaned books for research.

We have a dedicated staff who are doing their best. They are willing to help all users.

As a scholar, I find my Library's journal collection rather inadequate, although the collection of books is good. This is not a research library, which is a shortcoming for both classroom teaching and professional scholarship. I wouldn't want the acquisition of new book titles to be sacrificed for the expansion of journal holdings, however, as both are very important. Because of my Library's remote location in the State, it would be appropriate for it to receive additional funding for new accessions, beyond whatever supplementation it already receives. These aspects of the Library are MUCH more important than expansion of electronic data facilties, which already have cost far too much -- at the expense of journals and books. The old-fashioned card catalog was quite adequate for finding library materials, but when the very books and journals themselves are lacking, literature research is very difficult; there has been too much emphasis on electronic hardware and databases and not enough on traditional hard-copy holdings.

I am quite dissappointed with my contact with the library. The main use I have is to access articles via the internet. I am an intelligent man, but have no experience doing such things. The systems are ridiculousy obscure to a beginner such as myself. I must continuously come back to a librarian to ask why it isn't working, only to see a flabbergasted librarian ask me why I didn't type in a "^" or whatever. How the heck was I supposed to know what to do or type in? The librarians who know how access the materials are so into it that they can no longer relate to how ridiculously overcomplicated are all the silly hurdles that need to be jumped to begin. This is my experience year after year; I sometimes just give up for awhile, but then when I try the next year the hurdles are just as ridiculous. Why can't I access ONE system in an easy fashion, type in a title or subject to a master searcher, analogous to a google, and then access what I need irrespective of what jounal it's in? And if it is unreasonable for me to ask for that, then why can't our HSU library write up a CLEAR document for each systems, describing EXACTLY what to type in. I know you THINK you have such documents, but in reality when one begins following those instructions there are a ridiculous number of exceptions, special cases, hidden things that need to be typed, etc. You need someone who can write to a BEGINNER. As long as I'm ranting, on another point I disagree with surveys that FORCE the participant to list one's private information before one can access the next page. It's my business what my age and gender are, and irrespective of what you want to do with that information, I have the right to not give you that information.

I have a friend who wants to give the library some rare and valueable books. Talked to Bob Sathrum who provided timely information and gave me name of Mary Kay. Sent e-mail and telephone messge to Mary Kay about 3-4 weeks ago. Have not heard a word. VERY IRRITATING!

electronic access to library information is changing rapidly - developing electronic tutorials that can be remotely accessed would be very helpful

The ideal library for me would be full text scientific journals totally on line and the library resources spent on maintaining the databases and helping beginners use the databases for school or home. Delete the staff, building, and paper in the library.

The professional staff of the library are knowledgeable, helpful and courteous. The support staff are not always as responsive and thorough as the librarians.

In terms of quality of service, your front desk is VERY weak. Unprofessional attitude. All other areas are great

Unfortunately this survey isn't designed to effectively collect and interpret any useful data. Results should not be taken seriously.

I need greater nd easy access to library resources from my home computer.

keep up the good work, and get "mo betta"

overall good

With regard to such things as interlibrary loan, use of electronic resources etc. I wish the library would estabish a section of their web page specifically to give written usage instructions on established and on newly available resources for faculty (students also where appropriate). I think the major hindrance to my use is not knowing exactly what is available and if I, as faculty, am using it to its full capability.

Major problem I have is that access to journals more than 5 yrs old is difficult, and that the journal collection is not very comprehensive. I'd like it to be open for longer hours, too. But the people are friendly and helpful, and it's a pleasant place to be.

Would like longer library ours and more complete holdings

Am frequently frustrated by limited hours during breaks and over holidays.

more budget for library acquisitions in print more direct librarian contact with students in classes