research proposal working document for final project due may 9€¦ · web viewthe effects of...

Budget Cuts in CSU Libraries 1

The Effects of Budget Cuts on California State University Libraries:

A Study on Student Satisfaction

Sarah Naumann

San Jose State University


The Effects of Budget Cuts on California State University Libraries:

A Study on Student Satisfaction

Research Topic

California State Universities have faced severe budget cuts affecting the 2009-2010

academic year. The Library, an essential component of student’s education, is not exempt from

this onerous situation. In 2009, the CSU East Bay Library materials budget was cut by 30%

totaling $300,000. Librarians had to decide what service cuts would have the least impact on the

library users; A list of over 200 journal titles was created and subscription cuts took effect in

early 2010. (2009-10 Library) The current budgetary constraints are expected to continue

throughout the 2011 school year.

Students are not necessarily made aware of these cuts. Although there is a link on the

Library’s website to the cuts list, it is not displayed outwardly and one needs to hunt for it.

Students may or may not realize that these cuts have been made.

It is the goal of this study to determine if students have noticed the cuts. One way to learn

about issues the students encounter in their research is to ask them about their levels of

satisfaction in their searches. For the purposes of this study students’ satisfaction means, The

extent to which the student successfully retrieves his or her desired material using the library’s

online journals and databases. Success in retrieving desired material is an indicator that the

student is satisfied. However satisfaction will be measured using a number of different questions.

Whether or not a student is able to obtain his or her research material has a direct effect

on their ability to do the assigned work in their program. Although it is also essential for the

student to get their desired material in a timely fashion, for the purposes of this study I will not

specifically focus on time of need.


This study will focus on graduate students within the Educational Psychology department

at CSU East Bay. According to the journals cuts list, at least 17 journal titles relating directly to

the subject of psychology have been cut. (2009-10 Library)

Research Problem

Even with the best of intentions, Librarians cannot always maintain adequate materials

for the library users. 3,067 graduate students were enrolled in CSU East Bay for the 2009-2010

academic year, many of whom use the Library to do their research. (Institutional, 2009) For a

graduate student, access to relevant library materials can make a difference in producing quality

coursework. Access to relevant materials is important not only to student’s ability to do research,

but also to their education, their careers, and their future academic endeavors.

This study will determine if cuts to CSU East Bay Library materials affect graduate

student’s satisfaction with available resources.

Research Question

Does reduction of academic library materials due to budget cuts affect students’

satisfaction with available information at their time of need?

Literature Review

Throughout history, economic downturns have affected libraries in numerous ways.

Decreasing budgets continually need to be addressed and cuts to services and or materials have

become the norm. Librarians are used to dealing with falling budgets and work to find ways to

keep necessary services so that their users will be satisfied. How these decisions are made, and

who is included in them has a significant outcome in the library’s good standing. Although the

librarians and staff are key figures in the library, the users are the reason the library exists. If

there were no users, we wouldn’t need the library. Even in the case of academic libraries, where


faculty is part of the user base, student users need to be considered in all decisions regarding cuts

to services and materials. Academic libraries are an integral part of a student’s education and

services and materials in the library have a direct affect on the student’s future. Without

necessary research materials a student may not do well in their courses. He or she must have

access to material that is relevant to their course of study. In a study by Jankowska, Hertel, and

Young (2006) a student comments about how library budget cuts affect his education:

Do [sic] to money shortages they fail to help me get the information I need because they

don’t have the money to replace books or continue subscriptions of journals.” “If we are

to be a tier one research school and we need to have the tools, i.e. a great library, to help

fulfill that objective, and [sic] I think we fall short. (p. 71)

Harsh economic conditions have made it incredibly difficult for many academic libraries to keep

all of the services and materials that they desire, but at what point does the student suffer from

these cuts? Without a system of measuring students’ awareness and satisfaction of relevant

materials, academic librarians will have no feasible way to decide what should be cut when the

budgets plummet as they have done in recent months.

A review of the literature reveals quite a few studies on how academic libraries have had

to deal with decreasing budgets. Moreover, it is clear that academic librarians spend considerable

time and effort in deciding what services or materials to cut when finances impose these

unwelcome changes. But at what cost are these changes to the student? Measurements that

determine which cuts affect the students need to be established. With this information, librarians

will be better equipped to make sound decisions regarding cuts that will avoid creating student

dissatisfaction.


Cuts to library services as a result of decreased funding

Most academic libraries experience some form of funding decrease but how they handle

this decrease varies with each institution.

In their article, Bracke et al. (2007) discuss how the University of Arizona Library deals

with budget cuts to library services. The authors wanted to measure students’ satisfaction with

library services but realized that they needed to create a model with which to measure their

variables. With information gleaned from their survey, they were able to make changes that

suited the student library users. Crump and LeiLani (1995) also discuss service cuts and

materials cuts they had to make. But Crump and LeiLani did not use an official study to

determine how these cuts impacted students: “We informally interviewed collection managers

and reference staff to ascertain the level of complaints from patrons seeking titles we no longer

receive” (para. 25) This method for measurement is not as effective as the previously mentioned

study by Bracke et al. because there is no baseline measurement for the librarians to use in

subsequent studies.

Librarians involve library staff and or users in decisions related to the cuts to services and

materials

Sharing information about budgets and prospective cuts with users is one way to deal

with trying decisions regarding cuts to services and materials. Not only will users become aware

of the difficulty the library is facing, but also they will become participants in the process. By

informing users of current budgetary events, librarians are able to get buy in as well as keep

users updated on what the library offers. Woodburn, Murphy, Peterson, and Thibodeau (2005)

found themselves in a similar budgetary situation as that of the CSU East Bay Library, having to

cut 30% of their library budget. The Medical Center Library at Duke University shared all


budgetary information with the staff and users and allowed them to participate in the difficult

decision-making process of making necessary cuts. This tactic made it possible for the Medical

Center Library to stay on good terms with all those involved in the Library.

In a study about the need to cut opening hours at the University of British Columbia

Education Library, Curry (2003) explains that they asked users, students and faculty, about their

library use. Changes were put into place and the library closed one hour earlier. Because the

library’s users were let into the discussion by taking a survey about library hours, nobody was

dissatisfied with the subsequent earlier closing hours.

Graduate students role in studies on library use and satisfaction

Many studies about student satisfaction involve both undergraduate and graduate

students, but not many focus solely on graduate students. In order to assess materials cuts to

libraries, it makes sense to conduct studies using graduate students rather than undergraduates as

graduate students are more likely to be regular users of databases and journals. Should a library

decide to make cuts to these materials, graduate students might be able to help librarians

ascertain what materials are most easily done away with. Studies found in the literature show that

graduate students know material and resources better than undergraduate students. Since one of

the goals of this study is to find out if the users notice the cuts, by selecting the most frequent

and knowledgeable users it will be easier to determine this. By obtaining this information the

CSU East Bay Library will be able to determine which journals and databases to cut—those that

do not negatively affect students. Use statistics play into this, but it is also important to measure

student’s attitudes about the cuts.

In a study by Maughan (1999) graduates from multiple disciplines were consulted about

their use of library resources. Though departments (disciplines) were separated out, there was no


specific method used to discern whether or not students in these disciplines would be affected by

cuts to journals and databases that directly relate to their field of study, as Maughan states, “the

library did not intend the survey to be statistically valid or reliable, but rather to be used as a

means of reaching a larger number of faculty and graduate students (to solicit qualitative

feedback)” (p. 357). Isenberg (2006) also focuses on graduate students in her study about

students’ satisfaction with course reserves. At that time there were not many studies done that

focused on graduate students. Isenberg says, “surprisingly little has been written about student

perception or satisfaction, and there are no prior studies focusing exclusively on graduate

students” (p. 167).

In their study about student satisfaction with electronic resources, Holley and Powell

(2004) find that graduate students are better than undergraduates as measures of certain aspects

of library use: “The percentage of students who were aware of electronic resources beyond the

online catalog was 60.6%. As could be expected, graduate students were more aware then

undergraduates” (p. 48).

Another aspect of satisfaction is awareness. If a student is not aware of a particular

library journal he could use for his research, he will not be satisfied with the library materials as

it takes awareness to accurately judge satisfaction.

Students’ awareness of library services

As libraries must decide what services and materials to cut with their dwindling budgets,

one must ask if the student’s will notice these cuts. If students are let in on budgetary information

and the need for cuts, they will of course become aware of them. But what about when they are

not told what is being cut? Will a student assume their academic library has all of the

information they will need to complete their course of study? Any student paying high prices for


their education must assume that the library will meet their research needs. What happens when

the library makes cuts to materials that the students still need for their work? Another question

might be, do students need these materials or can they do without them? Will the quality of their

work suffer or will they become dissatisfied with the library in which they have come to rely on?

In the study by Jankowska et al. (2006), although graduate students are the heaviest users

of electronic resources, they are not fully aware of all electronic resources that the library offers.

"Graduate students are heavy users of e-resources, particularly e-journals." In addition, "graduate

students are unaware of the full range of library services and resources" (p. 62). This brings up a

point about awareness of services and resources: If students rely on academic libraries to give

them the research materials they need, it won’t benefit the student if they are unaware of those

resources. In addition, if cuts were made to these services, would the students notice? In the

article by Crump and LeiLani (1995) services were cut due to budget issues. But it was

impossible to learn if student’s noticed any of the cuts, as this was not measured. If the librarians

do not know what students are aware of and in fact use, they will not be able to make sound

decisions for the cuts. Therefore a study that sets out to measure student’s awareness of materials

cuts would benefit the field of library and information science.

The literature reveals many aspects of budget cuts that academic libraries face: Decisions

on what to cut, those that involve staff and those that involve students, satisfaction studies, and

awareness studies, and even studies that focus entirely on graduate students. Though this

information brings about a fine understanding of how libraries deal with budget cuts, none of the

studies focus on the impact that budget cuts has on students’ satisfaction with department-

specific resources. And none of the studies focus on pre-post materials cuts in order to create a

baseline measure.


Methodology

Study Population

The study population consists of graduate students at CSU East Bay who are in their

second year or higher in any of the programs in the Department of Educational Psychology. The

students can be part-time or full-time.

Sampling Design

I will use the class rosters of graduate students at CSU East Bay. Since I have access to

the individual graduate students, I will use probability-sampling methods. I will use stratified

sampling to select students that have been in the Educational Psychology programs for over one

year. The Department of Educational Psychology includes degrees in Counseling, School

Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Special Education. (Department, 2010) Within

this, I will then use systematic sampling with a random start to select the elements for the study.

It is important that I be able to make generalizations about the population: If for example

this study shows that 95% of the graduate students at CSU East Bay are dissatisfied with the

existing journals in the Library, it is possible that we can use this information to obtain more

funding for the University Library. On the other hand if the survey results show that 75% of the

graduate students at CSU East Bay are satisfied with their searches for journals it might be

determined that the Library decision makers have done a good job in selecting journals to be cut.

Data Collection Instruments

Two forms of data collection will be used in this study: Qualitative research methods in

the form of a focus group and quantitative research methods in the form of a self-administered

survey questionnaire.


The focus group is designed to gather information from CSU East Bay graduate students

to discover what types of questions and what type of language should be used in the survey

questionnaire. The focus group will consist of graduate students who use the library, a similar

population to the study group. Students’ satisfaction is one of the main subjects of this study and

one that is in need of defining. By finding the levels of student satisfaction, I will be able to

determine if and to what extent the materials cuts have affected graduate students in their

research process. Once data from the focus group has been coded and analyzed, appropriate

questions will be entered into the questionnaire.

Participants for the focus group will be gathered via an announcement on the CSU East

Bay Library website as well as through flyers that will be distributed in the graduate departments

and posted on bulletin boards around campus.

Incentives for the focus group: Lunch will be offered to all participants. In addition, all

focus group participants will be entered into a drawing for a $50.00 gift certificate.

The survey questionnaire (appendix B) is designed to determine if students are satisfied

with the existing journals, if they have noticed any differences from before the materials cuts to

after the materials cuts, and if so, has it affected their ability to do research using the Library.

This survey questionnaire will be used to create a baseline with which to measure students’

satisfaction with library materials—a measure that librarians can use in future situations that

require cuts to services.

Since journals were cut beginning at the end of March 2010, it is important to gather

information from students that were enrolled in their programs at CSU East Bay both in Winter

2010 and Spring 2010. Cuts were made to the journals at the tail end of the Winter quarter, after

students would have completed their research projects. Returning students coming in for the


Spring 2010 quarter will not find these journals in their searches. The survey questionnaire has

two sections: one is for gathering information recollected by students as they performed searches

in the Winter quarter, the second section gathers information from the students about their

experience using the Library during the Spring quarter. The survey will be sent out toward the

end of April, a time when most students will have had quite a bit of experience in the Library,

but will also remember their search experiences during the previous quarter. It would have been

optimal to do a before/after study with a survey questionnaire sent out before any materials were

cut and then another survey questionnaire sent out after the cuts had been made. However, this

was impossible for the current study. It was determined that a survey questionnaire that captured

information from before the cuts and after the cuts would have to suffice.

It is assumed that students are using the CSU East Bay Library for their research needs. I

had thought of inserting a question asking students if they used the Library or not, and if not,

why not. This question may be included in the final version of the survey if it is determined that

the question would help gather important data that will be useful for the study.

Surveys will be sent using the student’s CSU East Bay email address. In the event that

some surveys are not returned, follow up emails will be sent out.

Incentives for the survey questionnaire: Interested participants will be entered into a

drawing to win a $100.00 gift certificate for Amazon.com. Students need to be willing to have

their name entered into the drawing, so it is possible that not all students will choose to be

involved in the drawing. A link attached to the thank you page of the survey will gather student’s

contact information and will not affect the people who wish not to participate.

The survey will be created in SurveyMonkey as it can be easily be sent out via email.


Data Analysis Techniques

Both qualitative and quantitative data will be analyzed in this study. Qualitative data will

be collected from research conducted in a focus group. This data will be organized into themes

and then coded for analysis using either NUD*IST or another computer program, depending on

what programs the Library already has access to and what will work best with the data. If the

data is not extensive, it may prove easiest to use Excel or a word processing program for

analysis. Memoing will also be used. Once the data is coded and analyzed, effective language

and terminology will be inserted into the survey questionnaire to create a survey that is easily

understood by graduate students.

Quantitative data will be collected via a survey questionnaire, which will be sent via

email to randomly selected graduate students. Both closed-ended and open-ended questions will

be included in the questionnaire. The two main variables are addressed in each of the 10

questions: The independent variable, library budget cuts/library resources is a binary variable

which can be further defined as pre-budget cut resources and post-budget cut resources. In the

questionnaire there are 5 questions focusing on pre-budget cuts, which ask students about their

experience using the CSU East Bay Library during the Winter quarter, 2010 and 5 questions

focusing on post-budget cuts, which ask students about their experience during the Spring

(current) quarter, 2010. Although these questions are similarly worded, it is essential that the

survey collect data from before the journal cuts and after the journal cuts. The dependent

variable, students’ satisfaction is measured in each of the 10 questions by indicators.

The first two questions are closed ended and the following three are contingency

questions. The contingency questions were created in order to have the student elaborate on his

or her experience with the specific question being asked.


Questions 1 and 6 ask the students how often they use the Library. Many visits indicate

the student is hopeful and likely satisfied. Few visits are an indicator that the student is not

satisfied. Many visits can also indicate that the student is not getting what they want because

they keep coming back, but at one point it would seem that they might stop coming back if they

were dissatisfied.

Questions 2 and 7 measure the time it takes students to find desired information. When

the student finds material quickly it indicates they are satisfied. Finding material slowly is a

possible indicator that they are not satisfied.

Questions 3 and 8 ask if the student uses other services. Saying yes to using other

services, especially Interlibrary loan, is an indicator that the student is dissatisfied with the

Library’s databases or journals. Although the fact that the Library provides these services will

help with student satisfaction, using Interlibrary loan will delay the process of obtaining material,

which could indicate dissatisfaction. Asking a Subject Specialist Librarian is an indicator that the

student needs assistance; the Librarian may in turn instruct the student to order material outside

of the Library using Interlibrary loan or Link+.

Questions 4 and 9 determine if students are finding the materials that they need. If a

student has a predetermined research question and cannot find material to support it, they may

have to alter their research question. Altering their research question is an indicator that they are

not satisfied with the available resources.

Questions 5 and 10 ask if a student searches outside of their declared major. Searching

for material outside of ones subject area is a possible indicator that they are not finding

information pertinent to their research needs and therefore they are dissatisfied with department-

specific material.


Each of the questions has at least one indicator that can measure satisfaction with Library

materials. Some of the indicators can be read in multiple ways, which could suggest more than

one meaning: satisfied or dissatisfied. To remedy this, data from the text boxes will be coded and

analyzed. Each of these indicators may change meaning depending on analysis of the data in the

text box. With the various changes in indicators of satisfaction, the questionnaire may be altered.

Subsequent surveys may be sent out with revised questions should it prove necessary.

Question sets 1,6 and 2,4 both address time (how often and how long) and are both

ordinal variables. Chi Square will be used to analyze this data to determine if there is a

relationship between the two variables, satisfaction and time. Question sets 3,7 and 4,9 and 5,10,

are all discrete variables; depending on what variables are being measured, different statistical

tests will be used. For example, since satisfaction is an ordinal variable and changing a research

question (questions 4,9) is also an ordinal variable, I will use Gamma to measure how changing a

research question corresponds to satisfaction and to determine if the relationship is positive or

negative.

Because there are two variables, bivariate analysis will also be applied and a contingency

table will be used to determine relationships between the variables and observe the percentages

of the data. For the quantitative data analysis, a codebook will be created for the data and

descriptions of variables. SPSS software will be used to analyze the data.


Project Schedule

*I have moved the dates back to the time the journal cuts were made and used appropriate dates for this study in the timeline for the purposes of accuracy. Event Date of Completion

Finalize IRB, request to use human subjects, paperwork. (begin process in Dec.) February 1, 2009

Obtain funding February 30, 2009

Set up focus group: January-Feb, 2010Design focus group questionsCreate flyersDistribute flyers & post on CSU EAST BAY Library websiteHire professional moderator for focus group & discuss plans with themConduct focus group February 22, 2010Hire & train two coders February 23, 2010

Analyze data from focus group March 15, 2010

Use data from focus group for survey April 1-6, 2010

Finish designing survey April 10, 2010

Create a codebook April 15, 2010

Send out survey to grad students in Educational Psychology programs at CSUEB April 20, 2010

Keep track questionnaires that are returned in a chart Apr 20-June 30, 2010

Analyze survey data July 25, 2010

Insert research findings into research proposal July 30, 2010

Finish research proposal August, 2010

Qualifications

I, the researcher have completed a semester long graduate level course in research

methods in a Masters of Library and Information Science program at San Jose State University. I

have two courses to complete before I graduate with my MLIS. I also did an internship at CSU

East Bay Library in Spring 2010 where I learned more about the Library and the severe budget


cuts they faced. In discussing these issues and my research ideas with my Library mentors, I

found that they are very interested in helping me carry out this research study.

Significance and Summary

This study will benefit the field of Library and Information Science by giving academic

librarians tools that they can use when they need to make cuts to materials and services: At this

time, CSU East Bay Librarians are not aware of students’ satisfaction with the library journals. A

baseline measure of student satisfaction showing that students are highly disturbed by the journal

cuts or that students are not even aware of the journal cuts would be highly beneficial for CSU

East Bay Librarians.

The baseline will be a tool that all academic librarians can use—and adjust to their

libraries to determine what impact their decisions have on their library users. With this

information, academic libraries can decide how they want to approach difficult budgetary

changes. Information derived from this study will also benefit future librarians and educators.

Throughout history, libraries have faced budget cuts and had to make decisions about

what to cut. Some believe that if there are cuts, things will swing back to normal and the

materials, staff, or monetary loss will be reinstated. With the recent budget crisis of 2009 falling

on the heels of other economic downturns, one has to wonder how and when we will be able to

pick ourselves back up and purchase those missing materials or hire back the library staff. The

recent budget cuts that affect the CSU East Bay Library were in the form of materials and staff.

All CSUs have been affected. Although this study focuses only on the journals that have been

cut, other important library services are at stake. Understanding how the journals cuts affect the

student population will be interesting and useful to learn. This knowledge will not only help


CSUs but other libraries as well. How can we continue to make cuts to services without first

learning of the effects of these cuts?


References

2009-10 Library materials budget cuts. (2009). Retrieved March 12, 2010, from

http://library.csueastbay.edu/using-the-libraries/collections/2009-10-library-materials-

budget-cuts/

Bracke, M. S., Brewer, M., Huff-Eibl, R., Lee, D. R., Mitchell, R., & Ray, M. (2007). Finding

information in a new landscape: Developing new service and staffing models for

mediated information services. College & Research Libraries, 68(3), 248-267.

Crump, M. J., & LeiLani, F. (1995). Serials cancellations and interlibrary loan: The link and

what it reveals. Serials Review, 21(2), 29-37.

Curry, A. (2003). Opening hours: The contest between diminishing resources and a 24/7 world.

Journal of Academic Librarianship, 29(6), 375-385.

Department of Educational Psychology. (2010) Retrieved May 7, 2010, from

http://www20.csueastbay.edu/ceas/departments/epsy/index.html

Holley, R. P., & Powell, R. R. (2004). Student satisfaction with electronic library resources at

Wayne State University. Journal of Access Services, 2(1), 41-62. DOI:

10.1300/J204v02n01_06

Institutional data. (2009). Retrieved March 12, 2010, available from

http://www.csueastbay.edu/ira/

Isenberg, L. (2006). Online course reserves and graduate student satisfaction. The Journal of

Academic Librarianship, 32(2), 166-172.

Jankowska, M. A., Hertel, K., & Young, N. J. (2006). Improving library service quality to

graduate students: LibQual+ survey results in a practical setting. Libraries and the

Academy, 6(1), 59-77.

http://www.csueastbay.edu/ira/

http://www20.csueastbay.edu/ceas/departments/epsy/index.html

http://library.csueastbay.edu/using-

http://library.csueastbay.edu/using-


Maughan, P. D. (1999). Library resources and services: A cross-disciplinary survey of faculty

and graduate student use and satisfaction. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 25(5),

354-366.

Woodburn, J. I., Murphy, B., Peterson, R. A., & Thibodeau, P. L. (2005). Dealing with journal

cuts—when the sky’s not the limit. Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries,

2(4), 1-18. DOI: 10.1300/J383v02n04_01


Appendix A—Survey Cover Letter

Subject Line: CSU East Bay Library Use Survey

Dear Student, You are invited to participate in a research study that seeks to gather information about how the CSU East Bay Library resources are being used by graduate students. This 10-question survey should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete.

The researcher, Sarah Naumann, MLIS candidate, is working with the CSU East Bay Library on a research study, which will determine how graduate students are using the Library’s resources.

As a gesture of our appreciation, any students who complete the survey will be entered in a drawing to win a $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com. After you have submitted the survey, a second screen will appear where you can enter in your contact information for the gift certificate.

Notice of Consent: Participation in the study is voluntary, and submitting the survey indicates consent to allow the researcher and CSU East Bay Library to use your data for analysis and reports that may be published.

This survey is anonymous, however if you are interested in the drawing, your name and contact information will be used to notify you. Only the primary researcher will have access to this contact information.

Please feel free to contact Sarah Naumann at 510-555-5555 or via email at [email protected] should you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you for assisting us in this research.

Sincerely, Sarah Naumann

<Link to Survey>

mailto:[email protected]


Appendix B-Survey Questionnaire

Dear Student:

Thank you for participating in this survey. Your answers are an important part of this research, which seeks to gather information about your experience with the CSU East Bay Library resources during the Winter 2010 and Spring 2010 quarters. This 10-question survey should not take more than 15 minutes to complete. Each question has a box to check. Some questions also have a text box in order to gather more information on your experience. Text boxes have unlimited space for comments.

The first half of the survey asks questions about the Winter quarter 2010. If you did not attend classes in your current major during the Winter quarter, please skip down to question #6 to begin your survey. Students who attended classes in Winter and Spring (current) quarters, please begin the survey with question #1.

If you have any questions or need assistance in completing this survey, please contact Sarah Naumann at [email protected] or telephone (510) 555-5555

When you are finished with the survey, select “SUBMIT” at the bottom of page 5.

_________________________________________________________________________

Questions 1-5 are to be answered by students who used the CSU East Bay Library during the Winter quarter, 2010.

1. In the Winter quarter, how often did you use the Library (in person or online)?

Please check only one box:

0 times per day 1 or more times per day 1 or more times per week 1 or more times per month 1 or more times per quarter

2. In the Winter quarter, how long did it usually take to find your desired information using the Library’s databases?


0-5 minutes 5-10 minutes

mailto:[email protected]


10-15 minutes 15-20 minutes 20 or more minutes

3. In the Winter quarter, did you ever utilize resources such as Subject Librarians, Link+, or Interlibrary loan?

No Yes

If Yes, please check all that apply:

Subject Specialist Librarian Order material via Link+ Order material via Interlibrary loan Other

Please tell us your experience with each of these resources that you have used. Be as specific as possible.

4. In the Winter quarter, did your search process ever cause you to alter your research question in any way?

No Yes

If Yes, explain in as much detail as possible.


5. In the Winter quarter, did you ever search library journals in subjects that are outside of your declared major?

No Yes


_________________________________________________________________________

Questions 6-10 are to be answered by students who use the CSU East Bay Library during the Spring (current) quarter, 2010.

6. How often do you use the Library (in person or online)?


0 times per day 1 or more times per day 1 or more times per week 1 or more times per month 1 or more times per quarter

7. How long does it usually take to find your desired information using the Library’s databases?


0-5 minutes 5-10 minutes 10-15 minutes 15-20 minutes 20 or more minutes


8. Do you utilize resources such as Subject Librarians, Link+, or Interlibrary loan?

No Yes

If Yes, please check all that apply:

Subject Specialist Librarian Order material via Link+ Order material via Interlibrary loan Other

Please tell us your experience with each of these resources that you use. Be as specific as possible.

9. Has your search process caused you to alter your research question in any way?

No Yes



10. Do you search library journals in subjects that are outside of your declared major?

No Yes


SUBMIT


Thank you screen

Thank you for taking this survey.

If you would like to be entered into the drawing for a $100.00 Amazon.com gift certificate, please enter your name and preferred contact email address here:

Name________________________

Email________________________

<Click SUBMIT when you have entered your contact information>

SUBMIT

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