The University’s Management Accounting & Analysis Office is conducting an anonymous survey to determine how library services and materials are used. Data collected will be used to meet federal reporting requirements. Thank you for your help.
See announcement email from Casey Erickson, Assistant Vice President, Sponsored Programs Finance.
- What is happening?
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- There will be an electronic resources survey conducted monthly during selected 2-hour periods from November 2023 through October 2024. Users of e-journals, databases, interlibrary loan, e-books, streaming media, and other web services will be asked to complete a short pop-up survey before accessing electronic resources.
- There will also be an in-person space survey running at selected Libraries locations. This will also be conducted monthly during selected 2-hour periods from November 2023 through October 2024. Patrons entering the library will be given a paper survey and asked to complete it before they leave.
- Survey time is expected to be less than two minutes for both the web and in-person surveys.
- What types of questions will be asked?
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Both surveys ask about library materials and services used and the purpose of their use.
- Can I opt out?
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Clicking outside of the web-based survey box will allow you to continue your library journey. However, if you do this, you may receive the survey again during the same 2-hour survey period.
Responding to the surveys will benefit the University and participation is encouraged.
- Will I potentially have to answer the survey more than once?
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During the twelve months, you may receive the survey more than once. However, you will not receive the in-person and web-based survey on the same day.
- Known technical issues – Firefox users:
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You may have some issues with the survey appearing more than once (regardless of whether you completed it already or not) as you browse the Libraries site and resources. To avoid this, either use a different browser than Firefox, or wait until after the survey period is over to continue your search. See the above FAQs about opting out and answering the survey more than once.
- Personal Data and Privacy:
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- How will my name and personal information be used or shared?
No personal information will be collected unless a respondent chooses to do so.
- Who will have access to the data, how will the data be handled/used?
Qualified surveyors retained and contracted by the University of Washington will have access to the survey data in a secure environment. Data will not be disclosed to third parties nor used for purposes other than this study. The data will be stored for possible auditing purposes for up to 5 years.
UW’s Management Accounting & Analysis and the Libraries have worked with the University’s Privacy Office to ensure that user privacy is being protected.
- Do other universities do this?
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Yes. Many universities, especially large research universities, conduct Library Cost Studies.
- Will the results become publicly available?
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No data will be shared publicly. University Finance and Libraries Administration will receive quarterly reports with a summary of the survey data.
- Questions?
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Please contact UW’s Management Accounting & Analysis Office (fahelp@uw.edu) with questions.