"The 'Just Do It' Approach to Customer Service Development," by Erika L. Gavillet

Erika L. Gavillet. "The 'Just Do It' Approach to Customer Service Development: A Case Study." College & Research Libraries News 72:4 (2011): 229-236.

Author Erika Gavillet presents a new approach to surveying library patrons in this short case study. She points out that academic libraries in particular are evaluating customer service in order to make improvements or offer new services to their users. In an effort to avoid "survey fatigue," they developed a light approach to gathering user feedback. Her unit, the Customer Services Group (CSG) at Newcastle University Library, decided to conduct a quick survey of students by asking three questions (p. 230):

• What five activities do you do most in the library? (with a list of services with tick boxes)
• What else do you use in the library? (with a list of services with tick boxes)
• If money were no object, what single change would improve your library experience the most?

They were able to gather 1,000 responses to the survey. These responses identified a number of things that the students would like to have changed: more textbooks, PCs, and study space; longer opening hours; less noise and fewer distractions.

In response to the survey, the CSG came up with a plan to implement during the examination period in May. All library staff would participate in this plan which included regular sweeps of each floor of the library. Staff checked for "noise, trailing wires from laptops, litter and unattended belongings" (p. 230). It would be promoted as a partnership with the students to keep the library quiet and tidy. They conducted 558 sweeps over the next month, leaving calling cards on unattended belongings warning of theft and asking students to be quiet and remove any trailing wires.

A follow-up survey was conducted afterwards in which students reported that it was worthwhile and positive, but that they still found too much litter accumulating and didn't like the calling cards the library staff left on their unattended belongings.

This article shows that it's possible to gather feedback and implement changes in a relatively short period of time. The library staff and students both found the activity worthwhile. One question that I have is how the students' other concerns were addressed. They originally asked for more textbooks, PCs, and study space along with longer opening hours and less noise. It seems from the article that the only major concern that was addressed by the libraries examination period campaign was the noise issue. How they plan to address the other issues was not explained in the article.

Nevertheless, what I like about this article is that it demonstrates that every library survey or study doesn't have to be statistically meaningful or significant to be useful. Much of library research is about improving services or managing better. Surveys can be used to gather feedback and collect information that can help us run the library in a more effective and efficient manner, providing better services to our users. In this case study, a short survey got a lot of responses which helped library managers develop better services during a hectic time of the year.