Access to Information The "access to information" dimension of the LibQual+ survey relates to the Library's success in providing easy access to print and electronic information. For libraries of all types, user expectations are very high, and the distance between performance and desired level of access is always very great. Both student and faculty users have very high needs. To our undergraduate users, our services in this area appear to be typical of small college libraries, with 'average' scores for all aspects of this dimension, including access to print and electronic resources and timely document delivery/interlibrary loan. Bates faculty users rate our services very highly, showing average ratings for access to print resources, but very high marks for electronic resources and document delivery/interlibrary loan. Hours Based on the numerical rating of our hours, Bates students rate our hours as average. As you see here, there were many pointed comments about the desire for more late night hours. Our faculty users rate our hours at or above their desired expectations - as high as any faculty rating for the college libraries who joined us in this survey. Respondents’ comments · "I don't study in the library very often because it closes at 12:45, and I like the flexibility of studying in Pettengill when I can stay until 3 am if I need to rather than having to resettle." · "I would prefer if the library were open at least until 3 am on weekdays, because I do my best work at night and it is the only place I can study." · "The only major problem with the library is the extremely limited hours. It would nice if it opened earlier, especially on the weekends, and it really needs to be opened later, until 3 am at least". Library's Response Ladd Library is open and staffed one hundred and fourteen hours per week, providing students, faculty and staff with many opportunities to access materials and services. We start closing at 12:45am because we need the time to clear the building and assure its security. Working with student government, we conducted an experiment with later hours at the end of the Fall semester 2003. We found that the desire for late hours was very great, but the actual use of the building didn't justify the cost of keeping this very large building open. Faculty members appreciate that we open before 8 am classes, good for last-minute readings or videos for class. ILS also manages computer labs throughout the campus. We are keeping the Coram computer lab open 24/7 throughout the term, and Pettengill labs open until 3 am. We will continue to watch student use patterns of campus academic buildings, and try to provide opportunities and locations for study at all times of the day. Most people find time during Ladd's regular eighteen-hour day to access library materials and obtain reference help. Interlibrary Loan Students rated our interlibrary loan services as "average." Faculty members rated these services very highly. Respondents’ comments "It would be nice if inter-library loan was faster." "The Maine Info Net and ILL systems are great!" "A lot of the journals I need for research are only available through inter-library loan and I find that to be VERY slow and unreliable." "Need to work on getting interlibrary loans arrival timely. More pressure on other libraries (CBB, Orono, etc.) to act accordingly and distribuate(sic) material immediately after request." Library's Response The intense research activity by Bates faculty members and the research-oriented curriculum combine to make interlibrary loan one of our core services. We can not have all the materials Bates users demand, and Bates faculty members do not expect students to limit their research interests based on what the Library owns at the moment. The differing perspectives of student and faculty users is instructive - this service is slower than having the books here, but it is faster than most experienced library users have come to expect. Though there were but a few comments, positive and negative, about interlibrary loan, the survey has shown us the need to clarify aspects of ILL as compared to Maine InfoNet. Since requests made through Maine InfoNet are essentially a subset of ILL activity, it wasn't always clear if responders were making that distinction. See this link for a complete description of the differences between the two. One of the potentially big differences between the two is the amount of time it may take to get the material here. Maine InfoNet is quicker by at least a few days, and is dramatically faster if ILL requests must go out-of-state for a book which may take as long as 7-10 days. Though it is requested electronically and other libraries are prompt, book delivery in ILL depends on the US mail to make the delivery and we know what the euphemism for that is! We are one of the busiest academic ILL offices in New England, and one of the largest lenders. We processed a whopping 5,500 borrowing requests this past year, so if we've let something slip through the cracks, please accept our apologies but we're running as fast as we can. Since we finished the survey, the Library has implemented a new request and delivery service for ILL articles that provides for streamlined service and delivery on the Web. We expect to make continuous improvement so this core service is as fast and efficient as it can be.