What Do Faculty Favor?: Local Implementation of the Ithaka
Faculty Survey in IllinoisSusan Searing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Terry Taylor, DePaul University Jen-chien Yu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Presented at the IACRL Conference, Oak Brook, Illinois
March 21, 2014
The Ithaka Faculty Survey: An Introduction
“Ithaka S+R surveys of academics and faculty members provide a regular examination of key strategic issues facing higher education. Conducted every three years, these large-scale surveys of thousands of academics examine changes in faculty member research processes, teaching practices, publishing and scholarly dissemination, the role of the library, and the role of the learned society.”
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/faculty-survey-series
The Ithaka Faculty Survey: An Introduction
Research ProcessesThe processes through which
scholars perform their researchTeaching Practices
The pedagogical methods that faculty members are adopting
Scholarly CommunicationsFormal and informal methods by
which scholars communicate with each other
The LibraryHow faculty members perceive
the roles and value of their institutional library
Scholarly SocietiesHow faculty members perceive
the roles and value of their primary scholarly society
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/faculty-survey-series
The Ithaka Faculty Survey: An Introduction
Examples of topics explored:
For research purposes, how do faculty value data, e-books, pre-prints?
During the publication process, what type of support do faculty need from the library?
How do faculty view undergraduate students’ research skills?
What type of assignments do faculty assign to lower division undergraduate courses vs. upper division undergraduate courses?
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/faculty-survey-series
The Ithaka Faculty Survey: Key Findings (2012)
The perceived decline in the role of the library catalog [as discovery tool] . . . has been arrested and even modestly reversed, driven perhaps to some degree by significant strategic shifts in library discovery tools and services
Respondents . . . trend overall towards greater acceptance of a print to electronic transition for scholarly journals . . . [but] grew modestly less comfortable with replacing print subscriptions with electronic access.
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/us-
faculty-survey-2012
The Ithaka Faculty Survey: Key Findings (2012)
Respondents value established scholarly dissemination methods . . . . [and] existing publisher services, such as peer review, branding, and copy-editing, while expressing less widespread agreement about the value of newer dissemination support services offered by libraries that are intended to maximize access and impact.
Respondents perceive less value from many functions of the academic library than they did in the last cycle of this survey. One notable exception is the gateway function, which experienced a modest resurgence in perceived value.
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/us-
faculty-survey-2012
The Ithaka Faculty Survey:Why “Go Local”?
Identify to what degree national results are reflected among local constituents
Identify if areas of local concern are reflected in differences between local and national results
Pursue greater engagement/response rate with local population
Inform local decision-making and strategic planning efforts
The Ithaka Faculty Survey:Local Survey Participants
Pilot (2012-13)Claremont University
ConsortiumCommunity College of
Rhode IslandDePaul UniversityLafayette CollegeProvidence CollegeRoger Williams UniversitySUNY-PotsdamSwarthmore CollegeTexas A& M UniversityUniversity of FloridaUniversity of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
Fall 2013Baylor UniversityIndiana UniversitySW Oklahoma State
UniversityUniversity of DaytonUniversity of TX – San
AntonioUniversity of
MelbourneUniversity of New
South WalesUniversity of North
CarolinaUniversity of
QueenslandUniversity of SydneyUniversity of Western
Australia
The Ithaka Faculty Survey:Why Compare?
Explore whether faculty views of the library reflect distinctive institutional missions
Explore whether faculty views of the library differ by institutional type
Explore whether faculty views of the library reflect differences in composition of the faculty
Explore differences between faculty view of library services provided best at the local, consortial, or network level
44,197 Students (Fall 2012)
Degrees Granted (2012)Bachelors – 7,730Master’s – 3,221Doctoral - 875
Library Budget (FY13)Total Expenditures:
$42,685,124Materials Expenditures:
$17,538,178
Survey Dates: February 5 – 23, 2013
24,966 Students (Fall 2012)
Degrees Granted (2012)Bachelors – 3,646Master’s – 2,672Doctoral – 29
Library Budget (FY13)Total Expenditures:
$9,746,279Materials Expenditures:
$4,278,053
Survey Dates: April 29 – May 16, 2013
n=2453,356 faculty invited7% response rate
Professor (17%)Associate Professor
(22%)Assistant Professor
(20%)Instructor (7%)Adjunct (31%)Other (5%)
n=3823,115 faculty invited 12 % response rate
Professor (30.5%)Associate Professor
(25.4%)Assistant Professor
(18.7%)Postdoctoral Associate
(7%)Visiting Faculty (3.7%)Other Instructional
Faculty (5.3%)Other (9.4%)
Population & Respondents
Key Findings: Local vs. National
Buyer
Reposit
ory
Gateway
Teach
ing Faci
litator
Researc
h Supporte
r
Undergrad
uate In
formati
on Litera
cy Te
acher
93%
79%74%
54%59% 60%
80%
63% 64%
53% 50%57%
77%71% 69%
65%
56%
66%
Institutional FunctionsIllinois National 2012 DePaul
Key Findings: Local vs. National
Facilitating Access Supporting undergraduate learning
Librarians losing importance Funding should be redirected
74%
35%
15%
9%
56% 55%
21%17%
58% 58%
16% 16%
Institutional ResponsibilitiesIllinois National 2012 DePaul
Key Findings: Local vs. National
Help fa
culty
understan
d and neg
otiate publica
tion contra
cts
Help fa
culty
determ
ine where
to publish
Assess
the impact
of facu
lty w
ork
Manag
ing facu
lty’s p
ublic web
presen
ce
Making a
versi
on of facu
lty re
search
outputs fre
ely av
ailab
le
29%25%
38%43%
50%
25%28%
31%37%
32%31%36%
33%36%
44%
Research Support ServicesIllinois National 2012 DePaul
Key Findings: Local vs. National
Undergrad
uates h
ave P
oor Skil
ls
Facu
lty re
sponsib
le for d
evelo
ping rese
arch sk
ills
Librar
y resp
onsible
for dev
eloping r
esearc
h skills
Librar
ians h
elp st
udents
learn
how to find/ac
cess/u
se inform
ation
Librar
ians h
elp dev
eloping s
tudents'
resea
rch sk
ills
54%
40%
25%
51%45%45% 42%
24%
52%45%
38%33%
27%
59% 58%
Undergraduate Research SkillsIllinois National 2012 DePaul
Key Findings: Local vs. National
Self-preserve Institutional Repository Library Publisher Data Not Preserved
83%
24%
7% 8%10%
79%
18%
7%4%
15%
75%
15%
9%
1%
18%
Research Data Management VenuesIllinois National 2012 DePaul
Key Findings: Local vs. National
Website/Online Catalog Scholarly Database/Search Engine
General Purpose Search Engine Colleague, Librarian, Other
48%
25%22%
5%
41%
34%
22%
4%
36%
30% 30%
6%
Discovery: Known ItemsIllinois Known Items National Known Items DePaul Known Items
Key Findings: Local vs. National
Website/Online Catalog Scholarly Database/Search Engine
General Purpose Search Engine Colleague, Librarian, Other
21%
52%
23%
5%
25%
50%
18%
7%
25%
41%
29%
6%
Discovery: ExplorationIllinois Exploration National Exploration DePaul Exploration
Key Findings: Local vs. National
Blogs/So
cial M
edia
Importa
nt for r
esearc
h
Follo
w Other
resea
rchers
’ Blogs/
Socia
l Med
ia is i
mportant
Share
resea
rch findings
using b
logs/So
cial M
edia
(often)
Enga
ge st
udents
8%13%
4% 3%7%
12%6% 4%
8%
22%
12%6%
Social MediaIllinois National 2012 DePaul
Key Findings: Local vs. National
2006 2009 2012
0.037 0.04
0.160.15
0.21
5-year e-Book PrevalenceIllinois National DePaul
What’s Next?: Local Uses
Analyze findings for local strategic planningInstructional programsCollection development and
resource sharingPrint vs. Digital
Explain strategic directions to key stakeholdersContributions to campus-
level strategic directions/concerns
Engage with faculty members on campusFaculty Senate, Faculty
Newsletter (e.g., http://bit.ly/17uTOoE)
What’s Next?: Ithaka Response to Pilot
Adoption of “modular” approach allowing greater focus and flexibility in design of local instrument:Collections and DiscoveryInstructionResearch, Dissemination,
PreservationPartners and Services
Revision/Enhancement of contentOnline LearningData Preservation and
ManagementHealth Sciences
Development of new contentDiscovery/Use of Freely
Available MaterialsGraduate InstructionLibrary Market Research
What’s Next?: The Ithaka Library Directors Survey
Library deans and directors at 4-year colleges and universities in the U.S. in Fall 2013.
499 responses, an overall response rate of 33%.Examined how leaders of academic libraries are
approaching systemic changes, opportunities and constraints, including:
strategic planningcollecting practiceslibrary servicesorganizational dynamics leadership issues, and undergraduate services
The Ithaka Library Directors Survey:Key Findings
Strong commitment to library role in information literacy education for undergraduates.
Decline in ratings for research support as an important library function.
For journals, print-to-electronic transition is nearly completed.
For ebooks, little change in attitudes or spending.
If new funds were available, would invest in staff and digital content.
Libraries not fully ready to support online courses.
What’s Next?: The Ithaka S+R Local Student Survey
Four modules covering these major topics:
Students’ expectations of their higher education and its value for their future goals (academic and career);
Students’ perceptions of coursework and new forms of pedagogy, such as online learning;
Types of assignments students receive and the resources they use to complete them; and
Role of extra- and co-curricular activities (incl. internships)
The Ithaka Student Survey @ DePaul
Survey open from January 13 – February 2, 2014
Email to a stratified sample of just over 7,000 full- and part-time undergraduate students (with 3 reminders)
Approx. 22% of sample clicked on survey link; 19% started the survey, and 1,096 surveys were completed for a response rate of 16%Evenly split by class level (freshman, sophomore, etc.)89% full-time; 11% part-time
$5 Barnes and Noble gift card offered as incentive for survey completion. (approx. 200 took us up on it)
Ithaka Student Survey Questions
Library-related questions in Coursework section:
How often do you go to each of the following possible sources when you need help with your assignments or coursework?
Starting points for research for most recently completed paper or project
Difficulty in accessing resources for assignments
Who helps in developing research skills?
Ithaka Student Survey Questions
Role of the Library : Importance/Unimportance of services that the library does (or could) provide
Starting point for locating informationCollectionsBuilding / Space / FoodHardware / SoftwareWebsiteLibrarians / Library Staff
The Ithaka Student Survey @ DePaulSome Key Findings
Very Important (+Important and Somewhat Important)
Starting Point 21% (75% )Preserving/Keeping Resources 36% (87%)Library Pays for Resources 50% (90%)Library Bldg as Study Space 61%
(92%)Library Bldg as Socializing Space15% (58%)Librarians Providing Instruction
in classrooms 16% (67%)Librarians Providing Support
for searching databases 24% (84%)
For More InformationOn Ithaka survey programs: Roger C. Schonfeld
Program Director for Libraries, Users, and Scholarly Practices
Ithaka S&R ([email protected] )
Anderson, R. (2013, April 11). Interesting findings from Ithaka S&R’s latest faculty survey. Retrieved from http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/04/11/interesting-findings-from-ithaka-srs-latest-faculty-survey/
Fister, B. (2013, April 11). A surfeit of surveys and three short questions. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/surfeit-surveys-and-three-short-questions
Reese, T. (2013, April 11). Thinking about what’s not being measured by the Ithaka S&R survey. Retrieved from http://library.osu.edu/blogs/it/thinking-about-whats-not-being-measured-by-the-ithaka-sr-survey/
Questions
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ContactsJen-chien Yu
Coordinator for Library AssessmentUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign [email protected]
Terry TaylorAssociate University Librarian for Teaching, Learning, and Research
ServicesDePaul [email protected]
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