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 (Roger.Schonfeld@ithaka.org )

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 jyu@illinois.edu

Terry TaylorAssociate University Librarian for Teaching, Learning, and Research

ServicesDePaul Universityttaylor@depaul.edu

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