Use of annual surveying to identify technology trends and improve service provision

• Published in: Journal of the Medical Library Association Vol. 106; no. 3; pp. 320 - 329
• Main Authors: Norton, Hannah F, Tennant, Michele R, Edwards, Mary E, Pomputius, Ariel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Medical Library Association 01.07.2018; University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Access to information; Collaboration; Drug stores; Efficiency, Organizational; Forecasts and trends; Health education; Health sciences; Information professionals; Information seeking behavior; Information sources; Internet resources; Learning; Liaison work; Librarians; Libraries, Medical; Library users; Marketing; Mobile Technology; Original Investigation; Polls & surveys; Portable computers; Professions; Response rates; Scientific and technical libraries; Services; Smartphones; Social networks; Social research; Students; Surveys and Questionnaires; Systematic review; Technical services (Libraries); Technological innovations; Technology - trends; Technology application; Trends; User Input; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 1536-5050; 1558-9439
• DOI: 10.5195/jmla.2018.324

At an academic health sciences library serving a wide variety of disciplines, studying library users' technology use provides necessary information on intersection points for library services. Administering a similar survey annually for five years generated a holistic view of users' technology needs and preferences over time. From 2012 to 2016, the University of Florida Health Science Center Library (HSCL) annually administered a sixteen-to-twenty question survey addressing health sciences users' technology awareness and use and their interest in using technology to engage with the library and its services. The survey was distributed throughout the HSC via email invitation from liaison librarians to their colleges and departments and advertisement on the HSCL home page. Smartphone ownership among survey respondents was nearly universal, and a majority of respondents also owned a tablet. While respondents were likely to check library hours, use medical apps, and use library electronic resources from their mobile devices, they were unlikely to friend or follow the library on Facebook or Twitter or send a call number from the catalog. Respondents were more likely to have used EndNote than any other citation management tool, but over 50% of respondents had never used each tool or never heard of it. Annual review of survey results has allowed librarians to identify users' needs and interests, leading to incremental changes in services offered. Reviewing the aggregate data allowed strategic consideration of how technology impacts library interactions with users, with implications toward library marketing, training, and service development.