Utilizing Undergraduate Student Focus Groups to Navigate Difficult Budget Times

Abstract

In 2007, the UCLA Library created a unit called Undergraduate Initiatives (UI) and hired a director of undergraduate initiatives (DUI). Gary E. Strong, university librarian, conceived UI as a broader service concept than that of the "first-year experience" librarian. The DUI is based in College Library, a traditional undergraduate library serving 26,000 students, most of whom are enrolled in the College of Letters and Science. The DUI held two retreats, one in 2007 and one in 2008, which included participants from all campus libraries. Based on the information and feedback from the retreats and surveys, a UI Planning Group recommended establishing an Undergraduate Initiatives Council (UIC), chaired by the DUI and comprised of unit program, and administrative representatives. In 2008, the university librarian created the UIC membership and gave it the charge detailed below.

In April 2009, under the direction of the UCLA Library UIC, the associate director for public services at the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library organized focus groups to identify what library services matter most and to engage in campus-wide discussions of current practices and future trends in undergraduate education, research, and teaching. The purpose of the study was to determine which library services and spaces were important to undergraduate students and to pinpoint how the UCLA Library needed to improve service to undergraduate students. The authors chose the focus group forum because conversation among participants engenders a discussion of issues that may not arise in individual interviews or an online survey. The authors conducted focus groups with UCLA undergraduate students in science, engineering, math, and nursing and student campus leaders from the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC).

It was clear from the focus groups that UCLA undergraduate students are sophisticated and discerning library users with complex information needs. The most valued library service is reserves, followed by 24/7 study space. Undergraduate students plan their library use, research, and study strategies carefully. Students think about the routes they walk on campus, which libraries they will pass, and what services are available in those libraries. They think about where they can read for leisure and where they can stop for a rest when they have only a short break between classes. Students think about whether they need to carry their own laptop or if they can check one out from the UCLA Library. Do they need to carry a heavy textbook or can they access the book through Library Reserves? The focus group students appreciated the quiet study spaces in Young Research Library, the collections in the Biomedical Library, the convenience of the Science and Engineering Library, the beauty of Rosenfeld Management Library, and the magnificence of Powell Library. The undergraduate student participants advocated for convenient services, close to their classes, residence halls, and iPhones. During the focus groups it became clear that the students sought explanations about research service priorities, library locations for study, and library procedures.

The authors were asked by UCLA Library administration to compare the focus group results with the feedback provided from undergraduate students in the 2009 LibQual+ Survey.6 The demographics and results are remarkably consistent with feedback provided by students from the UI focus groups conducted in April 2009 (see figure 4). This correlation is a strong and positive indication that UCLA students are appreciative of the library staff and their expertise, that they value library spaces and facilities, and that they use a variety of library resources. Areas of concern also overlap: students have difficulty using or are simply unaware of services offered, notably remote access to resources; students' needs for reserve materials continue to grow; and climate control within library buildings remains a challenge.