Library Services, Resources, and Spaces Survey

Welcome to “Your Opinion Counts: Library Services, Resources, and Spaces,” a web-based survey that examines the expectations and experiences of students and faculty when using UT Dallas Libraries. Before taking part in this study, please read the consent form below and click on the “I Agree” button at the bottom of the page if you understand the statements and freely consent to participate in the study.

Consent Form

This study involves a web-based survey designed to gather feedback from UT Dallas students and faculty about how they perceive and interact with campus libraries. The study is being conducted by Matt Young of the Eugene McDermott Library at The University of Texas at Dallas, and it has been designated by The University of Texas at Dallas Office of Human Subjects Protections (OHSP) as exempt from review by an Institutional Review Board. No deception is involved, and the study involves no more than minimal risk to participants (i.e., the level of risk encountered in daily life).

Participation in the study typically takes five minutes to complete and is strictly confidential. Participants begin by indicating minimum expected, preferred, and perceived levels of service and then finish by rating a few items and describing usage patterns.

All responses are treated as confidential, and in no case will responses from individual participants be identified. Rather, all data will be pooled and published in aggregate form only. The only personally-identifiable data is the optional email address that a participant may choose to disclose upon completion of the survey in order to enter the random drawing of participation prizes. Email and IP addresses are separated from survey responses upon submission of the completed survey. Survey responses will be recorded to the online survey platform and included data is to be stored on a secure, privately-hosted server that can only be accessed by the survey host (selected staff of the Association of Research Libraries) and UT Dallas’s surveying team. Email addresses are purged from the server six months after the conclusion of the survey period. Participants should be aware that while the experiment is being run from a “secure” https server of the kind typically used to handle credit card transactions, there is a small possibility that responses could be viewed by unauthorized third parties (e.g., computer hackers).

Participants will be given the option of disclosing their email address to be entered for a randomized drawing of participation prizes, including six Kobo Clara Color e-readers. Winning a prize is not guaranteed; the approximate chance of winning is no less than 1 in 5,683. Survey responses have no bearing on chances to win.

Participation is voluntary, refusal to take part in the study involves no penalty or loss of benefits to which participants are otherwise entitled, and participants may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which they are otherwise entitled.

If participants have further questions about this study, they may contact the Principal Investigator, Matt Young, at (972) 883-2627 or libqual@utdallas.edu; Participants who want more information about their rights as a participant or who want to report a research related concern may contact The University of Texas at Dallas Office of Human Subjects Protections at (972) 883-4575 or HSP@utdallas.edu.

If you are 18 years of age or older, understand the statements above, and freely consent to participate in the study, click on the “I Agree” button to begin the experiment.