What is Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey?
The Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey is a web-based survey. The survey allowed faculty at USF to express their attitudes and practices related to: Research Processes, Teaching Processes, Scholarly Communications. The survey was developed by Ithaka S+R, a non-profit research and consulting service, which includes JSTOR. The survey was launched by the University of South Florida (USF) Libraries on September 22, 2015 and was closed to on December 11, 2015, with a total of 168 complete responses.What kinds of questions were on the survey?
The Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey focused on discovering how faculty conduct research and teaching activities, and the types of support and information resources they desire. Survey questions were related to:- faculty use of library collections and services
- scholarly communication and publishing
- faculty use of library materials to assist in undergraduate and graduate instruction
How is the survey data being used?
The survey responses and data are helping the USF Libraries make evidence-based decisions regarding the collections, programs, and services we provide to faculty. The results are also assisting in benchmarking the perceptions and experiences of faculty with national data from other institutions that have participated in the S+R Local Surveys. These institutions included
- University of Florida
- University of Central Florida
- Texas A&M University
- University of California-San Diego
- University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
- University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign
- Virginia Commonwealth University
Results and Future Directions
The USF Libraries Ithaka team reviewed the results and found that many of the major points fit into one of the following three (3) major categories:- The USF Libraries are taking an active role in scholarly communication and publishing
- The USF Libraries play an integral role in student success
- The value of the USF Libraries is more than just collections
Future Directions:
- Dissemination of assessment results and actions
- Provide easy access to assessment activities through internal and external web presences
- Campus partnerships
- Maintain our strong relationships with the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR), the Academic Success Center, and others
- Continue to develop new services that reflect needs of the faculty
- Copyright and intellectual property assistance
- Data management
- Provide a publishing platform (and help to use it!)
- Keep doing what we already do well…
- Support for research, teaching, and student success