Last updated 2008-12-25

The National Diet Library (NDL) has conducted the questionnaire surveys for on-site users and the surveys for remote users (*) every other year so that we can grasp the trend in use of services, and users’ satisfaction degree and needs. (*Remote users are people who use our library services without visiting the NDL, such as by accessing the electronic library services through the NDL website and requesting copying services via the Internet.) In FY2008, the NDL conducted a remote user survey.

The results of surveys are utilized in the framework of our evaluation system in order to improve our services.

Data obtained from surveys are analyzed by a method based on a customer satisfaction survey which is often used by private enterprises. Using this analysis, we clarify priorities among NDL’s services that users want to be improved. In the surveys, we asked about the user satisfaction degree and need or no-need for improvement on each service element such as “Digitization of materials (Digital Library from the Meiji Era, etc.)” on the NDL website. Based on the responses, the satisfaction degree and the needs for improvement rate are calculated.

The figure 1 below shows the correlation between the satisfaction degree and the needs for improvement rate. Both axes are divided by the average of all questionnaire items, and therefore the figure is divided into four areas. In these areas, the highest priority is service elements on the lower right, which have a lower satisfaction degree and a higher need for improvement rate.

Figure 1 Analysis of the user satisfaction degree and the needs for improvement (NDL website survey FY 2008)

* The “user satisfaction degree” is calculated as follows: specify each answer as “satisfied”=100 points, “fairly satisfied”=50 points, “not very satisfied”=minus 50 points, “dissatisfied”=minus 100 points, and “No answer” =0 point; multiply the points by the response rate of each answer; and sum them up.
“Need for improvement rate” of each service element is the ratio of respondents who hope to see improvement in the element among all respondents. Separator lines on each axis show the average value of all elements.

The NDL has made efforts to improve services in the lower right area indicated in the past remote user surveys. The following are our efforts for improvement in response to the results of the last questionnaire survey (remote usDL has made efer survey FY 2006):

(1) Digitization of materials (Digital Library from the Meiji Era, etc.) on the NDL website
As we proceeded with the copyright clearance and digitization, the number of titles available in the “Digital Library from the Meiji era” was expanded from 89,000 (as of the end of FY 2006) to 101,000 (as of December 2008). In addition, intersystem coordination was realized in October 2007 so that users can easily read the text of materials in the “Digital Library from the Meiji era” from the search results of the NDL-OPAC (National Diet Library Online Public Access Catalog).

(2)  Provision of reference tools on the NDL website
The NDL website offers contents that show how to search information. The “Directory of Companies and Organizations” was newly opened to the public in October 2007. In addition, the number of themes available in the “Guide for Search by theme” was expanded from 456 (as of the end of FY2006) to 1,089 (as of September 2008). In addition, we made various efforts to improve data in the “Collaborative Reference Database System” and to boost registrations to the system.

(3)  Speed of delivery of the copying service
Though the number of requests for the remote copying service has been increasing by 10% every year in recent years, we have achieved the Service Standard (sending copies within 5 working days after receiving the request: more than 80%). In 2007, we improved the flow line of the copying process by repairing the workroom for copying in the Tokyo Main Library, and at the same time, conducted a fact-finding survey for the remote copying service. In 2008, we developed an operational improvement plan, and started with practicable items in the plan.

In the questionnaire of FY2008, the satisfaction degree of these three elements rose, and moved upward as seen in the figure 2. We attribute these improvements to the above-mentioned efforts. On the other hand, the needs for improvement did not decrease for “Digitization of materials (Digital Library from the Meiji Era, etc.)” on the NDL website and “Speed of delivery” of copying service. We consider that further efforts for improvement are required for these two elements.

Figure 2  Interannual changes in the satisfaction degree and needs for improvement rate

* ■ are question items in the NDL website surveys, and ● is that in the Libraries surveys.
* Results of the current survey (FY 2008) are shown in red, and results of the last survey (FY2006) are shown in blue.
* Separator lines on each axis show the average of all questionnaire items in the NDL website survey of FY2006.

We will continue making efforts to provide more satisfactory services by utilizing the results of the user surveys. We thank participants for responding to the questionnaires of FY 2008, and also look forward to your continued support.