The Curtin Materials Availability Survey 2017

Purpose The research extends the principles of earlier print-based availability surveys to the context of today’s electronic library, and explores the question of an appropriate methodology. The ability of clients to find what they want remains a central question, as does the library’s ability to identify and address the reasons that clients fail to find what they are looking for. Design/methodology/approach Catalogue users at Curtin University Library were invited to complete an online survey indicating whether they had found the electronic item they were looking for, and if not to nominate the reason why. Responses were then verified and analysed by library staff. Findings The survey attracted a low number of usable responses, though the proportion of respondents who stated they were able to find what they were looking for was consistent with the findings of earlier studies. It was possible to identify a small number of cases were the library did not hold the item required, though most failures were eit...