A faculty needs survey was conducted in March 2004 for the six faculties (Arts, Architecture, Social Sciences, Business & Economics, Science, and Engineering) to which Subject Librarians have been assigned since July 2003. The aim of the survey was to:

A total of 457 personalized questionnaires were sent to staff members of the six faculties in the middle of March and by the end of survey period, 143 replies were received (a 31% response rate).

Six types of services provided by these librarians were identified and the respondents were asked to rank them on the basis of their needs for Subject Librarian service on a scale of one to five (1-5, 1 being most important and 5 being less important):

The overall ranking

The overall ranking ended up as follows (most important to least important):

1. Collection building for most faculties, especially on identifying resources for emerging areas and new courses/programs, as well as identifying resources that HKUL lack in specific subject areas.
2. More research consultation for post-graduate students, also for final year undergraduates to prepare them for research.
3. Assistance in integrating library materials into teaching and learning by helping faculty to identify resources pertinent to their needs, eg. by making links to subject guides and/or links to materials on reserve to courseware.
4. More promotion of library services, especially targeted at the undergraduate level.
5. Systematic training for new undergraduates through "subject-oriented" library instruction relevant to them.
6. Closer collaboration with faculty members, since only through close collaboration with faculty (department) can activities be carried out to target your specific needs.

Not all faculties agreed on what was most important.

Decisions reached by the Collection Development Department

<modified from Letter to Faculty distributed in late May 2004>