Consultation Guidelines

Stakeholder consultation plays a key role in shaping our library services to meet the needs of our users.

Overview and purpose

Guided by our Library Strategy, we consult on our services:

• to ensure that we understand our stakeholders’ current and future needs, experiences and expectations to enable us to identify service developments and improvements.
• to ensure that we critically assess our services and the information that we provide about them.
• We welcome feedback, including complaints, from all users, their representatives and all other stakeholders (for further information see our Feedback Guidelines)

Principles

• Stakeholder-centred: Channels of engagement should be selected and designed based on what best meets stakeholders’ needs, not just the needs of the institution.
• Empowering choice: Channels should be designed and promoted with clear information that enables stakeholders to choose the best channel to support achievement of their individual objectives.
• Accessible: All decisions relating to communication and engagement channels must ensure full accessibility to the content and services on offer.
• Universal: Stakeholders will engage with content and services via different channels, according to their needs and preferences. A universal style across our channels will ensure consistency of experience between different students, and for students transitioning between channels.
• Flexible: Channels should flex where appropriate, for example offering an additional face-to-face option to engage with a particular service.
• Co-creation: Student voice and academic voice.

Methods of consultation

We use a range of methods to consult on services. The choice of method and the design of the consultation will be based on:

• a recognition of the number of surveys and other consultations with our users, such as the National Student Survey, and the need not to conflict with any of these;
• the characteristics of those we want to contact and any preferences that they have concerning this;
• the need to capture insight on future needs as well as feedback on quality of our services;
• the need to contact people who do not ordinarily use the physical Library or its online services.

The methods to consult users include:

• Student Experience Forum (second week of each semester)
• Library Consultative Group (attended by staff representatives from Schools three times a year)
• Surveys, including UK-wide surveys such as the NSS, PRES, PTES, University surveys and Library surveys
• Feedback via Schools and our Students Union
• Focus groups
• Observation by staff of service usage
• Monitoring of Service Standards and Key Performance Indicators
• Benchmarking

The methods that we use to consult Library staff include:

• One-to-one meetings
• Team meetings
• Faculty meetings
• Annual planning away days
• Project working groups
• Achievement and Development Reviews

We review our consultation methods annually to identify ways in which they can be improved. This will include benchmarking ourselves against other university libraries and looking at best practice in other sectors including the private sector.

We ensure that our users and Library staff are given the results of any consultation and that they receive an explanation of how we will respond to any feedback we receive.  Results and actions that we have taken in response to our surveys are published and promoted widely in the University.

There is Library representation at University Committee level, University Leadership Team and on Senate.  The attendance of senior Library staff at School and departmental meetings is available on request.

Representatives of the Library meet monthly with elected officers from the Student Union.