Another Quiz: Cabot Library Tests Students

Cabot Science Library is thinking about customer satisfaction.

Librarians at the facility, usually a haven for determined premeds, said yesterday they are studying their users in an attempt to ensure that the library does the best job it can at serving the more than 1,000 students and professors who use the library each day.

"It's a way of monitoring how well we are doing certain things, including circulation and the reference section," said Allen Bourque, head of collections and systems services for Cabot.

Bourque said Cabot underwent a similar analysis in 1991, as part of a local initiative the library has under taken to better serve and understand its users.

The yellow survey forms, of which Bourque said he expects a 50 percent return rate, ask library users to list the reasons they are visiting the library, the frequency with which they visit the library, the resources they use at the library and the ease with which they find them. The survey also asks respondents to rate the library's facilities.

Those studying for midterms at the library yesterday said they would probably fill out the survey. But most said they were too busy to talk about their responses.

"I have to fill it out quickly so I can study," said one student.