Users’ response to Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) services is less than enthusiastic.
In an online survey, barely more than a third of LAC users expressed any satisfaction with how the Ottawa institution provides access to its collection, according to a recent Ottawa Citizen article.
The survey identified access to the collection as LAC’s top priority.
The Ottawa Citizen reported, “Conducted last November and December, the Nanos survey of 1,399 visitors to LAC’s website found that only four per cent were fully satisfied with access to the collection and a further 33 per cent were somewhat satisfied. Eleven per cent said they were dissatisfied and 25 per cent were somewhat dissatisfied.”
The survey was conducted to help LAC develop its 2016-2019 strategic plan.
In the three-year plan, LAC promised improved accessed and plans to digitize 40 million more pages in its collection.
You can learn more about the survey results in the Ottawa Citizen article, Users give Library and Archives Canada low marks for public access to collection.
Was there a fifth option regarding “satisfaction” (i.e. neither satisfied nor dissatisfied)? Adding up the numbers in the passage you quoted verbatim, it only adds up to 73% of respondents.
My responses to the survey indicated that I was by and large satisfied. I don’t think the LAC is perfect, but I am a wee bit surprised by the significant degree of dissatisfaction in the overall results. Comparing the LAC to other countries’ archival online presence, I think we’re doing very well. I say that despite being spoiled by the excellence of the accessibility and online presence of Dutch archives. 🙂
Unfortunately, the article does not indicate what the fifth option was. It could perhaps have been “don’t know.”