Higher Education survey results: Essential strengths of equipment lending systems

Over 100 faculty, staff and students with experience in equipment lending services took part in our annual Higher Education technology survey. Here's a quick rundown of what they felt were the top scoring benefits of using equipment scheduling and inventory management software.

The results highlight the indispensable role of this software in providing important outcomes for both students and staff, as follows:

Top Benefits For Students

1) Better availability of items (notably the most popular answer overall!)

2) Improved awareness and access to equipment

3) Ability to see exactly what equipment is available and when

Top Benefits For Staff

1) Instant tracking of who’s got what equipment and when

2) Self-service reservation of items by students leading to staff time savings

3) More time and support for maintenance and repairs of equipment

In addition, students appreciate that staff have more time and notice for preparing equipment for their use, particularly when they book ahead to collect it.

Lorensbergs' Higher Education technology survey 2018 results

Conclusions

The fact that improved item availability was the most important outcome overall demonstrates the critical role that reservation facilities play in ensuring students can get their hands on the resources they need. It’s also indicative of the pressure institutions are under to continue investing in more media resources, to ensure students have adequate time with the equipment.

The connect2 software is very supportive in this respect with inventory management functionality that actually improves how quickly equipment can be made available for loan, and minimizes the impact of lost and broken items on lending services. Finally, it reduces the occurrence of overdue items. The improved availability experienced by students as a result is a key factor for the many institutions that have adopted connect2 equipment scheduling software.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the survey – we hope you find these research results of interest.

NEXT POST: we report on higher education staffs’ and students’ opinions on which media equipment provided by their institution is most highly valued and why. Plus what they hope will be invested in next…watch this space, especially if you're planning to visit NAB this year with a shopping list for new kit!!