Navigating pitfalls of web-based survey development and administration

With multiple low-cost Web-based delivery methods increasingly available, the number of surveys being distributed to gather data on library users and potential users is dramatically increasing. This paper provides an overview of survey administration including history, guidelines on decision-making in survey development, and best practices for survey research when delivered via the Web. Questions on survey development issues such as probability and non-probability sampling and privacy concerns are clarified.     

Impacts of “Perestroyka”and the FSU economic crisis upon communication in FSU science: A study of the life sciences

Surveys of scientists' communication behaviours were carried out in a variety of institutions engaged in life science research within the former Soviet Union (FSU). The surveys followed the methodology developed by Garvey and Griffith and used in a variety of studies of information flows in various disciplines within the United States.¹ The outcome was a contemporary overview of communication practices which showed, as expected, the devastating effects of the current economic plight of the FSU. It also reveals contrasts between the academy-institute structure of the FSU and more entrepreneurial independent university structure of the West. An extremely important result was the discovery of the extent and ingenuity of cooperative relationships with western scientists to sustain continuing scientific work in the FSU. These were initiated under perestroyka and are now proving essential. The present findings are being used, as a practical matter, to guide and information VINITI policy in furnishing information services to the FSU.     

网络环境下高校图书馆的读者调查方式

网络环境下,图书馆读者调查方法有了新的变化,主要方式有:网站问卷调查、基于视频会议系统的读者调查、基于数据库检索技术的读者调查和基于Web挖掘技术的读者调查。网络环境下高校图书馆读者调查的策略是:依靠主动调查,重视网站调查,建立完备的调查体系。图1。表1。参考文献5。     

Open Access to Research Outputs—Institutional Policies and Researchers' Views: Results From Two Complementary Surveys

This paper presents the results of two complementary surveys undertaken in 2008 as part of a wider project investigating the effects and impact of open access to research outputs in the UK. The institutional view, from a survey of academic librarians, is compared to researchers' perceptions and practices. Researchers were largely unaware of their institutions' policies with regard to open access, or whether they had an institutional repository. Reasons for making research outputs available on open access, or not doing so, were sought, and the role of open access material as a research resource investigated. The surveys found that many researchers maintained a suspicion of open access publications, both as authors and as users of scholarly material, together with a degree of ignorance about open access and the role of institutional repositories. This suggests that a degree of culture change may be needed, as institutions develop repositories with a view to future research assessment requirements, and more funders adopt open access mandates for the outputs from research which they fund.     

Tiered Reference Services

Summary

Customer feedback is essential for determining what elements constitute quality service in a reference department. At Texas A&M University, we use concise user surveys to elicit feedback on the different aspects of tiered services. This study identifies whether or not customers find the information they need and allows customers to evaluate the services. User surveys and return boxes are accessible at several discrete locations throughout the reference unit. The department modified services to better meet customers' expectations after analyzing the data gathered from nearly 200 surveys. A library display showed the results of the survey. Comments and suggestions made by the customers were included in the display.     

Imputation in a monthly survey of sales

With the consolidation of a number of survey forms in 1983, the Energy Information Administration researched, analyzed, developed, and tested various imputation methodologies for the monthly petroleum product surveys. The combination method selected multiplies the ratio of respondents' actual values to the respondents' predicted values by the nonrespondent's predicted values. The predicated values are forecasts based on the companies' values in previous periods. This imputation methodology has become a valuable tool used to account for the growing population that does not report on the surveys but can affect the survey results.     

Managing Interlibrary Loan Staff in Distributed Work Environments

Abstract

Virginia Commonwealth University has interlibrary loan staff members who work in a variety of locations. A review of library and business management literature and an informal survey of interlibrary loan managers was conducted to assess the extent and practices for managing interlibrary loan and document delivery staff members who work in separate locations. Data was collected to highlight common problems and challenges faced by managers who deal with this situation, and to consider the best practices used by the managers. The practices of interlibrary loan managers were very similar to those of managers found in management literature, indicating that library managers, particularly in interlibrary loan, can benefit from reading business management sources regularly.     

Assessing the Library Needs and Preferences of Off-Campus Students

Abstract

In order to have a successful library program for distance education students, librarians must understand who their students are, as well as what their students want and need. Of course, the best way to get this information is to ask the students. The ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services emphasize this point, encouraging librarians to regularly survey students involved in distance education and off-campus programs. This paper is based on two student surveys, one conducted by the Coordinator of Library Services for Distance Education at the University of Iowa and the other conducted by the Distance Librarian at University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. The paper focuses on the issues that librarians confront when they conduct a survey of distance education students. In addition, it covers details on writing and developing a survey instrument, including the need to ask the right questions in a proper manner and the need to arrange the questions and information in a user-friendly format. The results of the two surveys are presented, including a comparison of some data between the two programs.     

Measuring Public Opinions About Surveys

Respondent's opinions about survey research are regarded asan expression at the individual level of the general survey-takingclimate. Based on a review of the research about ‘surveyson surveys’ five relevant dimensions of the respondent'sopinion about surveys are distinguished: survey enjoyment, surveyvalue, survey cost, survey reliability, and survey privacy.Items related to these aspects are used to develop an ‘Opinionsabout Survey Scale’. The results of an analysis of thepredictive validity of the scale support the expectations basedon the theory of planned behavior. Opinions about surveys areassociated with the intention to participate in future surveysand with hesitation to fill out the questionnaire of a mailsurvey. Opinions are not related with participation in a follow-upmail survey. The results of the wave analysis of a mail surveyare a clear indication that nonrespondents have more negativeopinions about different aspects of surveys. This also meansthat the measurement of opinions is biased. However, becauseof this bias it is worthwhile and useful to measure these opinions.     

Research on teacher and librarian collaboration: An examination of underlying structures of models

This article reports on quantitative data collected in a mixed methods study of teacher and librarian collaboration. This practice is discussed extensively in the literature on school librarianship as an instructional strategy that positively affects student academic achievement. However, while there is much anecdotal evidence regarding successful teacher and librarian collaboration, there is little hard research that defines specific practices that lead to successful collaborations. This study provides empirical data on teacher and librarian collaboration which helps us understand the nature of collaboration and the extent to which theory and practice are integrated. Two surveys based on proposed theoretical models of teacher and librarian collaboration were used for this study. The first survey was based on Loertscger's Taxonomy. The second survey was based on a new proposed model of teacher and librarian collaboration (TLC Model) which builds on the taxonomy and expands our understanding of teacher and librarian collaboration. Participants in the study included teachers, librarians and principals from kindergarten through middle school. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out on both surveys to identify underlying structures of teacher and librarian collaboration. Three factors emerged from the data identifying a range of underlying structures: integrated instruction, library and librarian as resource, and traditional role for teacher and librarian. Further research on the TLC Model with a larger number of participants and survey items is needed to examine the stability of the factor structures and to further refine the new measure.     

WAPOR News

DINERMAN AWARD FOR DON A. DILLMAN The 2006 Helen Dinerman Award for outstanding contributionsto survey research methodolgy was given to Professor Don A.Dillman at the WAPOR Annual Conference in Montréal inMay. Professor Dillman’s achievements in the fields aresummarized in the award citation read at the conference. DINERMAN AWARD CITATION Don Dillman’s work spans the entire field of survey research—fromthe mailed questionnaire to the internet surveys of the future—allwith     

Who Will They Think We Were? Public Libraries and Records Retention Practices in Six Midwestern States

ABSTRACT

This research project investigates public records retention policies incorporated into practice in public libraries in the upper Midwest. The authors compared behaviors mandated by state legislation to practices in place based on a survey of public library administrators in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana. The intent was not to determine actual compliance, but to elicit information about practices. While variables such as definitions of terms and standards of policies affect the interpretations of the results, the findings highlight that public librarians have an awareness about retention policies, though they vary from institution to institution. Within this article, the authors discuss these records management practices in relation to their value in the development of institutional and professional history.     

Authority Control in Academic Libraries in the United States: A Survey

ABSTRACT

Authority control is an important part of the cataloging process, but relatively little research has been conducted related to its practice in academic libraries. In addition, few studies have been conducted regarding staffing and training issues related to authority control. To examine these issues, a survey was developed and e-mailed to academic libraries at 258 institutions designated by the year 2000 Carnegie Classification as either Doctoral/Research Extensive or Intensive level. The survey consisted of questions relating to authority control practices and staffing and training issues related to authority control. One hundred ninety-three institutions responded for a return rate of 75 percent. The survey results indicate that authority control was practiced and highly valued by the vast majority of respondents and that many would like additional time, funding, and personnel to do more authority control work in their libraries.     

The Ultimate Survey: Asking One Question at a Time to Get Feedback from Library Users

ABSTRACT

Libraries use surveys and other instruments to gather feedback from their users. However, with competition from many other campus entities requesting input, how can survey fatigue be avoided? To gather this feedback, the Social Sciences Reference Desk utilized a short, fun and easy method. Each week for 10 weeks during the fall semester of 2017, the reference assistants wrote a survey question on a whiteboard and provided sticky notes for patrons to write their answers. The survey provided valuable information about patrons’ needs and expectations. It also fostered changes that were easily implemented to improve the delivery of library services.     

Reporting Practices of Institutional Repositories: Analysis of Responses from Two Surveys

This article describes the results of two surveys, which gathered data about the reporting practices for institutional repositories (IR). The surveys were completed by library directors and IR managers, and questions were asked about strategic importance, content scope, and the methods and mechanisms libraries utilize to evaluate and report on IR use and impact. Data from the surveys helped inform the research of the project team and led to the development of the web service called the Repository Analytics & Metrics Portal.     

An Experiment: Combining Interlibrary Loan with a Science/Engineering Reference Department

ABSTRACT

This article reports on survey findings investigating the impact of statewide library consortia on Interlibrary Loan departments and their potential impact in the State University of New York library system as it moves toward creating its statewide integrated system, called SUNY Connect. The surveys were sent to a sampling of 75 libraries in three existing statewide library consortia, VIVA in Virginia, GALILEO in Georgia and OhioLINK in Ohio. The results of this survey indicate what changes Interlibrary Loan departments may see in workflow, staffing, and technology when joining a statewide consortia.     

THE IMAGE OF PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS IN BRITAIN AND FRANCE

This paper examines the results of studies in Britain and Franceon the views of the two peoples towards public opinion surveys: — their experience of surveys — attitudes towards the concept of sample surveys — the accuracy of sample surveys — the publication of polls during election campaigns — exposure to news information — interest in survey data The results in the two countries were, to a substantial degree,similar and showed an underlying positive attitude towards publicopinion surveys. There are, however, a number of points to bearin mind, where more public relations and more public informationis required to improve public awareness of, and public acceptanceof, opinion surveys.     

Organizational Surveys: A System for Employee Voice

Although surveys are often used to assess and track employee attitudes and opinions over time and are used quite frequently by applied communication researchers, the use of surveys as a channel to voice employee attitudes and opinions has not been fully explored in the employee voice or basic organizational communication literature. With the increased call for accountability, effective applied communication researchers can play an important role in ensuring that organizations engage in the survey process in a manner that is “safe” for employees, and ethical and practical for the organization. Because the question of how to accomplish this task is complex and cannot be fully addressed within the constraints of a commentary, I offer three general principles to guide future researchers in helping overcome organizational communication problems:

1. Build trust in the organizational survey process, the researcher(s), and the organization.

2. Eliminate the adversarial relationship that often exists between management and employees who speak up.

3. Provide evidence that the organization does more than purport to value the things that it says it values.