ODINCINDIO Marine Information Management Training Course 13-24 February 2006
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Transcript of ODINCINDIO Marine Information Management Training Course 13-24 February 2006
ODINCINDIO Marine Information Management Training Course 13-24
February 2006
Evaluating the need for an Information
CentreMurari P TapaswiNational Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula 403 004 Goa, India
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Realization of the need… 1
• Waste of funds in acquiring same information • Unable to lay hands on the available /
scattered information
• Limited time to carefully study and select useful information
• Duplication of efforts in searching information
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Realization of the need… 2
• Same information required by many departments
• Unable to make quick decisions due to non-availability of readymade information
• Waste of time and money in searching information
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
End result…
• Establishment of an Information Centre------------------------------------------------------
Beginning of the business of the Information personnel
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Understand……
• Objectives of the organization– Documents that speak
objectives: Memorandum of Association, Policy Statement, Mission Statement, etc.
- Documents that speak activity and scope: Organizational Charts, Statements of Responsibility, etc.
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Know the people…
• Who wish to– Use your services and facilities – Don't !
• The way – Needs assessment surveys
? Best time for Needs Assessment Surveys
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Time for assessment surveys
• No one good time• Continual process• Do it as and when
– Technology/ environment changes– Users change
• Good reason to have a dialogue with the users!
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment surveys: How
• Identifying the customer or customer group
• Planning for data collection• Collection of data• Analysis• Action on findings
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
• The people we serve• The users for whom the service is
targeted at• Client base vs perspective clients• Method to find them
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
• Available options in offering information/ service
• Informal discussions– Understanding vocabulary of the user– Distinctive value of the service to the users
• Assessment with qualitative or quantitative data, or a mixture of both– Qualitative info provides in-depth info about fewer
cases– Quantitative info provides more breadth of info
across a large number of cases
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
• Different ways– Surveys (print forms/ online/ e-mails)– Interviews (personal / over phone)– Focus groups– On-site observation
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
Surveys (print forms/ online/ e-mails)• Advantages
– Can be administered among large populations
– Less intrusive (and biased) than other methods of data collection
– Statistical applications on digitized quantitative info lead to excellent results
• Simple, well tested questionnaires result in accurate and positive rate of return
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
Surveys (print forms/ online/ e-mails)• User satisfaction vs User needs surveys
or both in two sections• Purposeful• Decide before hand how data for each
question would be analyzed• Open ended questions (allow subjective
interpretation) vs close questions
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
Surveys (print forms/ online/ e-mails)• Close questions/statements with ranked
choice– e.g. You would prefer to receive reminders
for the books that are due (1 2 3 4). 4 – highest in agreement
• Close questions with forced choice (yes/no)– e.g. Should we charge late fee for delayed
returns (yes/no)
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
Interviews (personal / over phone)• Interviewee can ask clarification on the
question• Replies may turn to qualitative nature
and loose track• Replies may get influenced by
interviewers preferences and body language
• Recording of replies is an art• Good for smaller populations
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
Focus groups• Knowledgeable/ experienced small
group of experts• Expensive • Feedback can help in designing future
surveys
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
On-site observations• Time-consuming method• Users may not know that they are
observed• Observer must be knowledgeable to
draw conclusions• Log of every small observation is
required to be kept• Best to be used in combination with
other types of evaluations
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
• Different approach for analysis of qualitative and quantitative data
• Qualitative data needs to be converted to common threads from set of responses
• Selection of appropriate statistical packages for analysis
• Plotting data in Impact vs Ease chart
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
• Plotting data in Impact vs Ease chart
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
High
High
Ease
Impact
Low
AB
CD
? Squares A to D in order of preference for action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment
• The items/suggestions that are of high impact and easy to implement to be taken up first. Rest in sequence of possibility of implementation/importance
• Feedback user with the results and actions after the survey
- User identification- Planning- Data collection- Analysis- Action
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment: Other tools
• Standards– Smaller libraries can base needs of their
users by established standards which have been derived from experiences by other libraries
• Suggestion box– Needed to be opened at fixed short
intervals
• Discussions with fellow users– Informal / formal
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment: Other tools
• Online survey softwares – built in survey templates– Web-based surveys – nothing to download– View results real-time– Examples:
• http://www.questionpro.com/ • http://www.sectorresearch.com/
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Sources for further studies
• Good description– http://digital.library.arizona.edu/nadm/tutorial/
– http://nnlm.gov/ner/nesl/9410/tol.html • Electronic survey form examples:
– http://www.kaiaghok.com/A55885/pulp.nsf/survey – http://library.uthct.edu/libsurvey1.htm
ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006
Needs assessment survey assignment
Design a needs assessment survey for a service in your library and state how would you go about on following three aspects:
• Purpose• User identification• Planning• Data collection• Analysis• Action