Assessment News & Resources

If you have not seen the latest Library Connect newsletter (March 2012), please take a look. Donna Carroll, Academic Service Development Manager, University of Warwick Library, Conetry, UK has written a feature article entitled “Get to know your users better: Seven secrets for successful surveys”. Additionally, there are several articles on “Power the Librarian: Exploring the impact of the 21st Century Librarian”.

Focus Groups

(From the AIG wiki; originally posted April 2008)

Let’s discuss focus groups this month! Some questions to get you started:

• How did you successfully recruit focus group participants?
• What incentives did you use, if any, and what seemed to work best?
• How did you decide what questions to ask? (Complaints from patrons? Based on survey results? Other?)
• Academic libraries, did you need approval from your IRB to conduct the focus group?
• Please provide any details that you think others would benefit from knowing: Number of subjects, number of moderators, method(s) of recording discussions, time of day you held the group, reporting results, acting on findings . . .

If you haven’t conducted any focus groups and have questions for those in the group who have, feel free to post your questions.

I conducted a student focus group at the end of March that worked out well. I had 9 subjects and asked them 5 questions. The questions were based on our fall 2007 LibQUAL+ data–mainly repeated comments that we didn’t quite understand or that we wanted validated.  I served pizza and snacks, and each participant received a $5 campus debit card at the conclusion of the focus group. The subjects were great; they provided thoughtful answers and seemed engaged the whole time. I moderated the session and used a digital audio recorder and a video camera that also captured audio (which was good, because the audio recorder cut out quite a bit, and I would’ve missed much of the audio without the camera’s audio.)

At my insitution (Georgia State), we do have to get IRB approval to conduct a focus group. I requested a waiver of consent, since all reports of the focus group’s discussions would not have subjects’ names associated with them. Subjects still had to give consent according to the informed consent document, but they were allowed to give verbal consent. I told the IRB that I planned to do more focus groups in the future and did I have to submit an application for each one. I’m allowed to edit my current application and revise the date, time, and questions to be asked.

In the past, successful recruitment has been a problem. This time I targeted organized student groups and emailed members. I asked those interested to tell me when they were available and scheduled the focus group at the most available time. This meant editing my IRB protocol for date and time, but it wasn’t a big deal. I will definitely use this approach again.

I look forward to reading others’ comments–I’m especially interested in recruiting techniques!

Jennifer

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Some focus group resources:

Becher, M. L., & Flug, J. L. (2005). Using student focus groups to inform library planning and marketing. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 12(1/2), 1-18.

Bloor, M. (2001). Focus groups in social research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Greenbaum, T. L. (1998). The handbook for focus group research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Greenbaum, T. L. (2000). Moderating focus groups: a practical guide for group facilitation. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Hughes-Hassel, S., & Bishop, K. (2004). Using focus group interviews to improve library services for youth. Teacher Librarian, 32(1), 8-12. Available through ProQuest Research Library.

Lee, D. (2005). Can you hear me now?: Using focus groups to enhance marketing research. Library Administration & Management, 19(2), 100-101. Available through ProQuest Research Library and ABI Inform Complete.

Walden, G. (2006). Focus group interviewing in the library literature: A selective annotated bibliography 1996-2005. Reference Services Review, 34(2), 222-241. Available through Emerald and ProQuest Research Library.

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Using focus groups for library renovations

Some members of this committee have recently renovated their library. Before renovating your library did you create a focus group or groups to obtain input from students or other library users about the changes they wanted incorporated into the renovation? If so can you share your success stories and also how did you attract and select people to join the focus group? What were some of the drawbacks of using focus groups? The reason I ask is because we are to going to renovate our library and it seem appropriate we use focus groups to help us determine some of the changes we should incorporate into the renovation.

Thanks,

Diane

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Hi Diane,

We did a small renovation last year and did not use focus groups for that project, however for the new building (scheduled to break ground this summer) we formed the Library Planning Group.  It is made up of “key” players such as the Director of Student Success, representatives from Educational Technology, library faculty members etc.  We also included students and faculty members (volunteers) that had an interest in the project.  We conducted “brain storming” sessions as the full group.  In these sessions we asked questions of all members and also just allowed time for everyone to say what is important to them in a library building.  We also divided up the members and did small groups focusing on interior, exterior and technology for the building, with library faculty interviewing the participants.   Group members also went on “field trips” to several schools and brought that information back to the table.  The Library Planning Group is very much like a focus group, we are engaging our users to find out what they want and need.  The group produced a Planning Document that was given to the project manager and architects, both of which have found it to be very helpful.  From our experience I would think that focus groups would be extremely helpful in planning a renovation.  These folks do know what works in the real world of academics (something an architect might not always understand) and can definitely help make the library better.  The only drawback I can think of is that a lot of folks have a lot of great ideas but you can’t give everyone everything, so some participants may be a bit disappointed in the end if their “great idea” wasn’t put into place (usually because of space, budget or practicality.)  Good luck!

Joy

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Hi Joy,

Thanks for sharing your experiences. There has been talk of a new library in our future and I like your ideas about how to get the students, the faculty and the staff involved in the planning process.

Stacy