ODINCINDIO Marine Information Management Training Course February 2006 Evaluating the need for an Information Centre Murari P Tapaswi National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula 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/ s) –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/ s) 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/ s) 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/ s) Close questions/statements with ranked choice –e.g. You would prefer to receive reminders for the books that are due ( ). 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 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:

ODINCINDIO Info Mgmt Trg Course Feb 2006 Sources for further studies Good description – – Electronic survey form examples: – –

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