Last week Marshall Breeding asked if I would contact church librarians with a request that each of you participate in his 2015 International Library Automation Perception Survey. This is the 9th year for these annual surveys. Marshall is a highly regarded independant library automation consultant and the former head of library automation for Vanderbilt University Libraries.
Few church libraries participated in the 2014 survey. The more church librarians who participate, the more useful the results will be for all of us--whether we are evaluating our library's current software or considering automation for the first time.
If someone else in your congregation should be completing this survey, please forward this request to them.
If you've participated in the past, you know the ropes. If you've not participated, now is a good time to start. The survey asks for your perceptions as a user of the software, so it does not require in-depth knowledge of library automation. It is brief but allows plenty of room for adding comments if you choose to do so.
Anyone looking at a directory entry for your library can immediately see whether a response to the survey has been completed.
- Go to http://librarytechnology.org
- Scroll down to the "Find your library" search box and enter the library's name
- Can't find the library? Try fewer words. OR, go to
libraries.org
Click on the + sign for "more search options" and use the pull-down menu to select "church" libraries - If your library isn't listed, please add it to the directory.
- Your library may be in the directory whether you are aware of its listing or not. Some vendors periodically add listings for a selected group of their customers.
If you are not the person who established the description for your library, you may create a personal account and sign in to complete the survey. While there, take a look at the record for your library and make sure all information is up to date. Especially check the name(s) and email addresses of the library director and library automation contact in order to receive email notification of future surveys.
The same person cannot complete a survey for more than one library. This accounts for a few missing responses to the survey.
Replies
Is this for users of a particular user software or all user softwares? The software we use is actually designed for school libraries.
The survey is for any kind of software.
The library directory itself is international in scope. If you need to add your library before completing the survey, you will be amazed to see how many product names there are from which to choose when entering it!
Not interested at this time.
Sorry, I tried, but I couldn't find the library.
Kate:
Since your library isn't listed, create an account for yourself on the site and add it. Once you've done that you'll be able to complete the survey. Use the pull-down menu for "Member login" and it will give you the option to register.
To get an idea of the kinds of questions that are asked, go to the Home Page (http://librarytechnology.org) There are links to every survey since 2007.
Even if your library automation system didn't have a minimum of 20 responses last year, you can still see what those who DID respond had to say about it. Any comments you make on this year's the survey WILL be visible to anyone viewing the directory, but they will not be attributed to a specific person or library.
Once you're a registered user, Advanced Searches of the library directory gives all sorts of other options. You'll be able to qualify your searches by the name of the software and see how many customers with the same software are listed. What kinds of libraries do they represent? How many new customers has the software attracted during a specific year? How many customers have ceased using that software, and to what software did they move to? Did these libraries stay with the same company or move to a different company? How do those trends compare with the level of satisfaction shown in the surveys?