Library Research Service

This is a “guest post” from the Colorado Virtual Library Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion blog. When you wake up, one of the first things you might do is open your weather app to see what the temperature is and if it’s supposed to rain that day. You then use that information—or data—to make important decisions, like what to wear and whether you should bring an umbrella when you go out. The fact is, we are all collecting data every day—and we use that data to inform what we do next. It’s no different in libraries. We collect data about circulation, program attendance,...

When I was a kid, one of my favorite summer activities was staring at hummingbirds. I would sit for hours, moving as little as possible, while I took notes about everything I saw. (Yes, I was a pretty weird eight year old.) I wanted to ask the hummingbirds so many questions, but I don’t speak hummingbird! Observing them was my only option for trying to understand their behavior.  While it is literally impossible to ask a hummingbird to take a survey, there are many times with humans when a survey won’t work to collect the data you need either. Observation can...

Surveys are the rotisserie oven of the data collection methods. You simply “set it, and forget it!” That’s why it’s important to be strategic about how you’re reaching your target population. Otherwise, you may be leaving out key subsets of your audience—which are often voices that are already historically underrepresented.   Is your survey equitable?  Let’s say you want to send out a survey to library users, so you print off a stack of copies and leave them on the lending desk for patrons to take. While everyone in your target audience may have equal access to the survey (or in other words,...

Results from the 2020 Colorado Talking Book Library (CTBL) patron survey are in! Survey respondents gave CTBL high marks again with 99% rating CTBL’s overall service as good or excellent in 2020. This is the ninth survey in a row (over 16 years) where 98% or more of respondents rated CTBL’s overall service as good or excellent. The Colorado Talking Book Library provides free library services to Coloradans who are unable to read standard print materials. This includes patrons with physical, visual, and learning disabilities. The CTBL collection contains audio books and magazines, Braille books, large print books, equipment, and a collection...

The Colorado State Library (CSL)’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Team (EDIT) is dedicated to raising awareness about EDI issues and spotlighting those values in Colorado’s cultural heritage profession. This guest post is the first in CSL’s new blog series that will regularly be posted on Colorado Virtual Library here. Twice a month, members of the LRS team will be looking at EDI research and how it applies to the library profession. We encourage you to visit the CVL website to learn more!  Using appropriate terminology is a vital part of being an effective communicator. Using inclusive language is a way of...

Bad Survey Questions – pt. 2 Don’t let those bad survey questions go unpunished. Last time we talked about leading and loaded questions, which can inadvertently manipulate survey respondents. This week we’ll cover three question types that can just be downright confusing to someone taking your survey! Let’s dig in.  Do you know what double-barreled questions are and how to avoid them? When we design surveys it’s because we’re really curious about something and want a lot of information! Sometimes that eagerness causes us to jam too much into a single question and we end up with a double-barreled question. Let’s look at...