• Do you want better insights into what your community members want and need from the library?
• Would you like to create surveys that garner accurate, meaningful and actionable results?
• Would you like to know more about methods that will increase your survey response rates?

Surveys are a popular tool used by libraries and organizations of all types when contemplating a change or facing a challenge. A well-crafted survey delivered in the appropriate method provides libraries with valuable feedback enabling them to make informed decisions. Without proper planning and implementation, however, survey data can be difficult to analyze and even useless. In this course, we will cover all phases of planning and implementing surveys, from establishing goals and writing effective questions to increasing response rates. This course will help learners create better surveys, which can lead to useful and actionable findings.

Course Description: This four-week online course will provide resources, tips and techniques that can be used immediately. Through assignments and discussion forums, you will be apply the concepts learned to create surveys for your own position, library, and community.

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

• Week 1: Survey Planning
  • Establishing goals
  • Creating timelines
  • Selecting the appropriate target audience
  • Building your survey team
  • Survey delivery methods
• Week 2: Survey Questions
  • Appropriate terms and words for survey questions
  • The importance of question order
  • Common mistakes made by survey creators
  • The psychological impact of wording on respondents
• Week 3: Survey Design
  • Online tools for creating and hosting surveys
  • Importance of navigation and survey structure
  • The pros and cons of various survey question formats
• Week 4: Survey Response
  • Increasing survey response rates
  • Survey data compilation
  • Summarizing and Reporting survey results

Time Required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2½ hours per week, for a total of ten course hours. Each week's module contains readings and various options for assignments, discussions, or online meetings. You can choose the options most relevant to your work and interests. Although you can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: Any library staff who are responsible for creating surveys

Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at: infopeople.org/training/online_learning_details.

After the official end date for the course, the instructor will be available for limited consultation and support for two more weeks, and the course material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course.