Survey: Librarians’ approaches to selecting and learning technology-based tools

July 2, 2024

Hello,

Our names are Carolyn Pecoskie, Metadata & Electronic Resources Librarian, and Clara Turp, Systems Discovery Librarian, from McGill University Libraries. We are working on a research project to better understand how librarians select technology-based tools when facing a problem at work. Additionally, this study will investigate in what context librarians learn new technology tools or new technology-related skills.

In order to collect data, we are circulating this survey to librarians who work with technology-based tools, regardless of position, title, or institutional affiliation, with the hope that you will be willing to share your perspectives. Sharing this survey with your librarian colleagues would also be greatly appreciated.

The survey is hosted on McGill’s Microsoft Forms and should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Your participation in this survey is entirely voluntary. The survey is anonymous and will not collect any personal identifying information such as name or email.

If you would like to participate, please click here to be redirected to the survey. You will be presented with more information about the survey followed by the opportunity to give your consent before the survey begins.

If you have any further questions or would like more information, please contact the Primary Investigator of this study, Carolyn Pecoskie (carolyn.pecoskie@mcgill.ca) or Clara Turp (clara.turp@mcgill.ca).

The survey will remain open until the end of day on Friday, August 30, 2024.

Thank you sincerely for your time and consideration,

Carolyn Pecoskie and Clara Turp

Carolyn Pecoskie (she/her/hers/elle)
Metadata & Electronic Resources Librarian | Bibliothécaire, métadonnées et ressources électroniques
McGill University | Université McGill

Clara Turp (she/her/hers)
Discovery Systems Librarian | Bibliothécaire des systèmes de découverte
McGill University | Université McGill

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance from the McGill University Research Ethics Board (Project #24-05-120)

Additional information

Purpose of the research

The purpose of this study is to better understand how librarians select technology-based tools when facing a problem at work. Additionally, this study will investigate in what context librarians learn new technology tools or new technology-related skills. Previous studies have focused on whether or not technology skills are necessary for librarians, and whether library science curriculum properly prepares them for applying technology in the workforce. Our aim is to further probe the selection and learning process that librarians undertake. Our study centres on three main research questions:

• What are technology-based tools that librarians use for their job duties?
• How do librarians identify which technology-based tools to use when faced with a problem?
• Under what circumstances do librarians learn new technology-based tools or further develop their knowledge of technology-based tools?

Survey procedures

The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete. You will be asked questions about which technology tools you use in your work, what types of problems you use technology tools to address, and how you select and learn technology tools.

Benefits and risk

Participants may benefit from reflecting on their use of technology tools and their problem-solving habits. The community at large may benefit from learning about what types of technology tools their peers apply at work, how their peers learn about technology tools, and what types of institution supports exist or do not exist for current technology learning for librarians. There are no perceived risks to answering this survey.

Participation

Your participation in this survey is entirely voluntary. Only a few questions are required to preserve the survey’s logic. However, you may choose to remove your consent or withdraw from the survey at any time by exiting the survey, in which case your responses will not be saved. As survey responses are anonymous, it will not be possible to have answers withdrawn once the survey is submitted.

Confidentiality and anonymity

The information being gathered is anonymous and your responses will not be traced back to you. Data collected via this survey may be used in research articles or professional presentations. Free text responses that are shared will have all possible identifying information removed. Data will be stored in McGill’s Microsoft cloud services (Forms and Sharepoint). Please note that McGill’s Microsoft cloud services have backup servers outside of Quebec.