Library systems and skills survey
Exit this survey 

1. Introduction

 

First, and most important - how much time is this going to take?
We estimate it should take you about 15 minutes to complete this survey. We know your time is valuable, and we appreciate that you've made it this far!

What's this survey for?
The purpose of this survey is to gather information about the models for support and management of ICT in libraries.

The aim is to develop a picture of

  • Who provides the ICT environment and infrastructure in libraries
  • Who supports the ICT environment and infrastructure in libraries
  • Which systems/software libraries are choosing to host locally, which are hosted ‘in the cloud’, and which are provided under Software as a Service arrangements
  • Why libraries have chosen the hosting options that are in place
  • What skills librarians need to support systems and software
  • Whether librarians possess the skills needed to support systems and software
The results of the survey will inform a paper to be presented at VALA 2010.

Anonymity
No personal information or information that specifically identifies your library will be collected in this survey. However, we may use geographical and sectoral information to make some generalisations about the research.

Who's running this survey?
A couple of tech-ish librarians from the Gold Coast, Australia - Carolyn McDonald and Kate Davis. You can follow us on Twitter, if you want to see what we're about (and find out about the progress of this research, too). We're @camcd and @katiedavis respectively.

Some definitions to help you complete the survey
Throughout this survey the following terms will be used.

Open Source Software (OSS)
Open source describes a broad general type of software license that makes source code available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent copyright restrictions. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source#The_Open_Source_Definition

Cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS)
Increasingly it seems people are using these two terms interchangeably. For the purpose of this survey, cloud computing is more general - ie you could just be storing your data in the cloud, or using a cloud-based services as an adjunct for what you have on your desktop (eg for sharing slides with others via Slideshare or videos via youtube). Many of the cloud-based services libraries use are free, but some of them aren't. SaaS is where you contract with a vendor (or support company) to provide (usually their) software as a service, and so you access it over an Internet connection, from where ever they may choose to locate it.

1. Do you work in a library, or have you worked in a library in the past?

2. Where are you located?

3. Are you a qualified librarian or library technician?

4. Do you have any IT qualifications or experience?

5. Please select your library type.

6. Does your library operate as an independent entity, or are you part of a larger organisation?

7. Please select from the following list the description(s) that best fits your role. You may choose more than one group.

8. If you do not work in a library, or if you are responding to this survey as a non-library worker, please describe your position.