Project Update 2
Purpose and Goals of This Week
This week, I wanted to develop a survey to send out to potential participants. While I’m waiting to hear back from some of the people I reached out to, I should be able to get a decent idea of how different stakeholders would engage with the project even if not every potential participant I listed last week is able to contribute to this case study. So, this survey acts as a way getting baseline level of information about participants’ preferences for their databases and archives, whether or not they see value in the blog component of the site, and if they would be open to an interview later down the line. This post includes a link to the google form sent to potential participants and a rationale for each of the questions included.
Link to Survey
https://forms.gle/kfW182MVQUpXWZjS9
Survey Rationale
What is your received level of education? If still in school, what degree are you currently pursuing?
While it makes little sense to record demographic information here in regard to gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, and all the other various categories that surveys seem to want to record, it’s crucial to this case study to organize participants around what they could potentially be using the site for. With that consideration in mind, it’s pertinent to record the education level of participants to understand the context of which the site will likely be used. In the case of undergraduates for example, they would likely be using the database for professional or assignment related purposes, at the MA level similar circumstances with the addition of the pursuit of conference and publication opportunities, and after a Ph.D. has been attained most likely it will be used solely for research with the added context of either scholarly or professional research.
What are your research interests?
Similar to the first question, this question is asked with the intention of understanding whether participants are interested in literacy studies or not, and how that might effect their perceptions of the site.
Do you have any experience with archival research?
Because the site is primarily designed as an archive, it’s crucial to record whether or not participants have experience with this type of research. This will also influence future questions that pertain to the sorts of content that participants would want on the site in addition to the content currently available. One such type of content is a glossary of common concepts and terms (similar to Dr. Pullman’s website for this class), which would make it easier for such potential users to engage with the archive and blog in a meaningful way.
Are you familiar with literacy studies as a discipline, including common terms and concepts?
This question seeks to determine users’ current understanding of the discipline that the content of the DALN site is committed to. In the case that the user isn’t familiar with the topic, the follow-up questions are designed to better understand how they might begin engaging with content unfamiliar to them. This is particularly important to understand how users would be engaging with content off-site and how we can then cater blog and source details depending on user understanding. For example, if a narrative includes an example of literacy sponsorship, should we assume that users have already read Deborah Brandt’s foundational article, “Sponsors of Literacy”?
How do you approach new research topics and interests?
Generalized question with the aim of better understanding answers to the previous question and potential user behavior as they approach a potentially unfamiliar topic. This is designated mostly to the non-expert audience and their approach to what will be an unfamiliar discipline to them. Keeping this open ended for those familiar with literacy studies also adds some extra perspective on how participants more generally approach new topics which could improve the experiences of non-expert users.
Would having something akin to a glossary of common terms and concepts be useful when engaging with something like literacy studies. or would you prefer a bibliography of key texts? Select N/A if this is already an area of interest.
This final follow up to the questions related to expert vs. non-expert users seeks to simply ask if a new addition to available content in the form of a glossary would be beneficial. N/A and Not Necessary are included as options for expert users and uninterested non-expert users respectively, but this question will likely indicate a type of content that would benefit those new to the discipline and make the site more compelling to those unfamiliar with literacy studies.
When using an archive or database, what is most important to you?
I’ve gone back and forth with this question, not because of what it reveals about the participants but whether or not it should be responded to through check boxes or multiple choice. I went with check boxes due to the sheer amount of choices that are available. The choices are set up through common aspects of archives and databases, such as how easy it is to find sources that you’re looking for, search functionality, and identifying characteristics for each source. Answers to this question should help determine whether or not there needs to be further development to the site, or if there needs to be more concerted efforts on the backend to add details to each source.
A major component of the DALN is our blog where we post updates on how the project is being used pedagogically, in research, and any updates regarding the project’s development. Is this of interest to you?
A simple question that asks users if the blog is of interest to them. Due to the variety of potential users, description has been added to indicate the types of content regularly posted.
How would you prefer the blog be designed?
While traditionally blogs are set up to be experienced in chronological order, the variety of content posted makes it difficult to simply say “Let’s keep it in chronological order and hope users can find what they’re looking for.” Instead, the question offers a couple different options for users to emphasize their preferences.
If you don’t see yourself using the blog in its current form, is there any content you’d like to see added to it?
As an extension of the previous question, if there’s different types of content that participants might be interested in that wasn’t listed in the prior question, what would they like to see instead? The goal, ideally, is to see how users in different disciplines might engage with the blog if content more related to their interests was included. This is mostly aimed at the participants whose answers I’m already anticipating – discussions of AI, neuroscience, and psychology may be of interest to those users whose interests deviate from the core of literacy studies.
Are you open to an interview in the timeframe of 4/1-4/14? If so, please include potential availability.
Basic, open-ended question regarding interviewing and scheduling said interview.