(with apologies for cross-posting)
Dear colleagues,
The survey, described below, closes at 5 pm Mountain Time this Friday, September 23. Thanks to all who have participated so far.
You are invited to participate in a research project conducted by David Macaulay, Collection Development Librarian at University of Wyoming Libraries. This study will survey academic
librarians in the United States who self-identify as being responsible for tasks related to the management of electronic information resources at their institution. The survey is intended to gather information about the distribution of Electronic Resources
Management (ERM) responsibilities among librarians at academic institutions in the US, in order to enable a better understanding of the evolution of professional roles in this area, and potentially to help academic libraries optimize the organization of ERM
work.
Should you choose to participate, you will be asked about your job title, about sharing of various ERM responsibilities with other librarians or paraprofessional staff, and about
your responsibility for other types of work within your library. The survey should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.
The survey will be open until September 23, 2016, at 5 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time. Respondents are asked to take the survey only once;
please feel free to forward this email on to others who might wish to participate.
Completing this survey should involve minimal risk. While participating in a study of this sort carries the risk of a loss of confidentiality, the investigator is endeavoring to
minimize risk by not collecting IP addresses or other personally identifiable information. Data about institutional affiliation is collected to permit identification of multiple responses from a single institution; because the association of this information
with a specified job title could potentially be used to identify the respondent, affiliation data will be replaced with coded indicators after initial collection, and then discarded.
You will not directly benefit from participation in this study. However, your participation may help the investigator identify trends in library staffing with respect to the management
of electronic information resources. Analysis of the resulting data is intended to be shared through publication, so your participation may also help members of the profession improve their understanding of current patterns in library staffing, and thereby
support enhancements in this area.
The results of this study may be published in professional journals, and used for educational purposes or for professional presentations. Individual respondents will not be identified.
Your participation in this project is anonymous. The survey will not be collecting any personally identifying information, however, the second section requests institutional information which could be used to identify a respondent. The question about institutional
affiliation is optional; affiliation data will be replaced with coded indicators to be used for deduplication when data collection is complete. Once coding has been performed, the original affiliation values will be removed from the data. They will not be
exported, saved, shared with any other researcher, or published.
Participation in this study is voluntary. Refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled, and you may discontinue participation
at any time. There is no compensation for participating in this survey. This survey is intended to be taken by persons 18 years of age or older.
Any questions about this research project can be addressed to David Macaulay at
(307) 766-5619 or
dmacaula@uwyo.edu. If you have questions about your rights as a research subject, please contact the University of Wyoming IRB Administrator at
307-766-5320.
By clicking the following link to proceed to the survey, you indicate that you are 18 years of age or older, and that you consent to participate in the research.
https://survey.uwyo.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=94K33o34J
Thank you,
David Macaulay
Collection Development Librarian
University of Wyoming Libraries
Dept. 3334, 1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071
(307) 766-5619