Thing 18

I had one question on my survey that wouldn't take multiple answers. I didn't go back and fix it once it was sent out. I thought Survey Monkey was easy to use and I should have tested my survery before I sent it. I read this advice in Burl's blog and should have heeded it.
Here are the answers from my "essay question" about what questions we should ask about separating genre fiction:

Is "Inspirational" really a genre? What about SF Inspirational titles like "Oxygen"?
Fri, 3/20/09 11:00 AM

2.
I think you want to only have those who read from these genres answer the Q. re separation. I would follow it by a question about why it is important to them.
Tue, 3/17/09 3:25 PM

3.
We should probably know what percentage of our genre readers come looking for specific titles vs what percentage primarily find books by browsing. If you come looking for specific titles, it doesn't matter as much where they are. If you browse, the Adult Fiction collection is a lot of territory to cover when looking for one of the above mentioned genres.
Mon, 3/16/09 4:08 PM

4.
Popularity of genre; where will the separated genre be shelved; how will pages/staff know where to shelve i.e. will the genre be stickered or appropriately marked?
Mon, 3/16/09 3:53 PM

5.
What do other branches do (Ell BKM). Should we consider format? (paperbacks) What have patrons requested? If you take "A" out what is left?(ie literary fiction only?) Who gets to decide what is included in what genre? Your survey would not let me pick the same answer for 2 genres "Flaw Alert"
Mon, 3/16/09 1:24 PM

6.
Do you primarily read one genre?
Mon, 3/16/09 11:51 AM

7.
Would you read exclusively from one genre if they were seperated?
Mon, 3/16/09 9:45 AM

8.
What is your favorite section of the library? -BC
Sat, 3/14/09 6:16 PM

9.
Ask patrons how important it is to them to have browsing collections arranged by genre. Do the majority of fiction readers find their desired reading material through browsing or the use of the catalog.
Sat, 3/14/09 8:31 AM

10.
Do you prefer to browse within a particular genre? If so, which ones?
Sat, 3/14/09 8:21 AM

11.
Do people come in looking for a "section" of a specific type of book. Is there a particular genre reader that we aren't serving who would be more likely to use the library if we separated and made their reading choices easier to locate. p.s. your form would not let me tell you that I read 2 genres equally often...I wanted to. This may skew your results
Fri, 3/13/09 4:26 PM

12.
Solid definitions of the genres. That's why I think it's hard to vote for Horror, because I wonder if it would be difficult to distinguish the proper location, whether general fiction, horror, or maybe even sci fi? Speaking of which, Lahaye might be inspirational to some, but it's Horror to me :-).
Fri, 3/13/09 3:40 PM

13.
...
Fri, 3/13/09 3:27 PM

14.
How do you find books in your favorite genre?
Fri, 3/13/09 3:18 PM

15.
Do
Fri, 3/13/09 3:14 PM

16.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............
Fri, 3/13/09 2:59 PM

17.
Do we have enough room to seperate genre fiction
Fri, 3/13/09 2:48

Burl sent a link to a site that uses surveys as a Reader's Advisory tool. Very interesting!
Essay questions can be very helpful even though time consuming. They should be carefully constructed to yield helpful results. I was more involved in how Survey Monkey worked than in creating the perfect questions so I think my survey was mostly just an exercise in learning survey monkey rather than a scientific study.