Survey of public libraries
From January to March 2006 I conducted a postal survey of public libraries in Australia. I sent a questionnaire to 165 of the approximately 1700 public libraries in Australia. I developed my questionnaire after extensive reading of the best way to design questionnaires and conduct surveys.
I investigated whether public libraries have graphic novel collections and how graphic novels are selected, acquired, catalogued, housed and promoted. I aimed to determine the differences between public libraries in the eight states and territories of Australia.
Some states and territories have centralized acquisitions for all public libraries (eg. Western Australia and Tasmania) and I wanted to know if this affected the prevalence of graphic novel collections.
I wrote about how I improved the survey response rate in Incite magazine.
Snowball, C. (2010) "How to Improve Survey Response Rates" Incite, vol.31, no.6, p.24.
Thank you to all the librarians and library officers who answered my questionnaire. Your help is greatly appreciated. And a special thank you to the Perth librarians who completed the pilot questionnaire and made suggestions as to how I could improve it.
Focus groups with teenagers
In October and November 2006 I conducted focus groups with teenagers in local Perth high schools to find out about their thoughts on reading, libraries and graphic novels. I was the moderator and I used a guide with ground rules and discussion points. I displayed a selection of graphic novels during each session and handed out a list of graphic novels to students at the end of the session.
I really enjoyed the discussions and hearing what teenagers think about reading and graphic novels. Lots of what I heard is as I thought it would be, through my reading and previous work in public libraries, but some of what the teenagers told me surprised me, which was refreshing.
Thank you to all the principals, teacher librarians and teachers who helped me and allowed me to visit their schools and classes and especially thank you to the students who talked to me. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Interviews with librarians
In 2007 I interviewed school and public librarians who have graphic novel collections in their library. My questions explored the librarians' thoughts on their collections and the format in general.
Thank you to all the librarians who agreed to be interviewed. Your help is greatly appreciated.
