 | Draft survey introductions |
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I've finished writing the introduction pieces for the end-user and admin surveys. It's open season to comment on them, or just use the edit function and change the writing directly. I personaly think they are too long, but I did not want to forget anything. I know my explanation of the mission is bland. For the general population survey, I tried not to mention any particular kinds of books, as the survey is supossed to elicit what books people want, and I didn't want to pre-empt it. Maybe you guys think it would work better if we put Margaret's mission statement in?
General public survey introduction The mission of the On-Demand Book Service (ODBS) project is to create a working prototype of a book printing service that could provide books to people in remote and isolated First Nation communities in northern Ontario. This project is currently being developed by students at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto with the partnership of the researchers and technology specialists at K-NET. Books out of copyright that are currently available online could be downloaded and printed by a book printing machine with an internet connection for little or no charge. The ODBS does not have to be limited to book printing, it could also allow for people to self-publish their own books, documents, and artwork, or the ODBS web portal collections could be expanded to include other formats such as video and audio files. The purpose of this survey is to gather information about the potential end-users of the ODBS, in an ethical way, to try to learn about the wants and needs for books of different people in the community. This information is necessary to know what online books should be available on the ODBS web portal, and what kind of book printing hardware and webpage design will work the best for the users. In short, we wish to design a service that people would actually want and be able to use. The questions you will be asked in this survey are about basic demographics, what is your technical ability to access information online, what kinds of books do you read or would like to read, what is your interest in other potential services, and would you like to find out more about this project. As we are students, unfortunately, we will not be able to finish this project to the point of implementation in just one term, which is why we are documenting our work and creating a design proposal so that the project can continue. We understand that information about your community belongs to your community, so any future reports or publications about this project will be made available either online or in print to your community. Our project website is currently hosted on K-NET at http://meeting.knet.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=149 (a Moodle account is required). We also welcome any input or requests for further information.
Survey introduction for the administrators The mission of the On-Demand Book Service (ODBS) project is to create a working prototype of a book printing service that could provide books to people in remote and isolated First Nation communities in northern Ontario. This project is currently being developed by students at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto with the partnership of the researchers and technology specialists at K-NET. Books out of copyright that are currently available online could be downloaded and printed by a book printing machine with an internet connection for little or no charge. A web portal will be designed to connect users to online book collections. This will require a professional book-printer (approximately one metre square in size), a computer with a monitor and an internet connection, and a supply of paper, binding material, and printer cartridges. The book-printer has finger guards protecting its blade and safely cuts the paper by itself. At this point we are still considering different hardware options, such as full colour printing or a-tonal printing, inkjet vs laser printing, different price ranges, and levels of quality. Information collected from this survey will help us decide on these things. The ODBS has other potentials such as the possibility for people to self-publish their own books, documents, and artwork, or the ODBS web portal collections could be expanded to include other formats such as video and audio files. The purpose of this survey is to gather information about the potential administrators of the ODBS, in an ethical way, to try to learn from your input about your personal experience with using the internet, as well as your experience with helping other community members use the internet or find books. This information is necessary to know what online books should be available on the ODBS web portal, and what kind of book printing hardware and webpage design will work the best for the users. The questions you will be asked in this survey are what do you do at work, what are your technical and user service skills, what kinds of materials do you read or would like to read at home or at work, what do you think of the options for this service, and would you like to find out more about this project. As we are students, unfortunately, we will not be able to finish this project to the point of implementation in just one term. This is why we are documenting our work and creating a design proposal so that the project can continue. We understand that information about your community belongs to your community, so any future reports or publications about this project will be made available either online or in print to your community. Our project website is currently hosted on K-NET at http://meeting.knet.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=149 (a Moodle account is required). We also welcome any input or requests for further information. |
 | Re: Draft survey introductions |
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Fiona, this is very good. I like the tone and the content, it is concise and gives people a great diea of what they can expect in the survey to come. I like the way you added in the potential uses of the service and the way you brought in the ownership of information stuff. Though, you're right, it is a touch on the long side. I agree that the "ethical way" is important, but could it be worded a little differently? The editing function is malfunctioning (or maybe I'm the one with the malfunction!) so I'll just add my comments and suggestions in red. Well done. General public survey introduction The mission of the On-Demand Book Service (ODBS) project is to create a working prototype of a book printing service that could provide books to people in remote and isolated First Nation communities in northern Ontario. This project is currently being developed by students at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto with the partnership of the researchers and technology specialists at K-NET.(This is a strong intro Books out of copyright that are currently available online could be downloaded and printed by a book printing machine with an internet connection for little or no charge. The ODBS does not have to be limited to book printing, it could also allow for people to self-publish their own books, documents, and artwork, or the ODBS web portal collections could be expanded to include other formats such as video and audio files. The purpose of this survey is to gather information about the potential end-users of the ODBS, in an ethical way, to try to learn about the wants and needs for books of different people in the community. This information will help us to understand is necessary to know what online books should be available on the ODBS web portal, and what kind of book printing hardware and webpage design will work the best for the users you. In short, we wish to design a service that people would actually want and be able to use. The questions you will be asked in this survey are about basic demographics, what is your technical ability to access information online, what kinds of books do you read or would like to read, what is your interest in other potential services, and whether you would like to find out more about this project. As we are students, unfortunately, The current student team we will not be able to finish this project to the point of implementation in just one term, which is why we are documenting our work and creating a design proposal so that the project can continue. We understand that information about your community belongs to your community, so any future reports or publications about this project will be made available either online or in print to your community.
Survey introduction for the administrators The mission of the On-Demand Book Service (ODBS) project is to create a working prototype of a book printing service that could provide books to people in remote and isolated First Nation communities in northern Ontario. This project is currently being developed by students at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto with the partnership of the researchers and technology specialists at K-NET. Books out of copyright that are currently available online could be downloaded and printed by a book printing machine with an internet connection for little or no charge. A web portal will be designed to connect users to online book collections. This The process will require a professional book-printer (approximately one metre square in size), a computer with a monitor and an internet connection, and a supply of paper, binding material, and printer cartridges. The book-printer has finger guards protecting its blade and safely cuts the paper by itself. At this point we are still considering different hardware options, such as full colour printing or a-tonal printing, inkjet vs laser printing, different price ranges, and levels of quality. Information collected from this survey will help us decide make recommendations on different hardware options, such as full colour printing or a-tonal printing, inkjet vs laser printing, different price ranges, and levels of quality. these things. The ODBS may have other uses, such as giving people the possibility for people to self-publish their own books, documents, and artwork, or t The ODBS web portal collections could be expanded to include other formats such as video and audio files. The purpose of this survey is to gather information about the potential administrators of the ODBS, in an ethical way, to try to learn from your input about your personal experience with using the internet, as well as your experience with helping other community members use the internet or find books. This information is necessary to know will help assess what online books should be available on the ODBS web portal, and what kind of book printing hardware and webpage design will work the best for the users. The questions you will be asked in this survey are what will help us understand do you do at work, what are your technical and user service skills are, what kinds of materials do you read or would like to read at home or at work, what do you think of the options for this service, and whether you would you like to find out more about this project. As we are students, unfortunately, we will not be able to finish this project to the point of implementation in just one term (see my comments on this section above)This is why we are documenting our work and creating a design proposal so that the project can continue. We understand that information about your community belongs to your community, so any future reports or publications about this project will be made available either online or in print to your community. Our project website is currently hosted on K-NET at http://meeting.knet.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=149 (a Moodle account is required). We also welcome any input or requests for further information. |
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 | Re: Draft survey introductions |
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Hi Fiona and Dominika, That looks great! In sum: The first two paragraphs probably would already be addressed in a letter of intent, and not of great interest to someone taking the survey to read. Third paragraph is a great summary of the purpose of this particular survey. Preps the participant well! Final paragraph may be too apologetic, though we should leave contact information and a 'thank you' at the end. In detail... 1. Would the letter of intent, which is submitted to the person who will agree to help us distribute the surveys, cover a lot of this already? If a user is independently taking this survey on their own, wouldn't they have already encountered a lot of these introductory elements else where? (i.e. they would have only be taking the survey if they knew about it already, wouldn't they?) 2. There is also a "post survey" text that we can put up on the online version. It can be a note to thank you, to reiterate how this information is going to be used, and contact information should they have any questions about the survey, etc. However you want to use that space. 3. (This is specifically referring to the last paragraph) In terms of style, my feeling is that we should avoid being apologetic. If the people conducting the survey sound tentative and uncertain, how will the people helping distribute the survey, and those who are participating in the survey be able to answer the questions. I recognize that setting realistic expectations about what will come out of this survey is important, but simply stating it as a fact should suffice. All the intro they (hopefully) have read should have set the context of the survey anyway, no? =) |
 | Re: Draft survey introductions |
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Celene and I posted edited down versions of Fiona's statement to the surveys themselves. Margaret, are the boss of inviting Kitty and Danika to our group? Kitty seemed to be interested in the surveys and some of our data may be useful to the BG Library. I took some mobile photos of the ODBS equipment. I don't want to overwhelm people with the awesomeness of my photography skills but it would help people to be able to visualize the kit. Have you set up a particular archive for storing files? Maybe Marta could post a pic of her book squasher? |
| Re: Draft survey introductions |
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I COULD be "the boss" of inviting them.... if no one else at CR has contacted them directly by email already about it, I will be happy to do it. Dominika sent me an mp4 of the video conferencing recording, but unfortunately it's JUST over 8MB which is the upload limit on moodle. I'm going to try and find ways to clip it a bit shorter or compress it. Maybe do it in two parts or something. We can upload files already I believe. Moodle has an existing file directory structure that's kind of hidden until you try to upload things. Send me the pictures and I'll put them up! Margaret |
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I'll email the pics to you at your Gmail address. I've set up a Lightbox Gallery and a Random Picture Box that I'll populate. Try Zamzar.com for the MP4. It's a free file conversion site that may be able to convert to a more compact file extension. Unless you have a key Kitty & Danika need to log in I can send the invite. |
| Re: Draft survey introductions |
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There is no key necessary, they will need to 'enroll' in order to participate in the forums. Feel free to invite them as part of your communication with them! Photos are up, just trying to figure out how to make them look 'nice' on the right bar now... |
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Yeah, they really throw that whole right bar out of whack. Can we free up some real estate by getting rid of that Shoutbox? Nobody seems to be using it and the Instant Message functionality does the same thing. |
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Sure, I can do that. Look at the random gallery photo on the front page of the meeting place, I think I am not putting in the right URL link. I've tried a few different ones, and this is the only one so far that shows any kind of content. I'll try and figure out how to get it to show one picture at a time. =) |