I saw a posting recently about focus groups and have been giving some
thought to the idea of an email consultation forum.
At present my authority has local library user committees but I can see a
number of advantages in replacing these by an email system.
Speed - consultation could be, well..., almost immediate. Users could be
consulted on any subject at anytime.
Committment on the part of users would be minimal - if they didn't want to
respond on any particular subject they could just ignore the mail.
A wider range of users could probably be enlisted than at present as our
committees have a certain age/gender profile.
If there were a big enough group willing to be consulted responses could be
analysed by user profile (eg 25% of employed male users prefer to pay more
for their DVDs but only want to borrow them for 2 nights). Users could be
consulted just about their own library or about general issues.
Cost - big saving in staff time not to mention heating lighting etc.
Training could, of course, be provided for those without the necessary
skills/Internet access.
What do others think?
Is anyone already doing it?
Frank Black
Winterbourne Library
South Gloucestershire
01454-865654
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