Mary Wilkins Jordan, Assistant Professor, Simmons College GSLIS (MA) What is Q Method? Not widely known in the library field yet, this is a research method that lets you reach out to patrons in a new way to get their opinions on your services, materials, and/or programming. After developing a set of ideas you want to get feedback on from your community, you might be tempted to try sending out a survey and asking people to rate everything on a scale from one to five. But this is boring! And the results are ultimately not as useful as they could be in helping you to make decisions. Q Method is a forced-ranking process, where your patrons have to make decisions about things they like more and like less. Then you run everything through a statistical program, and end up with reams of interesting and useful data you can use to impress your stakeholders with all your evidence-based decision making! http://youtu.be/9hiV_cAYCAk http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/bigtalk/

1. Using Q Method to Understand
Community Needs for Small
Libraries

2. • A way to help you uncover patrons wants and needs
• More fun then surveys, more informative
• Lets you blend quantitative and qualitative ideas
• Gives you good info to share with your funders and
community members!

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Never taking meal breaks
Personal/family issues intruding at work
Issues with members of the public
Lack of personal space to work
Issues with students

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Lack of personal space to work
Lack of time to finish work
Difficulties with co-workers
Lots of interruptions to your work
Personal control over your time
Pressure to be successful
Many deadlines to meet
Shifting schedule

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Lack of personal space
Shifting schedules
Personal control over your time
Issues with members of the public
Never taking meal breaks
Technology you train patrons to use
Building facilities
Technology you use at work

8. • All libraries are looking for ways to connect with their
communities, and to ensure they are serving the needs of
the people.
• Figuring out what people want is necessary for libraries,
not just as an abstract though of making patrons happy,
but the concrete need of continuing to stay relevant and
important in the community.

9. • Define your evaluation need
• Develop a set of ideas relevant to your topic
• Recruit people (patrons, community members, groups)
• Print out cards and worksheets
• Demographic questions: age, library use, library card, gender
identification, languages spoke at home, etc.

11. • Issue each person a set of cards and a worksheet
• Rank them “best” to “worst”
• Some reassurance is usually necessary
• Sort cards, then flip and record the numbers on the back
• Any debriefing is minimal

12. • Enter data into the computer program
• I use the free PQMethod, but there are newer ones
• Magic happens
• Okay, it’s really a huge amount of factor analysis
• But it seems like magic!
• Much data emerges – groupings of similar interests
• You define and label them
• Understand your patrons in new ways

14. • The idea for this project was started by the former Lewis
and Clark Library system in Illinois, and funded by an
LSTA grant from the Illinois State Library.
• Lewis and Clark wanted to know some of the things
patrons and non-patrons most wanted to see in public
libraries.
• This information could help libraries put together their
own strategic plans, or help them make decisions about
services and programs to offer.
• Guessing about their ideas – and being wrong – can lead
libraries down a bad path of wastefulness.

15. • These patrons are used to the library providing traditional
services, and want things to stay focused on the services
library have done so well.
• They are not interested in expanding to new forms of
service, although several participants in the study
commented that they themselves did not want to use
technology in the library but knew others did want it.

16. • This group was interested in new services and programs
from the library.
• They wanted to get information in their library, but wanted
it on their own terms and in ways that may not be typical
in libraries as they have been organized in the past.
• They want to get information and create information in
the ways most useful to themselves.

17. • These patrons are interested in the using the library, but
not necessarily just for the materials we provide.
• Services and programming, but not necessarily
technology, are more important to them, and are the
hooks that will help to bring them into the library.
• Like the Information Innovation users, they are interested
in using the library in new ways to receive the service
they desire.

19. • Urban libraries
• Small and rural libraries
• I want to understand what patrons need and want
• Build on study done in Illinois, and expand!
• Will be recruiting participants soon!
• Could be a way for you to be introduced to Q

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Access to Government documents and
information
Downloadable materials (e-books, movies,
music)
Access to preserved local history
documents
Author talks and other cultural
programming
Book discussion groups
Meeting spaces
Preschool story hour
Digitized collections online
Afterschool homework assistance
Teen programs
Materials in languages other than English
Programs and services in languages other
than English
ESL classes
Adult Literacy programs
Public access computers
Classes on computer/digital skills
Bookmobile services
Weekend and evening hours
Homebound services
Services for the physically disabled
Access to maker space hardware and
software for designing
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Instruction on use of library resources for
school classes
Programs and services supporting small
business
Genealogy resources
Holds and Interlibrary Loan Services
Social Media Presence
Mobile Applications
Exhibits and displays
Self-service Checkout option
Wi Fi access
Reference and research services, in
person, online via phone
Citizenship and immigration services
Community information and referral
Business center services (color copiers,
fax, oversized printing, notary public, etc.)
Literacy/ABE/GED instruction
Proctoring for Exams
Services to the homeless
Smart cards for services such as printing,
copying, paying fines, etc.
Going cashless
Proctoring services
Scanning and faxing for the public
Job search or workforce development
programs

21. • Q Methodology (Quantitative Applications in the Social
Sciences) by Bruce F. McKeown, Dan B. Thomas
• Doing Q Methodological Research: Theory, Method &
Interpretation Simon Watts, Paul Stenner
• www.qmethod.org

22. • I am always happy to help people with Q method
projects!
Mary Wilkins Jordan
Simmons College
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
mary.wilkinsjordan@simmons.edu