Form 1 Form 1 SWI Case Study Interview Protocols

Appendix – Interview Protocols

Protocol A.

Interview Participants –

This structured protocol is for LAM directors, or IMLS identified points of contact. To be conducted by phone after initial contact and is designed to confirm that the site is appropriate for a case study, identify participants for data collection during the site visit and to identify times to conduct the site visit.

Introduction -

Hello, my name is XX, I am working with Reinvestment Fund, a Philadelphia based community development finance institution. Thank you for your willingness to participate in our study, Understanding the Social Wellbeing Impacts of the Nation’s Libraries and Museums. This is a nationwide study commissioned by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to better understand the way that museums and libraries influence different dimensions of the social wellbeing in their local communities.

Through the course of this study we will be interviewing people from across the country who run museums and libraries and the different organizations they partner with to promote the health and vitality of their communities. XX county was identified as a (urban/suburban/rural) county with a relatively dense concentration of museums and libraries, and as a county with relatively high levels of (social wellbeing indicator). Your institution was identified as a critical component of the museum and library sector in XX county, and we’re very pleased you’ve agreed to speak with us.

Prior to this call, we’ve done some preliminary background research on your institution to identify some of the work your institution is doing to promote (social wellbeing indicator). Today’s call will take no more than 20-30 minutes and will focus solely on identifying those activities your institution pursues that support (social wellbeing indicator), identifying key stakeholders (at your institution and in the community) for interviews, and finding a time that will work for a 2 to 3-day site visit to XX. Does this sound OK to you?

1. Based on our preliminary search, it looks like your institution is involved in several activities in support of (social wellbeing indicator). I want to just get an overview of your key activities today; when we come on the site visit, we’ll ask you about them in more depth. Our early research identified these activities in support of (social wellbeing indicator): (list activities from online search). Are these the primary activities your institution pursues to promote (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community?

Guidance for Interviewer: the subject likely will not know terms like ‘social wellbeing’, so use plain language descriptions of the social wellbeing indicator that is focus for a particular case study.

Probe: are there any other activities or programming at your institution that are also focused on (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community?

2. What key stakeholders in your institution should we interview to understand your institution’s activities related to (social wellbeing indicator)?

   • What is their role with relation to (social wellbeing indicator)?

3. Are there other stakeholders in the community (private or public sector) we should interview about the role your institution plays in support of (social wellbeing indicator)?

   • Do you have any community partners in this work related to (social wellbeing indicator)?

4. May we copy you when we reach out to XX to request their participation in the case studies?

5. When would be a good time for us to conduct a site visit to XX?

6. Do you have any questions for me at this time?

­­­Protocol B.

Interview Participants –

This semi-structured protocol was developed for LAM directors and their staff and is designed to learn about their institutions’ activities/programming, partnerships with other local organizations/institutions and their plans to sustain their engagement in support of a particular dimension of social wellbeing in their communities.

Introduction -

Hello, my name is XX, I am working with Reinvestment Fund, a Philadelphia based community development finance institution. Thank you for your willingness to participate in our study, Understanding the Social Wellbeing Impacts of the Nation’s Libraries and Museums. This is a nationwide study commissioned by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to better understand the way that museums and libraries influence different dimensions of social wellbeing in their local communities.

Through the course of this study we will be interviewing people from across the country who run museums and libraries and the different organizations they partner with to promote the health and vitality of their communities. XX county was identified as a (urban/suburban/rural) county with a relatively dense concentration of museums and libraries, and as a county with relatively high levels of (social wellbeing indicator). Your institution was identified as a critical component of the museum and library sector in XX county, and we’re very pleased you’ve agreed to speak with us.

Our conversation today will take about an hour and focus particularly on (institutions X)’s work related to the promotion of (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community. Does this sound OK to you?

May we have permission to record our conversation today? The recording will be used for reference purposes only, and we will not attribute anything you say today without your express consent. All your responses collected in our interview today will be combined with other’s to identity common themes across different places to describe how libraries and museums support their local communities. Is it OK for us to record our conversation?

Describing LAM activities related to measures of social wellbeing;

Placing LAM activities in a broader network of support for a dimension of social wellbeing;

1. What are the primary activities your institution pursues to promote (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community?

Probe: For each activity explore:

Who is the audience/participants?

What is the role of LAM staff/volunteers?

What is the activity’s content and timeframe (frequency and duration)?

How long have these activities been going on?

Probe: Why and how did your institution decide to pursue these activities?

Probe: Are there other activities/programming at your institution that that are designed to meet other needs in the local community?

2. What are the key partnerships your institution maintains to promote (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community?

Probe: What is the partner’s role in relation to (social wellbeing indicator)?

Probe: How did these partnerships come about; who initiated the partnerships, and why?

Placing LAM activities in a broader network of support for a dimension of social wellbeing;

engagement;

3. What other organizations/institutions, apart from yours and your partners’, are engaged in work to address (social wellbeing indicator) in the community?

4. How would you describe your institution’s role across the broader network of organizations that also pursue activities to affect (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community?

Probe: How well coordinated is this network?

Probe: What role does LAM play in the network (probe for convener, contributor, leader)?

Probe: How does your institution make decisions about the role you play in the broader

network?

Probe: Are there gaps in the local environment that your institution is filling – why do they exist, and to what extent are your activities able to fill these gaps?

Impact of LAM activities on dimensions of social wellbeing

5. How does your institution assess the effectiveness of your activities to promote (social wellbeing indicator)?

Probe: How do you know you’re achieving your goals?

Probe: Do you have established benchmarks for success – what are they; how were they determined; who collects the data?

Probe: Do you conduct regular internal/external evaluations – for what purposes; formative feedback v. impact assessment?

Probe: Have expectations/definitions of success evolve over time? If so, how and Why?

Probe: How are assessment results shared with the community?

Probe: Are any of your partners or others in the network assessing change related to (indicator of social wellbeing)?

Sustaining LAMs activities for years to come

6. How does your institution prepare your staff to effectively manage programming and partnerships to affect (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community?

Probe: Can you describe how/whether this work required the adoption of new hiring practices and priorities, professional development, or other shifts from traditional roles?

7. How is your organization building sustainability into the work you’re doing related to (social wellbeing indicator)?

Probe: What resources are available, or are you pursuing, to sustain this work?

Probe: How do you see your institutions work related to (social wellbeing indicator) evolving?

Probe: How does your institutions work in this space potentially change the way people think about what it means to be a (institution type) in the 21^st century?

8. Do you have any questions for me?

Protocol C.

Interview Participants –

This semi-structured protocol was developed for LAM partners in the community and is designed to learn about their organization/institutions’ activities/programming, and partnerships with local LAMs in support of a particular dimension of social wellbeing in their communities.

Introduction -

Hello, my name is XX, I am working with Reinvestment Fund, a Philadelphia based community development finance institution. Thank you for your willingness to participate in our study, Understanding the Social Wellbeing Impacts of the Nation’s Libraries and Museums. This is a nationwide study commissioned by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to better understand the way that museums and libraries influence different dimensions of social wellbeing in their local communities.

Through the course of this study we will be interviewing people from across the country who run museums and libraries and the different organizations they partner with to promote the health and vitality of their communities. XX county was identified as a (urban/suburban/rural) county with a relatively dense concentration of museums and libraries, and as a county with relatively high levels of (social wellbeing indicator). Your (organization/institution) was identified as a critical partner with the museum and library sector in XX county, and we’re very pleased you’ve agreed to speak with us.

Our conversation today will take about an hour and focus particularly on your organization/institutions work with (museum/library)’s work related to the promotion of (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community. Does this sound OK to you?

May we have permission to record our conversation today? The recording will be used for reference purposes only, and we will not attribute anything you say today without your express consent. All your responses collected in our interview today will be combined with other’s to identity common themes across different places to describe how libraries and museums support their local communities. Is it OK for us to record our conversation?

Describing LAM activities related to measures of social wellbeing;

Placing LAM activities in a broader network of support for a dimension of social wellbeing;

1. What are the primary ways your institution/organization collaborates with (museum/library) to promote (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community?

Probe: How long have these activities been going on?

Probe: Why and how did your institution decide to pursue these activities with the (museum/library)?

Placing LAM activities in a broader network of support for a dimension of social wellbeing;

2. What other groups are supporting change related to (social wellbeing indicator) in the community? Please just list them so that we have a sense of who’s involved?

3. How would you describe your institution’s role across the broader network of organizations that also pursue activities to affect (social wellbeing indicator) in the local community?

Probe: How well coordinated is this network?

Probe: How would you describe the (museums/libraries) role in this broader network?

Probe: How is the (museum/library) perceived in the local community, particularly related (social wellbeing indicator)?

Impact of LAM activities on dimensions of social wellbeing

4. How does your organization assess the effectiveness of your activities to promote (social wellbeing indicator) – and to what degree is (museum/library) involved in this process?

Probe: How do you know you’re achieving your goals?

Probe: Do you have established benchmarks for success – what are they; how were they determined; who collects the data?

Probe: Do you conduct regular internal/external evaluations – for what purposes; formative feedback v. impact assessment?

Probe: Have expectations/definitions of success evolve over time? If so, how and Why?

Probe: How are assessment results shared with the community?

Probe: Does the LAM do any assessment of its work related to (indicator of social wellbeing)? If so, is this helpful in your work?

Probe: Are any of the others in the broader network assessing change related to (indicator of social wellbeing)? If so, is this helpful in your work?

Sustaining LAMs activities for years to come

5. How do you think your organization’s work with (museum/library) related to (social wellbeing indicator) will evolve?

Probe: What resources are available to sustain this work?

Probe: How do you see (museum/library)’s work in this space potentially changing the way people think about what it means to be a (museum/library) in the 21^st century?

6. Do you have any questions for me?