Focus Group Questions for Archives and Museums

Appendix C: Focus Group Questions for Archives and Museums

Focus Group Date:

Facilitator(s):

Attendees:

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I’m [X] from Partners for Public Good and our organization is serving as the evaluation and learning partner to OCLC for the IMLS-funded Reopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums project, known as REALM. The purpose of this evaluation is to support reflection and learning as this project progresses and adapts. Today I will be asking you about your perceptions of how well the project has provided research to inform decision-making about reopening for museums and archives and what could be improved in the future.

This focus group is confidential and none of your comments will be connected back to you as an individual or to your organization. Any final reporting based on this discussion will be presented as themes identified across focus groups. I also ask that all attendees keep confidential what they hear from others today. We are interested in hearing everyone’s perspectives, so please share if your opinion or experience differs from what someone else has shared. We ask that only one person speak at a time and that we engage in a respectful manner including in instances when there is a difference of opinion. If there is anything you do not feel comfortable sharing with the group, please feel free to follow up with me via email afterwards to share your thoughts.

Do you have any questions for me before we get started?

Focus Group Questions

1. For this first question, I will call on each of you to respond. What knowledge do you have about the REALM project?

For the remaining questions, anyone can respond if they want to or not. Please mute yourself while you are not speaking. When you have something to say, unmute yourself, give me a wave to let me know that you would like to speak, or type your name in the chat, and I will call on you.

2. Who are your trusted sources for information about reopening and operating during the COVID-19 pandemic for your community?

   1. Where, if at all, do you currently get guidance?

3. [For those familiar with REALM] From your perspective, how well has the REALM project disseminated information to the museum/archives sector?

   1. How could dissemination be improved?

4. [For those unfamiliar with REALM] What would be the best ways for the REALM project to disseminate information to others like you in your community?

5. [For those familiar with REALM] How useful have the literature reviews and test results from the REALM project been for you or your organization?

   1. How has your institution acted on the research results?

   2. How could the literature reviews and test results be improved?

6. What information do you need in the next several months to inform decisions about reopening and operating during the COVID-19 pandemic?

   1. What are the longer-term information needs?

7. Are there any specific information needs for your institution you would like to share, such as specific needs based on your type of institution, institution size, or location?

8. For this question, we would like to poll you about specific informational needs you have about reopening and operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once I launch the poll, you will be asked to rate each item as a high, medium, or low need:

   	Low	Medium	High
   Communicating to the public	🔾	🔾	🔾
   Communicating to staff	🔾	🔾	🔾
   Educating people about vaccines	🔾	🔾	🔾
   Managing staff and volunteers	🔾	🔾	🔾
   Connecting staff and volunteers remotely	🔾	🔾	🔾
   Managing facilities, including airflow and ventilation	🔾	🔾	🔾
   Managing the flow and behavior of staff and visitors in our spaces	🔾	🔾	🔾

9. The results of the poll indicate that the highest needs are X and Y. What types of information would be most helpful to you to address these needs?

10. Is there anything we didn’t discuss already about the research needs of museums and archives to inform decision-making about reopening and operating during the COVID-19 pandemic?

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