IMLS_NMS Online Interview Sign-up Form 20221101

OMB Control No. 3137-XXXX Expiration Date: MM/DD/YYYY

National Museum Survey Cognitive Interviews

Online Interview Sign-Up Form

[Sections I & II – Show all items on one screen]

Section I: Introduction

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is partnering with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to develop and pilot a new National Museum Survey (NMS). As part of that process, AIR will be conducting 60-minute virtual interviews with museum administrators in [months] to test questions that might be used in the survey. We are asking you to complete this form to determine if you are eligible to participate in the interviews and, if so, to collect basic information about your institution and your availability for an interview.

The institutions participating in the interviews will represent a range of art, history, science, general, and children’s museums, as well as botanical gardens, zoos, and aquaria. For-profit institutions (e.g., businesses, for-profit colleges) will not be eligible to participate. We are looking to interview museum administrators who are familiar with or know whom to ask about the various operational data (e.g., finances, human resources, visitation) that their museums track and can report. You will not be asked to report any of your institution’s actual operational data during the interviews.

AIR will collect valuable feedback through these interviews that will help our team identify and address any potential issues with the survey content prior to piloting the NMS.

Your participation, or lack thereof, will not affect any past, current, or future relationship between yourself or your institution and IMLS. We will record the interviews, but AIR will keep the information you provide through this form and the virtual interviews confidential and will not share your individual responses with IMLS. We will not provide IMLS with any PII collected as a part of this study, and we will destroy all PII following the project’s reporting. We will not share the names of participants nor attribute any quotes to individuals or their museums in our reports to IMLS.

Section II: Contact Information

1. Please enter your first and last name.

2. What is your email address? We will contact you at this address about the cognitive interviews.

3. What is the name of the institution that you represent? We will use this information to help ensure that you do not receive future reminder emails.

[Section III – Show one item on screen at a time]

Section III: Museum Characteristics

[TERMINATION MESSAGE: Thank you for your time and interest in the cognitive interviews. Unfortunately, at this time your institution does not meet the needs of this study.]

4. Which of the following best describes your institution's legal classification?

1. Nonprofit organization (neither government nor academic)

2. For-profit company/business [TERMINATE AFTER Q10] 

3. Public college/university (e.g., state college)

4. Private, nonprofit college/university

5. Private, for-profit college/university [TERMINATE AFTER Q10] 

6. Local government (e.g., municipal, county)

7. State/territorial government

8. Tribal government

9. Federal government

10. Other (please explain): [WRITE-IN]

5. How would you describe your institution’s operating structure?

   1. Independent with no sub-institutions

   2. Independent with sub-institutions

   3. Sub-institution with a parent organization

   4. Other (please describe)

6. Does your institution serve the public from a fixed physical location that it owns or operates? 

   1. Yes 

   2. No [TERMINATE AFTER Q10]

7. Under normal circumstances, is your institution open to the public 120 days or more per year through specific hours of operation and/or by appointment? 

   1. Yes 

   2. No [TERMINATE AFTER Q10]

8. Does your institution have at least one full-time paid staff member or volunteer?

   1. Yes

   2. No

[ASK Q10 IF Q9 = b]

9. Does your institution have part-time paid staff members or volunteers whose combined working hours account for the equivalent of at least one full-time staff member?

1. Yes

2. No [TERMINATE AFTER Q10]

[Sections IV and V – Show all questions on one screen]

Section IV: Background Information

10. What is your museum’s approximate annual operating budget? We will only use this information when making assignments for the interviews.

1. < $50,000

2. $50,000 to $249,999

3. $250,000 to $499,999

4. $500,000 to $999,999

5. $1 million to $2,499,999

6. $2.5 million to $4,999,999

7. $5 million to $9,999,999

8. $10 million or more

11. Which of the following options best represents your museum’s primary discipline? Please select one.

    1. Aquarium

    2. Arboretum

    3. Art museum

    4. Botanical garden

    5. Children's museum

    6. General museum

    7. Historic house and/or site

    8. History museum

    9. Natural history museum

    10. Nature center

    11. Planetarium

    12. Science and technology center/museum

    13. Specialized museum

    14. Zoological park

    15. Other: [WRITE-IN]

Section V: Availability for Interviews

12. In what time zone are you located?

    1. Eastern

    2. Central

    3. Mountain

    4. Pacific

    5. Alaska

    6. Hawaii-Aleutian

13. Please select all dates/times for which you would be available to participate in a one-hour virtual interview in [month].

[Show options based on time zone. Repeat question for November and December.]

1. Date and time (ET/PT)

2. Date and time (ET/PT)

3. Date and time (ET/PT)

4. Date and time (ET/PT)

5. Date and time (ET/PT)

6. Date and time (ET/PT)

7. Date and time (ET/PT)

8. None of these

Section VI: Recognition as a Contributor

14. IMLS would like to recognize the generosity of interview participants who volunteer their time to help inform the development of the National Museum Survey. If you participate in an interview, would you like IMLS to recognize your museum publicly in a blog post targeted to the entire museum field and federal policymakers?

Regardless of your answer, AIR will not share your personal information or your individual responses to this form or interviews with IMLS. Further, your answer to this question will not affect any past, current, or future relationship that you or your museum may have with IMLS.

1. Yes, I give IMLS permission to share the name of my museum.

2. No, I do not give IMLS permission to share the name of my museum.

[SUBMIT BUTTON]

[Section VII – Show on one screen]

Section VII: Thank You and Additional Information

Thank you for your interest in participating in the National Museum Survey cognitive interviews! The AIR team will contact you in approximately 3-5 business days about the status of your interview.

• For questions about the interviews, please contact the AIR study lead, Gina Sgro, at [email protected] or [email protected].

• For questions about the IMLS’s National Museum Survey, please contact Jake Soffronoff at [email protected].

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