FLICC FLICC Information Technology Assessment
for Federal Libraries
and Information Centers
 

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Introduction | Complete the Assessment | Reports

Introduction      Top

The FLICC Information Technology Working Group has developed a questionnaire to help federal librarians assess the way information technology is being used in their libraries and information centers. The four-part instrument addresses:
1)  the library's mission, size, and scope;
2)  the organization's IT infrastructure - hardware, networking, internet, and software applications;
3)  the library's use of systems in functional areas from acquisitions to reference; and,
4)  the library/agency's approach to systems acquisition, funding, and staffing.

By working through the assessment, you will develop a fuller understanding of the scope of the IT applications you are already using in your library, and of the way your library's IT operations are tied into the rest of the agency. The completed survey will provide you with documentation for your agency management and CIO of the extent of your library's use of IT.

You can complete the four-part survey at your leisure, returning to add answers or updates as they obtain them. Records for each library are password-protected, and information previously entered into each field will be automatically filled in the next time a staff member logs in.

When you complete the assessment, your data will go into a FLICC IT resource file from which comparative reports of the survey responses -- sorted by library type, size, and automation programs -- will be generated. You'll be able to use the reports to find institutions with requirements similar to your own. This will help you and your colleagues benchmark your IT operations, and network with other users to learn from each other's experience and perhaps establish some systems partnerships.

Your participation is indispensable. With your help, the IT Assessment will grow into a valuable ongoing resource for the federal library and information center community. Thank you for sharing your information with your colleagues.

Complete the Assessment      Top

To fill out the IT Assessment, type your FEDLINK ID into the field at the right and click on the [Sign On] button.

We suggest that you print off a copy of the assessment and look through it. Collect the information you need to complete the survey, perhaps talking with your library colleagues and people in your agency IT shop. Then, with the answers in hand, you can log back in and fill out the form relatively quickly.

The form is designed to retain data that you have filled in. Click on the [Save and Continue] button at the bottom the sect ion you're working on and your data will be there the next time you log in. If you would like to complete the survey in sections, or to update information you entered previously, just log back in to make changes.

There are different types of fields in the assessment which you complete as follows:

  • For text fields - click or tab onto the field and type in appropriate information. Your text will automatically wordwrap.

  • For radio buttons - select only one within each set of options.

  • For check boxes - you may select more than one box within each set of options.

  • For pull-down menus - you select one option from a list. Place your mouse on the arrow at the right of the menu box and pull down or use your down arrow key to scroll through the list options. When you have found the correct option, click on it or hit the enter key to select it.
Your FEDLINK ID

Reports      Top

From the summary reports below you can link to brief descriptive records of the libraries that have filled out the assessment and may then link to view the library's whole assessment. (You can't change their assessment data, but you can see their responses to items not covered by the summary reports.)

These reports are preliminary. As more libraries complete the assessment and the database grows, other reports may become possible. Please let us know if there are other key elements that would make good summary reports, or if there is additional data that would be useful in a library's brief record. Please send your comments to Meg Williams, FLICC/FEDLINK.

By Library Characteristics By Automation Features
By Management
  • Staffing Patterns
  • Funding Patterns
  • ILS Procurement Experience
 

LC Library of Congress
Library of Congress Help Desk 		FLICC Federal Library and
Information Center Committee
Comments: flicc@loc.gov