RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
4. How information can be disseminated
What methods for disseminating information would best suit resource centre
users (such as resource lists, current awareness bulletins or document supply
services)
How feasible these methods are.
A needs assessment can be carried out by interviewing people individually,
organising a focus group discussion (a structured discussion with a small group
of potential users) or by asking potential users to complete a questionnaire.
Interviews and discussions are better, as they provide an opportunity to meet
people and discuss their needs. If a questionnaire is used, it should be made
easy for people to complete. This can be done by listing the most likely
answers, so that people only need to tick a box or circle a word.
It is important to collect only essential information. Too much information can
be confusing. Tips for conducting interviews and an example of a needs
assessment questionnaire are given in Section 1.4.1.
As well as assessing users’ information needs, it is important to find out what
information is provided by other organisations. This will help to ensure that the
resource centre will fill a gap and not duplicate the work of others. It will also
provide an opportunity to contact other organisations working in related areas,
which could be useful for future work (see Section 8.3: Networks and
networking). Staff of other organisations can be either interviewed or asked to
complete a questionnaire.
An example of a questionnaire for other information providers is given in
Section 1.4.2.
A focus group discussion can help identify information needs
SECTION 1: PLANNING A RESOURCE CENTRE
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