Contents
Introduction
Genealogical research is a topic with broad interest and appeal. There are many who offer support for genealogical research so how would one evaluate the various services?
This attempts to set out the steps and particulars for an evaluation of
Staff at the various Family History Centers come into contact with many different patrons, with different backgrounds, attitudes, and perspectives. How do the Family History Centers ensure that staff provide quality service to the patrons. Feedback is an important aspect to maintaining both retention of skills, because behaviors can lapse through lack of reinforcement. Addressing the upkeep of these strengths is as important as fixing problems. Feedback is also important in recognizing good work, general competence, or exemplary performance.
“People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
Rubric
- FeedbackInterventions and Intervention Techniques
- Job Aids
- Practice Time
- Evaluations of Interactions with Patrons
Criteria
- Feedback
- Is the feedback immediate?
- Is the feedback clear?
- Is the feedback accurate?
- Is the feedback specific?
- Is the feedback positive?
- Feedback is delivered by
- Superiors
- Peers
- Coaching
- Review sessions
- Feedback is consistent with
- Job Aids
- Published procedure
- Provided training
Livermore Family History Center
About Family History Centers
Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of FamilySearch and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States), located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist you in the research and study of your genealogy and family history by:
- Giving personal one-on-one assistance to patrons
- Providing access to genealogical records through the Internet
- Offering free how-to classes (varies by location)
NOTE: The large centers, previously called multi-stake or regional centers, are now called FamilySearch Libraries.
As of September 2014, there are more than 4,700 FHCs in 134 countries. There is no cost to visit a Family History Center or FamilySearch Library. They are open to anyone with an interest in genealogical research. They are operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Case Study
In the literature, Box 9.9 (Smith and Wong, p263) present a case study of “Giving Effective Feedback”
- Scenario: Giving Effective Feedback
- Reference Librarians unavailable
- “Mary the Assistant” is manning the desk
- Abusive patron calls and demands to speak with Reference Librarian
- Assistant hangs up
- “John the Reference Head” reviews the situation with “Mary the Assistant”, and provides constructive feedback
Study Participants
The front-line volunteers who provide personalized instruction to the visitors have the responsibility to deal with the patrons one-on-one. Here, they would play the role of “Mary the Assistant”, dealing with the patron.
A difference in this use case is that the patron is physically present, which may add an aspect of physical security considerations to the scenario.
An example question to study would be:
If patrons misbehave or become abusive, how shall the ‘docent’/reference librarian handle the situation? Do they review such situations later on and discuss for any lessons learned?
The Family Center directors and managers would take on the role of John the Reference Head and lead a discussion to provide constructive criticism and feedback so that the situation can be a positive learning experience.
Data Collection Methdology
For a vertical study of the current state of training, needs, and delivery of effective feedback, an anonymous survey should provide sufficient information for an initial assessment. Objective questions using a
Location / Environment
The anonymous survey could be taken either at work or at another location; staff would need access to the internet (which the Center already provides).
Personnel
As this is a fairly simple survey, a single person could develop the questions and the survey, or work with the HR department to insert the questions into the annual survey.
Evaluation of the results would be a simple matter of aggregating the responses.
Equipment
To conduct an anonymous vertical survey, tools such as SurveyMonkey or SurveyGizmo can be used; if other survey tools are not already in hand.
For a longitudinal study to be conducted over time and to assess improvement, in addition to the survey tools mentioned above, a simple spreadsheet can be used to measure and plot the change in effectiveness over time.