AASL Strategic Planning
AASL 2004 Member Survey Data
Summary by Fran Roscello, AASL 2003-2004 President
In February 2004 AASL conducted an online member gap analysis survey with its almost 10,000 members. The results of this online survey will be one item used as we move forward with strategic planning during the next governance year. Approximately 11% of our members with e-mail addresses on file with ALA completed the survey, giving us some significant data for planning purposes. The following summary provides an overview of the survey process and introduces the results. For more information I encourage you to review the survey content and detailed charts describing the data, some of which I will explain in greater detail throughout this summary.
During the past three years, AASL staff has made a conscious effort to set measurable goals as well as to gather data to inform the deliberations of the AASL Board. AASL has also made a long-term commitment to communicate with and create a sense of community among members through the use of technology. One of the AASL staff goals is to develop and implement an ongoing plan to track and improve member satisfaction. This online survey is intended to provide baseline data and point to areas where more detailed, program-specific data needs to be collected.
This is a gap analysis survey, which measures members' perceived importance of the value propositions in comparison to their perception of AASL's performance in each of the 15 programmatic areas. AASL staff member Steven Hofmann, Manager of Digital Development, received training on this type of survey instrument and the development of value propositions, which attempt to capture the value a particular AASL program delivers from the member's perspective. The AASL value propositions ranged from AASL's support of its members in advocacy efforts, to support with national and local issues, establishing national standards, publishing efforts, national conferences and professional development. AASL members were asked to rate each statement based on their perception of its importance as well as their perception of AASL's performance. The difference between importance and performance yields a number that can be utilized to analyze the gap between these two perceptions.
When using a gap analysis methodology an organization can see what their members consider most important, at the same time viewing how members perceive the organization is addressing their needs. Ideally there would be no gap; however, in the real world, there is always a gap. (See sidebar: What Do the Gaps Mean?)
In AASL's survey the gap is relatively small overall, from -.02 to 1.10 points on a 5-point scale. Also, the importance of the various items in the value propositions was very high to our members, ranging from 3.68 to 4.84 on a 5-point scale. This tells us that the items described by the value propositions are all important to our members, though some more than others, as would be expected.
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