Previously approved Part B

State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAA) Survey Data Collection

Supporting Statement for PRA Submission

B	Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

B.1. Universe, Sample Design, and Estimation

The target population for the State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAA) Survey is the State library administrative agencies. The SLAA is a universe survey of all 51 SLAAs, from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC). The chief officer of each SLAA designates a staff person as the “Key Holder,” who will have primary responsibility for completion of the survey, although additional staff may assist in its completion. In many states, the Key Holder is the state data coordinator for the Public Libraries in the United States Survey (PLS).

B.2. Procedures for the Collection of Information

After receiving OMB approval, IMLS and Research Triangle International (RTI), the company contracted by IMLS to conduct the SLAA, will prepare for and administer the SLAA FY2020 collection that opens to SLAAs in January 2021. Preparation and administration activities to take place in 2020 and 2021 include a review of the survey instrument; a review of data elements, edit-checks, and post-collection processing; updates to the web application tool for data collection; contacting the chief officers of the SLAAs and the designated Key Holders; opening the web application for respondents during the data collection field period; post-collection editing and imputation of the data file; and release of the data file, data documentation (Data User’s Manual), and report of the findings.

B.2.1. Data Collection

Programming the Web Application

The SLAA data are collected over the Internet via a computer self-administered questionnaire to allow for the collection and analyses of high quality and timely policy-relevant data on the current status of state library agencies that enables an ongoing evaluation of trend comparisons. The SLAA tool is a database-driven Web portal specifically designed to integrate extant data into the data collection tool while incorporating information, user assistance, data validation, and reporting seamlessly into one site. The site was developed in C#.NET programming language, and supported by a SQL server database and is housed on RTI’s computer systems, and with a Web address that incorporates IMLS branding. The online administration was designed to minimize user technology requirements for both hardware and software, and as such, the SLAA web tool can be accessed via personal computers or laptops, using either MacIntosh or Windows operating systems. All that is needed to access the survey tool is Internet access to any commonly used Web browser, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome.

The web application is designed to minimize response burden, to enable timely submissions of high quality data, and to require minimal or no edit follow-up for data problems. A user guide and on-line tutorial is included in the web survey application. A 'Help' function quickly links data items to their definitions. An edit check tool alerts the respondent to questionable data during the data entry process, via on-screen edit-check warnings and an edit check report that can be viewed on-screen or printed. These tools ease the completion of the survey and enable the review and submission of the data in a timely fashion. In addition, the survey is transmitted with data pre-entered into the system from the prior two-year data collection in FY2018 for items that are not expected to change. The respondent is instructed to review the pre-entered data and update any information that has changed from what was entered in the FY2018 survey. All other data fields are left blank for the respondent to fill in.

The web-based reporting system is updated and maintained by the contractor. The contractor serves as primary administrator of the data collection. IMLS and the contractor share responsibility for testing the product prior to its official release. The web application’s operation is reviewed on an on-going basis by the contractor. Updates and improvements to the application are made as needed.

Contacting Respondents

The official request for data collection will be e-mailed to the chief officers of SLAAs and stresses the importance of their participation in the survey as partners in the process. The key holders receive a separate e-mail that recognizes their primary responsibility for completion of the survey and encourages their response. The e-mail to the Key Holders will also include information for logging into the web application.

B.2.2. Statistical Methodology

This is a universe survey and does not require special considerations for statistical methods.

Imputation

To make complete SLAA datasets for constructing estimates of totals, it is sometimes necessary to impute for missing data items. After the data have been collected, edited, and cleaned, remaining missing items will be imputed. The data are identified as either imputed or reported on the survey data file through the use of imputation flags and data users are given definitions of what each flag means. Six imputation methodologies used in the FY2012 through FY2018 data collections will continue to be used for the proposed FY2020 survey: Zero Rule, Growth Rule, Sum Rule, Raking Rule, Sum of Internal-Detail-Report Rule, and Disaggregation Rule.

B.3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and to Deal with Non-Response

B.3.1. Maximizing Response Rates

As the end of the data collection period approaches, the contractor, currently RTI, contacts non-respondents to encourage their completion of the survey. Members of the IMLS staff also contact the state library agencies, if necessary, to encourage response. IMLS Library Statistics Working Group (LSWG) members are available to serve as mentors and may provide technical assistance to states in reporting their data. The contractor conducts edit follow-up of the data submissions and tries to obtain any data not reported in the original submission to maximize accuracy and response rate.

The John Lorenz Award, a certificate signed by the Director of IMLS, is presented to Chief Officers and Key Holders who submitted their data a month before the end of the data collection period.

B.3.2. Approaches to Non-response

Historically, issues of non-response have not been a problem with the SLAA. The survey is the result of a cooperative effort between the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) and IMLS. This cooperative effort has led to the 100 percent response rate this survey has historically achieved.

B.4. Steps to Minimize Burden and to Improve Utility

IMLS is committed to collecting high-quality data while minimizing the burden to respondents. IMLS continually reviews the survey instrument to determine whether data elements need to be changed, added, or deleted. As the FY18 data collection was a transition to a new vendor, no changes were made to the FY2016 instrument or tool other than cosmetic changes. A copy of the questionnaire for the draft FY2020 survey is attached; IMLS plans to use the same questionnaire from FY2018 in FY2020 and focus on evaluating and updating the edit checks prior to the FY20 collection to reduce burden.

The web-based reporting system is updated and maintained by the contractor. The web application will be updated to keep pace with changes in technology that enhance ease-of-use, as well as to make changes based on feedback from respondents in preparing to administer the SLAA FY2020 data collection.

Evaluations of the reliability and validity of the data continue to be conducted periodically. The edit specifications are evaluated as part of every survey cycle.

B.5. Individuals Responsible for Study Design and Performance

The following individuals are responsible for the study design and the collection and analysis of the data on SLAA.

Table B1. Personnel Involved with SLAA

Institution	Personnel	Email / Phone
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) 955 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Suite 4000 Washington, DC 20024	Marisa Pelczar, PhD Program Analyst Lisa Frehill, PhD Senior Statistician Matthew Birnbaum, PHD Senior Evaluation Officer Scott Carey Chief Information Officer Teresa DeVoe Associate Deputy Director – State Programs	mpelczar@imls.gov 202-653-4647 lfrehill@imls.gov 202-653-4649 mbirnbaum@imls.gov 202-653-4760
		scarey@imls.gov 202-653-4690 tdevoe@imls.gov 202-653-4778
Research Triangle International (RTI) 3050 East Cornwallis Rd. POS Box 12194 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194	Elizabeth Robbins Program Director, Web and Mobile Applications Development	robbins@rti.org 919-541-7062

IMLS: SLAA Supporting Statement B | 3