Last focus group!

Ran my last focus group yesterday - have starting writing them up, but half still to do. Some interesting things jumping out already:

1) Students are happy us getting their mobile phone numbers any way we can and using them to get in touch - as long as it's with "useful" information. Defining "useful" is a bit tricky though...

2) Any barrier, however small, is too big and will stop them using new services. This is unless they see an immediate and obvious advantage to doing it.

3) Most of the focus group members only thought about using library services in the library - all our electronic resources; all the ways of contacting us; all the info on webpages; twitter, etc. used almost entirely on campus by those attending the focus groups. So, most genuinely didn't see the point in anything delivered to mobile devices unless they gave them an advantage on campus. Bit of a surprise this! The students were a mix of part & full time as well...

Will need to follow up with some sort of contact with distance learners perhaps? Or more part-timers to see if this is typical?

Lots of things done today

A productive morning, mobile projects wise!

• Just submitted at possible workshop to the CoFHE / UC&R joint conference 2010 on mobile 'phone stuff.

• Pretty much finished an article I'm writing to complement a talk I've submitted to LILAC 2010 - if I do the talk, it'll be submitted to the Journal of Information Literacy (run by the same people as the conference, so only polite to give them first crack at it!).

• Done a draft version of the questionnaire I'll use to assess how the Text tips & tricks went (using a form in Google docs for that one). Also scheduled the last of the text tips and tricks to go out over the next couple of weeks.

Focus groups

Started a series of focus groups for students to talk about how they feel about existing and potential mobile 'phone services.

Really struggling to get people to sign up for them - advertised it in student portal, emails to all students, plasma screens, teaching sessions, twitter, facebook.... Everyone who takes part will be put into a draw for an new generation iPod Nano, so quite a nice prize which I thought would be an incentive.

Bit startled so far at how conservative the students are in their thoughts on mobile services - have to see how the others pan out...