By utilizing a number of methodologies; informant, formal interviews, a focus group, observations and internet research a broader view of the subject was acquired as opposed to only investigating with one. Berg and Lune (2012) described this as “triangulation.” They stated “By combining several lines of sight, researchers obtain a better, more substantive picture of reality; a richer, more complete array of symbols and theoretical concepts; and a means of verifying many of these elements” (p.6). One could not have uncovered all this information with observations alone. McCurdy, Shandy & Spradley (2005) suggested to stay naïve during research. I tried to approach this subject with an open mind. The only preconceived notions I had was that
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I wanted to see what the library had to offer as a patron, not a researcher. This could be considered a social anthropological approach by first getting a library card and checking a book out as a customer of the library during a field visit. I got a feel for the process and what the library had to offer the public. Similar to what Stoddart (as cited in Berg and Lune, 2012) described as covert ethnography. No one at the time knew what I was there for, so I could observe the library environment without impacting it. This was the same situation when I spent an hour observing, I appeared to be just a patron at the …show more content…
I broke the ice easily and we become comfortable with each other quickly. She provided a great deal of information about the workings of today’s library and its librarians. I asked response-provoking questions that allowed Sally Joe to open up about her duties and work as a librarian. She gave me a personal tour of the facility which contained a number of areas. I was impressed with her knowledge of the library’s layout and its systems. When I asked about power failures and she quickly showed me the generator room which allows the library to function during power outage situations.
I had the opportunity to have one focus group containing five female librarians. Berg and Lune (2012) purposed it is through the group's discussion that information is gathered, one individual's comments could spur more information from others. I got to see this first hand as one librarians comments or answer would spur more responses from others. The group I had was well diverse in age but all females. There is a lack of males in the industry which I will touch upon later. The hour long session provided overall consensus that further supported my research findings. They did provide more information on event planning and the technology used by the children’s
I wanted to see what the library had to offer as a patron, not a researcher. This could be considered a social anthropological approach by first getting a library card and checking a book out as a customer of the library during a field visit. I got a feel for the process and what the library had to offer the public. Similar to what Stoddart (as cited in Berg and Lune, 2012) described as covert ethnography. No one at the time knew what I was there for, so I could observe the library environment without impacting it. This was the same situation when I spent an hour observing, I appeared to be just a patron at the …show more content…
I broke the ice easily and we become comfortable with each other quickly. She provided a great deal of information about the workings of today’s library and its librarians. I asked response-provoking questions that allowed Sally Joe to open up about her duties and work as a librarian. She gave me a personal tour of the facility which contained a number of areas. I was impressed with her knowledge of the library’s layout and its systems. When I asked about power failures and she quickly showed me the generator room which allows the library to function during power outage situations.
I had the opportunity to have one focus group containing five female librarians. Berg and Lune (2012) purposed it is through the group's discussion that information is gathered, one individual's comments could spur more information from others. I got to see this first hand as one librarians comments or answer would spur more responses from others. The group I had was well diverse in age but all females. There is a lack of males in the industry which I will touch upon later. The hour long session provided overall consensus that further supported my research findings. They did provide more information on event planning and the technology used by the children’s