The Critical Incident Technique and the Qualitative Evaluation of the Connecting Libraries and Schools Project

Abstract

This article describes Flanagan’s Critical Incident Technique (CIT) for those seeking guidance in its application. Examples in the library and information science (LIS) field are discussed, including an in-depth example of a CIT study conducted as part of a qualitative evaluation of the Connecting Libraries and Schools Project (CLASP) in New York City. The CLASP study analyzed critical incidents from 2,416 fifth and seventh grade students regarding their perceptions of interactions with urban public librarians and library staff. For both positive and negative critical incidents, the most important factor in these preadolescent’s perception of successful library visits is the attitude of the librarian or staff member they encounter.Submitted by Sarah Shreeves ([email protected]) on 2008-02-21T17:32:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Radford551.pdf: 100582 bytes, checksum: f9ba28df3e37ec5659fb3bbe6586816d (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2008-02-21T17:32:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Radford551.pdf: 100582 bytes, checksum: f9ba28df3e37ec5659fb3bbe6586816d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Sarah Shreeves ([email protected]) on 2008-02-21T17:32:51Z Item is restricted until 2008-08-21T16:30:46ZItem reinstated by Timothy Donohue ([email protected]) on 2008-08-22T10:00:15Z Item was in collections: Library Trends 55 (1) Summer 2006: Research Methods (ID: 187) No. of bitstreams: 2 Radford551.pdf.txt: 53050 bytes, checksum: 6a4db0a6ac3d7c2e0d5e94296154d0ab (MD5) Radford551.pdf: 100582 bytes, checksum: f9ba28df3e37ec5659fb3bbe6586816d (MD5)Item released from any restrictions by Timothy Donohue ([email protected]) on 2008-08-22T10:00:16Zpublished or submitted for publicatio