Annual Users' Meeting
21-22
August 2003
Stamford Grand Adelaide
Glenelg
South
Australia
Evaluation Summary
A total of 227 delegates attended the 2003 KAUM including 37 people who attended the Friday workshops only. Of the 227 delegates, 98 completed the Kinetica AUM evaluation form that had been distributed to each delegate. Of the 98 respondents, 50% were from the education sector, 20% from special government libraries, 13% from the public library sector with the remainder from national/state, commercial and other libraries. (See sector breakdown charts)
Of particular note is the fact that 90% ranked the meeting as a whole to be excellent or above average. The aspects that received most praise were meals and refreshments, the meeting venue, the role of Kinetica staff and the tour of the State Library of South Australia. The evaluation summary chart illustrates user rankings for 2002 and 2003. The comparative data reveals that all measurable items with the exception of the Happy Hour achieved a greater percentage of 'Excellent' rankings than for the previous year. In some cases the percentage more than doubled.
This year a local committee of five South Australian librarians assisted Kinetica staff with the organisation of the AUM. Their local knowledge contributed significantly to the efficient planning and execution of the Meeting.
The Meeting this year featured three new areas
- the Innovation Awards;
- a tour of the State Library of South Australia;
- workshop.
The Innovation Awards were presented to the library, information service or organisation which had, in the opinion of the judging panel, made the most innovative use of Kinetica. Our inaugural winner was the State Library of Tasmania for their web based service "Our Digital Island". Four workshops were offered to KAUM participants on the final afternoon of the Meeting. These workshops were also open to local library staff who didn't attend the AUM. The workshops, which were widely appreciated covered the following topics.
- Authorities;
- KDD;
- E-resources/serial cataloguing;
- Teaching Kinetica to End-Users.
The evaluation gave respondents the opportunity to comment on the following aspects.
- What did you like most about the meeting?
- Are there any parts of the meeting that you would change?
- Do you have any comments about the venue?
- Any further comments?
- Which workshop did you attend and do you have any comments on the workshop?
The replies have been summarised under the following headings.
- General
- Format and organisation
- Content / Presentations /Discussion
- Venue
Each of the above headings (with the exception of General) has been subdivided into positive comments and suggestions / criticisms. As the overwhelming tenor of the replies are extremely positive and the same answers tend to be repeated throughout, the list of positive comments are sometimes shorter than the list of suggestions /criticisms. But as always, what some people see as a positive component, others will see as a negative component. For example, the Showcase of South Australian Libraries. The overwhelming response was very positive with most attendees appreciating the opportunity to be given an overview of the library sector in South Australia. However, there were some who thought this type of showcase was inappropriate at an annual users' meeting.
1.General
The most frequent positive comments received from participants were appreciation for the opportunity to network with colleagues and the variety of the topics at this year's Meeting. Many people commented favourably on the broader topics that were not directly focussed on Kinetica, but were associated with Kinetica. All comments of a general nature were overwhelmingly positive as depicted below.
- More informative and better structured than in previous years
- Excellent Chair
- Very open and easy to contribute
- Positive "vibes" about Kinetica
- Kinetica staff are very gracious, knowledgeable and client-focussed. Thank you!
2.Format and organisation
While respondents were impressed with the format and efficient organisation of the meetings and expressed the opinion that they had improved over the years, they nevertheless indicated a number of minor as well as major areas where change was desired. 52% of comments were positive and 48% were suggestions for improvement. The most frequent suggestions for improvement was to have short breaks within sessions and more opportunity for discussion in smaller groups.
Positive comments
- Excellently organised and streamlined
- Congratulations to the organising committee
- Good balance of Kinetica users upfront and Nstaff
- Very well organised - kept to schedule, well presented and relevant
- Thanks for the summary notes at the end
Suggestions / criticisms
- More short breaks would be appreciated
- More discussion through smaller groups in parallel sessions
- Colour coded name tags according to sector or state
- No return transport from tour of State Library was poor management
- A list of participants would be useful
3.Content / presentations /discussion
Most respondents were impressed with the calibre of the speakers and the overall standard of the presentations. 70% of comments were positive and 30% were suggestions for improvement which covered many issues.
Positive comments
- The workshops are an excellent idea
- The KDD workshop was to the point and discussed practical real issues
- Showcase of SA Libraries - excellent demonstrations of why resource sharing should remain a priority
- The Authorities workshop was very practical and hands-on
- The e-resources/serial workshop was very worthwhile with great outcomes
- Workshops - excellent opportunity to discuss issues/problems, canvas ideas
- Authorities Workshop - contribution from Kinetica staff member was excellent and informative
- Authorities Workshop - helped to overcome barriers - very useful!
- Like the broad range of topics - this trend should continue
Suggestions / criticisms
- Parallel sessions too formal and don't invite participation
- Should limit the number of sessions that allow users to talk about their experiences
- More parallel sessions on specific issues
- Showcase of SA libraries was too long
- Focus group sessions with Kinetica staff would be useful
- Enhancements session should have been scheduled when everyone could attend
- Demonstrations of Kinetica products, hands-on hints and tips
- E-resources/serial workshop- focussed on academic libraries only
- E-resources/serial workshop - title misleading - totally irrelevant
- Authorities Workshop - tedious! Put me off doing authority work
- Authorities Workshop - too basic. A shorter session looking at issues/problems would have been more useful
- Authorities Workshop - Internet connection too slow
- Authorities workshop - short on structure and purpose
- Showcase of SA Libraries and the Innovation Awards - 'feel good' sessions that didn't have any new information
- Teaching Kinetica to End Users workshop - good but too brief - could have incorporated more input from attendees
4.Venue
While all respondents praised the location and food, a number mentioned some minor irritants that would need to be addressed if the same venue were to be used on another occasion. These included airconditioning problems, lack of seating at lunch and external noise. 60% of comments were positive and 40% were suggestions for improvement which mainly covered the lack of seating at lunch and the air-conditioning problems.
Positive comments
- Fantastic location and venue!
- By the sea was wonderful
- Staff very professional and helpful
Suggestions / criticisms
- Air-conditioning was a problem - either too hot or too cold
- Lack of seating at lunch
- Building noise was annoying
5.Comments to consider when planning the next KAUM
The issues listed below are those that can be easily addressed when planning the next KAUM. Suggestions pertaining to content and input will need to be discussed with the various library sectors / user groups at a later stage.
- Need to attract a wider range of managers, reference librarians, document delivery officers and cataloguers
Recommendation
That the Kinetica Advisory Committee notes the results of the evaluation survey of the 2003 Kinetica Annual Users' Meeting.
Evaluation summary chart

Sector Breakdowns
Sector breakdown by organisation type |
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Sector breakdown by employment type |
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