Our research team (Drs. June Abbas and Yong Ju Jung [School of Library & Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma]) is conducting a national survey (funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services) investigating the current state of programming, design, and accessibility of public library makerspaces’ programs for youth with disabilities in public libraries in the United States.
You are invited to participate in a survey as part of this research study.
The purposes of the study are to learn more about: 1) the prevalence of makerspaces or maker programming for youth with disabilities in public libraries, 2) the role of parents/caregivers and youth with disabilities in maker programming decisions, 3) the barriers encountered by both libraries developing the programs and those of youth with disabilities who participate, 4) the accessibility of makerspaces or maker programming (both physical and learning-enabled design) for youth with disabilities, and 5) the best practices being applied to ensure accessibility of makerspaces and maker programming for youth with disabilities.
You have been asked to participate because you have either developed or provided programming within makerspaces in your public library. It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete the survey. While there are no direct benefits to you for participating in this study, your participation may indirectly benefit others by helping us develop best practices and design principles based on our findings that libraries may follow to develop makerspaces or making programming for youth with disabilities.
There is a minimal risk for breach of confidentiality, and every effort will be made to protect your confidentiality. The data will be used solely for this research project and will be accessible only by the Principle Investigators and graduate research assistants. The organization hosting the data collection platform has its own privacy and security policies for keeping your information confidential. There is a risk that the external organization, which is not part of the research team, may gain access to or retain your data or your IP address which could be used to re-identify you. No assurance can be made as to their use of the data you provide for purposes other than this research. There is a risk of accidental data release. If this occurred, your identity and statements you made would become known to people who are not on the research team. To minimize this risk, the researchers will transfer data to, and store your data on, a secure platform approved by the University's Information Technology Office.
Your participation is completely voluntary, and you may discontinue the survey at any time. If you have questions about the research, you should contact the University of Oklahoma Principal Investigator June Abbas at 405-325-3921 or email jmabbas@ou.edu.
If you are not satisfied with the response of the research team, have more questions, or want to talk with someone about your rights as a research participant, please contact the University of Oklahoma – Norman Campus Institutional Review Board at 405-325-8110 or irb@ou.edu.
Clicking on the link below indicates that you have read this consent form, had an opportunity to ask any questions about your participation in this research and voluntarily consent to participate. We thank you for participating in our research project.