4.1.1.2 Survey Instrument – Printed

Printed questionnaires were distributed to the public libraries in Manukau, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin along with instructions to staff in those libraries on the content and purpose of the study. Each questionnaire was accompanied by a Letter of Information explaining the purpose of the study, what the data would be used for, the cut-off date for receipt of completed surveys, and an estimate of how much time it should take to complete. The questionnaires were distributed from the central library in each city and staff at these sites were asked to place the questionnaires in the area where the family history or Māori resources of that library are kept. Appropriate managerial permissions were gained before any questionnaires were distributed and as part of this process the most suitable staff member to act as a contact person was identified. Each host library was given the option of receiving a breakdown of results relating to their customers at the completion of the project. Information forwarded to the host libraries would not identify individuals and would take the form of aggregate data.

In keeping with Kuglin’s study, the individual libraries in which the survey was distributed were the “main” or central library where the core New Zealand (and therefore Māori) heritage resources are held. These libraries were –

• Auckland City Libraries, Central City Library, Auckland Research Centre
• Manukau Libraries, Central Research Library
• Wellington City Libraries, Central City library, New Zealand Collection
• Christchurch City Libraries, Central City library, Aotearoa New Zealand Centre
• Dunedin Public Libraries, City library, 3rd floor

A dropbox was made available at each of these distribution points for respondents to use but a freepost address and self addressed envelopes were also provided as Kuglin’s experience showed that many more surveys were submitted via mail than were deposited in the boxes provided. In this study this proved not to be the case, though some completed questionnaires were received in this way, particularly those accessed online. In addition Kuglin’s use of different coloured paper for different locations was employed in this study to help increase efficiency in the data analysis phase of the project. In order to gather enough completed questionnaires to have a large enough sample to work with (see 4.2 Population and sample) 40 questionnaires be distributed to each of these sites.

Distribution of the printed survey occurred between 16 August 2007 and 5 September 2007 with the cut-off date for receipt of completed surveys set at 10 September 2007.