Library Skills training online

Once you have created your survey and set it up, there is one more step to take before you can send it to your trainees.

Note: You do not need to create a new survey for every training session that you deliver, if you will be using the same questions. Doing so makes analysis of feedback from your sessions more difficult and would make a very long list of surveys in LibWizard. You only need one survey per set of questions.

Instead, you should create custom URLs to pre-fill the session/tutorial title, in order to differentiate what the feedback is being provided for. If you want to see an example of how this works, there is a blog page on the SpringShare site. 

You can pre-fill specific elements of your survey (e.g. date of the session, or title of the session). If you are using one survey for a variety of different sessions which will use the same feedback questions, then pre-filling the session name and date fields will save attendees time in filling in the survey, will mean consistent information is entered in these fields, will save space in LibWizard, and also allow you to analyse the results of your different sessions together.

• Go to Settings in the top right-hand corner of your survey, select Pre-Filled Survey via URL from the sections on the left.
• Next check that Active is selected at the top of the survey, if it is not toggle the switch from inactive to active.
• Now you will see the survey questions. Complete the fields for the session/tutorial name and date (if applicable) which you want to use the survey for.
• When complete, select the Generate custom URL string button at the bottom
• Copy and paste the custom URL to a safe location where you will be able to retrieve it
• You can ignore the warning to click save to activate the pre-filled via URL function, just make sure Active is selected. You can view your survey to make sure the name and date of your session appear once you have generated your custom URL.

Custom URLs are not stored in LibWizard and if you forget to record it you will not be able to retrieve it. We advise copying the custom URL to a spreadsheet where you can keep track of which URLs you have created and where you have used them.

You can try your URL out by pasting it into a new tab. Click through to see the questions you have pre-filled already populated.

Use a URL shortener such as tinyurl or bit.ly to create a short URL, for example if you want to paste your custom URL into a chat pane for a live session. For websites / emails it is always better to embed URLs behind meaningful text.

Use a QR code generator, such as QR code monkey so attendees can easily scan and complete the form on their phones.

If you would like to see more detailed instructions refer to the Springshare help guide.

If you lose or forget your custom URL string, you can create a replacement by completing the steps above again.

The custom URL allows you to pre-fill the survey to make it easier for your respondents, but it also means you can use just one survey for many different training events or activities. This is very beneficial, as it makes it easier to find your survey in LibWizard and to view and manage survey responses.

You could use your survey without creating a custom URL for it, in which case the respondent would need to fill out the session/activity title and/or date themselves. This would, however, inconvenience the respondent, and would lead to inconsistencies in the title on the responses, making it harder to analyse responses. For this reason, it's not recommended to make the respondent complete the title and date fields.

If you need to create a survey which has specific questions applicable only to one particular training event or activity, then you could create a new survey for it, with the survey title indicating the training event or activity. In this case, the first question on the survey (session/tutorial name) would be redundant and could be deleted, and no custom URL would be necessary.

For synchronous sessions, you are likely to get a far higher response rate by providing a link to the survey at the end of the live session and allowing time for the students to complete it at that moment.

See our Checklist for encouraging feedback form completion.

When sharing a link in a session, use a URL shortener such as tinyurl or bit.ly to create a short URL and share a QR code to the custom URL to make it easy for attendees to scan and complete the form on their phone. QR code monkey is a useful site for generating free QR codes.

Tip: If you set up a free account in tinyurl, you can specify the ending of the URL to make it easier to recall. E.g. you might want to use a word from the title of the session and the date, such as endnote-16Jan23.

When providing a link to the survey on a web page or document, embed the URL behind meaningful text as per best practice for accessibility.