You know how sometimes an idea takes hold of your imagination? That happened to me when I was introduced to Everett Roger’s Technology Adoption Lifecycle model at the 2006 PLA conference.

The Technology Adoption Lifecycle model illustrates new product adoption by people in a bell curve. I had this model in the back of my mind as an evaluation tool when I worked with my colleagues to begin our Web 2.0 makeover.

I used the standard evaluation tool for success--that is tracking web traffic (which increased by 44 percent!). In October 2008, 39,082 pages were viewed compared to 27,179 in October 2007.

And of course, I used a project evaluation survey via a LibIdaho message (thank you to all who responded to it!).

Here’s what I found out (N=80):

• Librarians discovered the new website in a number of ways (hence, the findings don’t equal 100 percent): 68 percent through electronic publication or communication; 26 percent through a presentation or display; 20 percent through print publications; and 16 percent by word of mouth.

A big part of the makeover campaign was to help librarians feels comfortable with Web 2.0 features. Here’s a YouTube segment on how we used C3Library.com to help.

The underlying measure of the project's success what to see if the Idaho library community would use the new website more than they would use the old.

• Of the 80 respondents who answered, “I think I will use the new website more than I used the old”: 2 strongly agreed and were active on C3library.com; 7 strongly agreed; 30 agreed; 29 neither agreed nor disagreed; 7 disagreed and 5 didn’t answer.

That’s where the Technology Adoption Lifecycle model comes in— I was amazed to see the model worked for our makeover (see below)! As far as I am concerned (who ever thinks that their project would match a theoretical model?), it’s a miracle!

Oh, and something else that's a wonder? I have since submitted this project for the John Cotton Dana Award. So, if you are going to the ALA's midwinter session and happen to hear anything, let me know!