Hosting a Poll or Survey on your Library website can offer instant feedback.
You can also post longer surveys assessing user needs, collection development, etc.
And surveys & polls can also be a marketing tool - 
ask what services your  patrons value most, what they need, or use the least.
Even posting a quick 1 or 2 question poll on your site can be fun and if you make the questions
interesting enough they may also provide "stickiness" for your site

Please remember - after assessing any type of feedback and survey results, 
to be sure and "ACT" on that feedback. 
When users take the time to offer their ideas, and feedback -
you owe it to them to be responsive to their concerns.
And if you create a meaningful survey and questions, you will receive meaningful answers.
Designing the questions & answer selction that will provide meaningful results - will be the hardest part.
But it can be done, just listen to & read of others experiences and ask for help if needed.

Read this commentary on Library Link:
PUBLIC LIBRARIANS AND THEIR PUBLIC - ARE WE LOOKING AT THE SAME THING?
April 2003
James H. Sweetland
Excerpt quoted from website commentary:
User studies of some kind have been conducted in US libraries since the 1930s, often with some success, and other times with less success. However, based on the recent research, we may have been missing something, or perhaps we are so unhappy with the results that we have been ignoring them? As libraries across the world find it harder to secure funding, as librarians continue to find their role in society defined as nearly marginal, and as more people are inundated with more propaganda about the value of the Internet over libraries, possibly it is time we try to pay even more attention to our users. And, in the process, it would be helpful to spend more time on the wording of questions, on the sampling of the users studied (maybe including more non-users would be a good idea), and on the apparent differences among localities and ethnic groups. And, by the way, possibly a rediscovery of the real, and perceived, importance of the educational roles of the library is overdue.

Library Statistics Program
Excerpt quoted from website
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) initiated a formal library statistics program in 1989 that now includes surveys on academic libraries, public libraries, school library media centers, and state library agencies.
nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/

Read this EContent - article
Survey Says!
Sylvia Marino
April 2002 
Most site owners would love the opportunity to pick their users' brains.
Why? To find out what they like and dislike about the site,
the content, the colors, the layout—you name it.
What about clickstream analysis?
Doesn't it give you this information? Well, some of it.
But it doesn't give you fingers tapping on the keyboard,
and getting information straight from the horse's mouth never hurt anyone.
Read the remainder at:
www.econtentmag.com/bs1/2002/marino4_02.html

Resources:

• Resources & Ideas for Creating Surveys
• Free Services for creating Surveys & Polls
• Fee for Services / Creating Surveys

Marketing Library Services
Written by Alan Issler and Ian Jentle
Chapter 15 "Best Practices Manual"
http://www.nlbuk.org/bpm/chapter15.html
Excerpts:
Getting feedback
Listening to people is a marketing tool as well as a means of
service development and monitoring. 
The library service should be involved in a number of appropriate forums.
These could include:
a) Independent Access Group;
b) Disabled People's Forum;
c) Departmental User Group;
d) Low Vision Committee;
e) Informal contacts with visually impaired groups;
f) Equalities Forum/Equal Opportunities Committee;
g) Customer Forum with a wide service user brief.
The availability, time and usefulness of the options will vary. 
However library services should ensure that visually impaired people are 
involved in user consultative groups. 

Questionnaires
Service users can be asked to complete questionnaires at the point at 
which they receive the service. Forms may be constructed to both assess
and improve service delivery as well as provide information on how 
they heard about the service. Staff should be trained to provide assistance 
for visually impaired customers to fill in such forms. 

Telephone surveys
Telephone surveys can be an ideal method of gathering information from visually
impaired people. It is important to get a sufficient and representative sample to 
gather valid data. If a general survey of user needs or satisfaction is being undertaken, 
then a strong argument can be made for making provision for a telephone survey t
o enfranchise visually impaired people. Particular care needs to be taken over telephone surveys. 

Conducting surveys
It may be necessary to use a combination of the above. 
However there are key points that must be incorporated whatever method chosen:
a) staff carrying out surveys need to be trained in how to correctly approach 
visually impaired people in person or on the phone;
b) the reason for any survey must always be made clear;
c) the design of any questionnaire must elicit clear information 
and encourage criticism to avoid people simply expressing gratitude for existing services. 

LibQual - Charting Library Service Quality
Excerpt quoted from website:
www.libqual.org
LibQUAL+(TM) is a research and development project undertaken by ARL in collaboration with Texas A&M University as one of the ARL New Measures Initiatives. The project is defining and measuring library service quality across institutions and creating useful quality assessment tools for libraries.

The ARL New Measures Initiative projects are emerging from the ARL Statistics and Measurement Program. They seek to develop innovative ways for libraries to describe their contributions to their institutions.
www.libqual.org

More info - quoted from
New York 3R's Organization
www.nytro.net/AboutLibQUAL.html
Service quality has always been a value for libraries. The Association for Research Library (ARL) LibQUAL+TM Assessment Survey (LibQUAL+) provides a method to measure that value. LibQUAL+TM is a program that seeks to define and measure library service quality across institutions and to create useful quality-assessment tools for local planning. LibQUAL+TM measures library users’ perceptions of service quality and identifies gaps between desired, perceived, and minimum expectations of service.
Read complete info at www.nytro.net/AboutLibQUAL.html

See this : PDF Document (You will need Adobe Acrobat reader to open)
User Satisfaction
www.arl.org/libqual/geninfo/usersatisfaction.pdf

Assessing User Needs, Satisfaction and Library Performance at the University of Washington
www.arl.org/libqual/events/Oct2000msq/papers/Hiller/hiller.html

Local Experiences with User Satisfaction Surveys in Academic Libraries
www.arl.org/libqual/events/Oct2000msq/papers/Simmonds/simmonds.html

Perspectives on user satisfaction surveys
Service Quality in the Networked Environment
www.arl.org/libqual/events/Oct2000msq/papers/Bertot/bertot.html

University of Bath (United Kingdom)
Library and Learning Centre
Users Surveys

Library Surveys & Questionnaires
Compiled by:
Joe Ryan
http://web.syr.edu/~jryan/infopro/survey.html

Library Surveys with Emphasis on Reference Services: A Selective Bibliography
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/6/7/s7-1001-e.html

Power Point Presentation
How to Design and Conduct Library Surveys
http://www.dos.state.fl.us/dlis/bld/Research_Office/Cbw01/CBW2001Surveys.ppt 

Web Survey Resources 
Survey Design   Survey Research   Resources of Data
Research Lab/Center   Web Survey Service Provider  Other Links 
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/tse-portal/datacollectionmethodologies/survey.htm

Web Survey Methodology
http://www.websm.org/topics.html

User Needs Assessment Bibliography
http://library.queensu.ca/webisi/needs.htm

The State of Performance Measurement in Libraries: 
A Report from the 2nd Northumbria International Conference (1997)
by Amos Lakos, Coordinator of Management Information Services, University of Waterloo
http://www.arl.org/newsltr/197/perform.html

Library Statistics & Performance Measures Organizations
Compiled by:
Joe Ryan
http://web.syr.edu/~jryan/infopro/statorg.html

Montana State Library
Sample Library Surveys
http://msl.state.mt.us/ldd/Samples/Surveys/Samplelibrarysurveys.html

IT Discovery: Web Survey Project
Final Report, Current Practices
chart listing schools and what they use. 
http://web.mit.edu/is/discovery/web-surveys/report/current-practices.html
 

Academic library surveys and statistics in practice
Proceedings of a seminar held at Loughborough University 2-3 June 1997
LISU Occasional Paper No.16
Edited by David Spiller
(ISBN: 1 901786 01 3 pp 96)
Price: £18.50, post paid UK
Overseas postage: Europe £3.30, Rest of World £5.50
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dils/lisu/public.html

These papers were presented during a LISU seminar held at Loughborough 
University on 2-3 June 1997. The event was designed for academic librarians 
who were involved in user research projects, and needed information on
surveying and analysing the results. It provided practical advice, from librarians 
with experience of conducting surveys. Speakers described different survey techniques
and their effect upon findings, and the impact of findings upon management decision-making.
The published papers reflect the emphasis upon methodology rather than results - 
although the latter are also referred to.
The papers cover: recent progress in measuring academic library performance; 
a comparison of different kinds of user survey; user satisfaction surveys carried 
out over several years; surveying with Libra software and focus groups; and 
surveys of book availability, market penetration, short loan collections, and
electronic journal use. There is also a contribution from a statistician - 
on sampling, statistical inference, and software packages.
It is hoped that librarians from universities, colleges, and further education institutions
will find the proceedings useful for developing surveys of their own - 
by building upon the strengths (and avoiding the mistakes) of other practitioners.
Ordering Information for this publication

Article/Online Paper:
ARL Measuring Service Quality Symposium 
Washington, D.C.  October 20-21 , 2000
Assessing User Needs, Satisfaction and Library Performance at the University of Washington
Steve Hiller 
Head, Science Libraries and Library Assessment Coordinator 
University of Washington 
http://www.arl.org/libqual/events/Oct2000msq/papers/Hiller/hiller.html

Read Online  article with some information about Library Surveys:

How Different Are They? A Comparison By Academic Area Of Library Use, 
Priorities, and Information Needs at the University of Washington
Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship : Winter 2002 
Steve Hiller
http://www.istl.org/istl/02-winter/article1.html
Abstract
The University of Washington Libraries has conducted large-scale library surveys on a triennial cycle since 1992. These surveys are sent to all faculty members and a random sample of graduate and undergraduate students. Surveys measure user satisfaction with library services and resources and have also included questions on the reasons faculty and students use (or don't use) libraries, use and application of electronic information, importance of information resources, and their priorities for library services and resources. Survey results comprise a rich lode of information about library use and needs during a period of rapid change in the information environment. 
The University of Washington Libraries is unique not only in the regularity of its systematic surveying of the user community but also in the large number of surveys that are returned, especially by faculty (1,100 to 1,500 for each survey). The size and representative nature of the respondent pool has enabled us to generalize for the population as a whole and do statistical analysis by academic subject area. One of the more striking findings of this analysis has been the substantial differences shown in library/information needs and use by those in different subject fields. This paper will focus on the differences (and also some similarities) between scientists/engineers and other academic areas in their library use and information needs at a large American research university. 

Cristal-Ed
Mail List Discussion -- Surveying User Needs: Do We Really Want To Know?
http://www.si.umich.edu/cristaled/postings/V35.html

Article online - interesting reading about Surveys & Polls of website users
(not Library related)
Survey Says!
Sylvia Marino
EContent April 2002
http://www.econtentmag.com/bs1/2002/marino4_02.html
 

FREE Services
**note - these sites may carry advertising  or a link back to service within the free survey**

Mybackend.com - Create Forms & Surveys for Free
Easy to set up and install on your website
*small link to mybackend.com is all that is required*
**I have tried this free service and am very happy with it
Take my sample survey that I put on this website for
Site Feedback **

Opinion Power
Create Free Surveys and Polls
All surveys and polls are free. Create as many as you want. 
http://www.opinionpower.com/startSurvey.html

Poll Wizard - Create Polls & Surveys online in 5 minutes
http://www.pollwizard.com/form.html

Hits4Me (join for Free - several member services)
http://www.hits4me.com/tour.asp?info=poll
The Web Poll is available to all Hits4me members. 
Find out what your visitors think - the easy way!
The Web Poll can be integrated directly into your web page 
(you have full control over presentation and formatting), or linked from your site.

Free Polls
http://www.freepolls.com/

Free - Create a Poll
http://www.createapoll.com/
Now you can offer your visitors a chance to voice their opinion.
Within minutes you can create a custom poll that will let them 
give you answers to questions that would otherwise go unanswered. 

My Poll Net
http://www.mypoll.net
Mypoll.net is an easy way to add customized,
interactive polls to your web site. They are fast, easy, 
and FREE! Get instant feed back from your site's visitors! 

Software Solution
Survey Solutions Express
http://www.perseus.com/_int01.htm
With Perseus SurveySolutions Express you can add fun,
exciting, interactive content to your web site quickly and easily.
You'll be creating surveys within minutes of opening the product. 
The interface is very intuitive and powerful, and there's no need to know HTML. 
Best of all, with SurveySolutions Express, you can quickly set up multiple surveys,
and schedule them in advance to switch over whenever you want. 
SurveySolutions Express gives you the power to keep 
your web site filled with fresh, exciting and entertaining 
content with a minimal amount of effort.
http://www.perseus.com/softwareprod/ssexpress_index.html
 

Poll Now
The First & Largest Realtime Free Poll Server in the World
http://www.pollnow.com/index.shtml

Votations
http://www.votations.com/
We provide FREE professional web and email based polls, 
surveys and targeted newsletter tools and hosting solutions.
No more technical worries, everything is hosted on our 
high capacity data centers and our user friendly interface 
will help you analyze and manage all your important data. 
Free for 50 respondents or less

Insiteful Surveys - Basic Member Services are Free for surveys with 
50 or less respondents
http://www.insitefulsurveys.com/index.asp

Free Online Surveys
http://free-online-surveys.co.uk/
and
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/
Free for up to 50 respondents

WebEnalysis 
free online polls and web site surveys for your web site - 
Version 2
http://www.webenalysis.com/onlinepolls.asp

Sparklit - Free Surveys
4 Types of Surveys
Limits to 15 questions on Surveys
http://www.pollit.com/survey/

Mister Poll 
http://www.misterpoll.com/
Make Your Own FREE Polls!
You can create your own multi-question polls and easily plug them 
into your web site using a variety of styles.
You can also email your poll URL to friends and relatives 
as an alternative way to attract voters to your newly created poll! 
Plus, every poll gets its own message area! 
Various Catergories

Directory Listings of FREE Services
- may have duplicative resources of  the sites named above and on each list.

Google Listing
Open Directory Listing
Free Services > Polls and Surveys 

Free polls & surveys
http://www.absolutelyfreebies.com/webmasters_free_stuff/polls.html

Free Online Polls
Free surveys or polls for your website 
http://www.thefreecountry.com/ecentricity/polls.html

FREE Interactive Forms for Your Web Site
http://www.123go.com/drw/webs/form.htm

For Webmasters who understand how to install scripts
Free-CGI Poll
http://www.free-cgi.com/freecgi/poll/index.asp
Conduct polls, surveys or take votes on the web to find out what's popular 
or to see what your visitors think about any topic or issue. 
Your Free-CGI Poll is completely customizable so you can make
it look just like the rest of your site. 
Ask up to five questions with up to five answers per question. 
Delete and edit questions, or reset the statistics, anytime. 
Keep statistics and increase traffic to your website at the same time! 

Remotely hosted scripts
Listing:
http://www.hotscripts.com/Remotely_Hosted/Polls_and_Voting/

Perseus
Survey Software
http://www.perseus.com/_int01.htm
Using SurveySolutions for the Web 
you can design professional surveys quickly, 
distribute them via the Web or e-mail, collect responses automatically, 
analyze survey results, and create presentations of survey results instantly. 
$265.00

Survey Monkey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/
A powerful tool for serious primates of all species. 
SurveyMonkey has a single purpose: to enable anyone to
create professional online surveys quickly and easily.
Expensive - but they offer limited free service

Zoomerang
http://www.zoomerang.com/

Compare Zoomerang service with SurveyKey
http://www.surveykey.com
Quoted from Company President:
At SurveyKey.com, you have much greater flexibility
and control over the overall appearance of your survey.
It’s incredibly easy to use and all surveys
that you create are SSL secure using 128 bit encryption.
John Jetter,President
JetMan Productions, Inc.

Hosted Survey
http://www.hostedsurvey.com/
Everything you need to design and 
administer professional Web Surveys

Please feel free to let me know your comments
on these pages.
Contact, Me ~ Mary Niederlander
via e-mail, write to: Mary@LibrarySupportStaff.com
THANK YOU!!