The next step in this process was submitting an application to the IRB, or Institutional Review Board at NSU. Academic insitutions have their own IRBs that review and approve all research activities involving human subjects done under the auspices of their institution. Dr. Louderback assured me that my application qualified for an "expedited review", which meant that I would not have to wait for the entire board to convene a meeting. The survey was anonymous in nature and constituted minimal risk to those who participated. In addition, it did not specifically target "vulnerable" populations.
This required extreme specificity in many areas. For example, I had to state clearly what I thought the benefits were to the participants of the survey. It was not good enough to state that the survey would help the institution; I had to argue how the survey would (eventually) directly benefit the participant. I argued that the survey would result in more data from users to help librarians to improve the user interface of the website, but would also give participants a feeling of control and empowerment over that process.
The survey itself had to have a question confirming they were above 18 years old, and that participants were not required to answer all questions. We also needed to provide participants a chance to contact myself or Dr. Louderback with any questions or for a chance to view the results of the survey.
We submitted the survey just before the unprecedented closings of non-essential businesses and institutions in our area in response to the COVID-19 health crisis. As most academic institutions quickly transitioned to online activities and services, this crisis did not effect the speed at which the IRB application was approved. After a few small changes to the language of the survey, the application was approved within a week.
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