[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 44 (Monday, March 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11787-11788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5279]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Request for Generic 
Clearance To Collect Customer Survey Data Pertaining to NIH Internet 
Sites

SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment 
on proposed data collection projects, the National Institutes of Health 
(NIH) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects to be 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and 
approval.

Proposed Collection

    Title: Request for Generic Clearance to Collect Customer Survey 
Data Pertaining to NIH Internet Sites. Type of Information Collection 
Request: NEW. Need and Use of Information Collection: Executive Order 
12862 directs agencies that provide significant services directly to 
the public to survey customers to determine the kind and quality of 
services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing 
services. With this submission, the NIH, Office of Communications and 
Public Liaison, seeks to obtain OMB's generic approval to conduct 
customer satisfaction surveys. Since the late 1980's, the NIH has 
seized the opportunity to disseminate information and materials via the 
Internet. Today, raid technological changes of the WWW warrant on-going 
constituent and resource analysis. With survey information, the NIH is 
enabled to serve, and respond to, the ever-changing demand by the 
public. The ``public'' includes individuals (such as patients, 
educators, students, etc.) and interested communities (such as national 
or local organizations/institutions) and business. Survey information 
will augment current Web content, delivery, and design research which 
is used to understand the Web user, and more specifically, the NIH user 
community. Primary objectives are to (1) classify

[[Page 11788]]

NIH Internet users; (2) summarize and better understand customer needs; 
and (3) quantify the effectiveness/efficiency of current tools and 
delivery. Overall, the Institutes, Centers, and Offices of the NIH will 
use the survey results to identify strengths and weaknesses in current 
Internet strategies. Findings will help to (1) understand user 
community and how to better serve Internet users; (2) discover areas 
requiring improvement in either content or delivery; (3) realize how to 
align Web offerings with identified user need(s); and (4) explore 
methods to offer and deliver information with efficacy and equity. 
Frequency of Response: Annual [As needed on an on-going and, possibly, 
concurrent basis (by Institute, Center, or Office)]. Affected Public: 
Users of the Internet. Primarily, this is an individual at their 
place(s) of access including, but not limited to, home or/and work 
environments. Type of Respondents: Public users of the NIH Internet 
site, www.nih.gov, which may include organizations, medical 
researchers, physicians and other health care providers, librarians, 
students, as well as individuals of the general public. Estimated 
Number of Respondents: 104,000. Number of Respondents Per Respondent: 
1. Average Burden Hours Per Response: 0.084. Burden Hours Requested: 
8,684. Total annualized cost to respondents is estimated at $116,105. 
There are also no capital costs, operating costs and/or maintenance 
costs to report.

                    Survey Title: Web Customer Satisfaction Survey--Annual Reporting Burden*
             [Web-based; Required for Federal Register requests under PRA, Paperwork Reduction Act.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Avg. Burden
                   Survey area                       Number of     Frequency of    per response    Burden hours
                                                    respondents      response         (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NIH Organization-wide (1 entity)................            4000  ..............  ..............             334
    Overall customer satisfaction...............            2000               1          0.1002             200
    Specific indicator: Top-level/Entry pages...            1000               1          0.0668              67
    Specific indicator: Tools and initiatives...            1000               1          0.0668              67
Individual Institute/Office (25 entities).......          100000  ..............  ..............            8350
    Overall customer satifaction................           50000               1          0.1002            5010
    Specific indicator: Top-level/Entry pages...           25000               1          0.0668            1670
    Spedific indicator: Tools and initiatives...           25000               1          0.0668            1670
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
        Total...................................          104000  ..............           0.084           8684
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Survey research firm, MediaMetrics, indicated 1,264,000 unique visitors to NIH sites in Dec, 1999. If fully
  implemented, an average month would survey 8,600 users (less than 0.007 of total average unique visitors to
  NIH sites).

Request for Comments

    Written comments and/or suggestions from the public and affected 
agencies are invited on one or more of the following points: (1) 
Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the function of the agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (2) The accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on those who are to respond, including the 
use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information on 
the proposed collection of information contact: Dennis Rodrigues, NIH 
Office of Communications and Public Liaison, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg. 
31, Rm. 2B03, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2094, or call non toll-free at 
(301) 435-2932. You may also e-mail your request to [email protected].
    Comments Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection 
are best assured of having their full effect if received on or before 
May 5, 2000.

    Dated: February 23, 2000.
Anne Thomas,
Assoc. Director, Office of Communications and Public Liaison National 
Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 00-5279 Filed 3-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M