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Steps: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |   Step Three: Testing and Refining the Vision: Purpose, Scope, Audiences   The conceptualization of Indiana Online, as outlined in the NEH planning proposal, is both ambitious and complex. It is multifaceted and intended to serve numerous audiences. Testing this vision with those audiences is a necessary early step in the planning process. This assessment will focus on audience requirements and will begin by identifying their expressed need for information, the purposes for which they will use it, and the environments in which they will employ it. Education, for example, is a targeted audience, but to understand this audience and its need for online information, we must answer a number of who, what, when, where, and how questions: Who needs this information? What information do they need? When do they need it? Where do they need it to be accessible-library, classroom, home? How will online information benefit them-or do they prefer other formats such as CD-ROM or hardcopy? Answers to these questions and others will help us to determine both need and desired content and functionality. A discovery that teachers cannot identify a need for online information does not mean that the project should abandon this audience. Instead, it should lead directly into an investigation of the reasons behind this judgment, including an assessment of the environment in which teachers work. Teachers may not want online information because they lack Internet access in their classrooms or because they are uncertain how to use the Web in their courses or in their classrooms. They may be uncomfortable with technology. Whatever the reason, this knowledge will influence the design of the project and the product, if in no other way than providing for delivery of the information in multiple formats within a well-designed user support system. The same assessment must be made for each of the audiences listed in the proposal. Potential partners (or major stakeholders), such as the Indiana State Museum and Indiana Historical Society, represent a special audience for the purpose of these assessments. Although it is important to understand the needs of stakeholders, it is equally necessary to gauge interest, willingness, and capacity to participate in a collaborative effort, as well as any conditions placed on the organization’s commitment to be a partner. The results of audience assessments will affirm or reshape the original conception of purpose, scope, and audiences for Indiana Online, a process that should be ratified by the Planning Advisory Committee to be appointed by IHC. Methods: Focus groups representing each of the major target audiences. Members of the various groups must represent each audience’s internal diversity and geographical distribution. Also, groups may be subdivided if necessary and appropriate. Protocols must be consistent within and across the various groups, and questions must be informed by available research literature. In each focus group, the aim is to discover potential uses and barriers and to discuss how to align the goals of an online encyclopedia with various institutional missions and agendas. Suggested groups and number of focus sessions: Education (2)-to include students, teachers, administrators/curriculum specialists K-12 (1) Collegiate (1) Media (1)-to include print and electronic journalism Librarians (1)-to include public, educational, governmental, and corporate librarians Cultural organizations (1)-to include historical societies, arts & humanities organizations, community foundations, museums, leadership organizations Government (1)-to include state and local agencies, cultural and heritage tourism offices, convention and visitors’ bureaus Business and Economic (1)-to include economic development organizations. corporate executives, regional business associations, technology leaders Potential major stakeholders (1)-to include state-wide agencies and organizations with information needs compatible with an online encyclopedia (e.g., Indiana State Museum, Indiana Historical Society, Minnetrista Center, Conner Prairie, Indianapolis Museum of Art, etc.) Responsibilities: IHC to recruit and host focus groups; TPC to conduct focus group sessions and analyze/report results in a revised mission and goals document that defines purpose, scope, and audiences; IHC to join TPC in conducting potential stakeholder sessions; IHC to recruit Advisory Committee and manage ratification of mission and goals. Schedule: September 1-November 15, 2001. Deliverable: Written mission and goals document.