NASIG NEWSLETTER
REPORT ON THE SURVEY OF MEMBERS

Prepared by Steve Savage
6/3/98

Entire Report (PDF Version)

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The survey was created as part of the Newsletter Editorial Board's self-study. and was intended to identify what members want from the publication, both in terms of content and medium.

The survey instrument was included as tear-sheets at the end of February, 1998, issue of the Newsletter. It was also posted within NASIGWeb and part of the Newsletter issue and in the Time-Dated Announcements section.

The responses were overwhelmingly positive about the Newsletter as it currently exists. The conclusion from the responses are that members definitely prefer:

* Maintaining a clear focus on NASIG, including information about both the organization and its members
* Continuing to emphasize the print publication rather than Web access
* Letting other members do the work of the Newsletter

Some enhancements, however, were suggested for both print and HTML versions. These are listed in section V.

II. RESPONSE RATE

Fewer response were received than was hoped for, but the number was reasonable and usable.*

		Percent of NASIG membership
Total members	1,150	100%
Survey responses	76	7%
Usable responses	76	7%

* A 3% response rate for a single mailing is generally considered acceptable.

III. FINDINGS (PDF)

IV. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS

A. CONTENT

The findings about content provide clear a guideline: Keep the publication focused on NASIG information, including official NASIG communications and information about members (presumably with an emphasis on professional issues).

This can be easily accomplished by focusing on the items which at least 75% of respondents indicated they read or would like to read (Question 1), or could be omitted (Question 3). Using this 75% standard, the following lists results.

CONTINUE

ADD

ELIMINATE

Board minutes

Committee annual reports

Conference information (prior to conference)

Election announcements and results

"New Members"

"President's Corner"

"Serials-Related Reports"

"Title Changes"

NASIG forms

Profiles:

Board

Continuing members

New members

Other serial organizations

Letters to the Editor on NASIG topics

Board roster

Committee roster

Conference brochure

Time-dated announcements

This list should be reviewed and modified as needed, however, in light of the "official organ" function of the Newsletter.

B. WEB ISSUES

Enough members currently rely on the Web version to call for its continuation. Given the very strong preference for the print version, however, the importance of the Web version could be placed lower in the publication's workflow.

The production process of the HTML version easily allows division of the work among multiple people. Adding another position to handle HTML production would decrease its drain on the current staff, and also make it possible to implement some of the suggestions from the survey findings.

V. RECOMMENDATIONS

A. NEWSLETTER ASPECTS

1. Use the "75% standard" described above as a guidelines (not strict rules) for managing Newsletter content.

2. Guidelines for identifying the "official organ" content of the Newsletter should be established, and should include considerations of the publication's communication and archiving functions.

These guidelines should have higher priority if they conflict with the results of the "75% standard."

3. Routinely include tables of contents in the NASIG-L messages announcing availability of new Newsletter issues in the Web site.

4. Add another Production Editor (Electronic) position, to decrease the drain on one person and make each issue available in the Web site sooner.

This would also make it easier to include more hot links and graphics.

5. In the Web version, at the end of each article add hot links or buttons to the next and previous articles, to eliminate forcing readers to continually return to the issue's table of contents.

6. Investigate methods to produce the print issues faster, implement any reasonable steps toward that, and make the Web version available sooner to assist with this issue.

Adding an additional Production Editor (Electronic) should help with this.

7. If time and other resources occasionally permit, the Newsletter content could also include the following topics, which were selected by 60-74% of survey respondents as topics they read or would like to read:

a. Profiles of serials-related institutions

b. Profiles of online systems

c. Board rosters

d. Committee charges and profiles

e. Committee rosters

B. IMPLICATIONS FOR OTHER NASIG ISSUES

1. Timed-dated announcements with deadlines which might be close for the next Newsletter publication date should be omitted from the publication. These items should be distributed over NASIG-L instead.

2. The Newsletter Editorial Board and the ECC should work together to find a way to provide interactive forms in NASIGWeb.

This might require an additional person on the Newsletter staff or ECC to manage these forms.

3. ECC should review the findings of this survey (particularly Questions 1, 3, 4, and 8) to identify and consider any other items which may carry implications for NASIGWeb and NASIG-L.

4. The Board should decide that the Newsletter does not provide the archival copy of the conference brochures, and the CPC manual should state that CPC is responsible for sending copies of the brochures to the NASIG Archivist.

Appendix A: Summary of responses for yes/no questions (PDF)

Appendix B: Responses listed by question (PDF)

Appendix C: Blank survey instrument (PDF)

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