id21 survey results 2008

1. Results from recent surveys id21 insights and email newsletters

2. Who are our users? Where are they based? What do they like about our products? What do they dislike? Suggestions for improvement? How do they read our products? Which products do they use / are they aware of? How relevant are we to their work? What actions have they taken after reading? What is their information sharing behaviour? How engaged/interested are our readers? Survey questions

3. What types of organisations do users work for? What types of roles do they do? And where are users based? How engaged / interested are users? About id21 users

4. Insights: where we send subscriptions to

5. Insights: where respondents to the feedback form are based or where they work

6. Email Newsletter – where respondents of the survey are based

7. Website - where visitors access id21 from

8. Types of organisation users work at Insights Single Subscribers Email News Subscribers Bilateral 0% 2% Commercial 5% 6% Government 11% 9% Hospital/Health Centre 13% 2% International NGO 7% 20% Library / Info Service 2% 1% Media 1% 1% Multilateral 3% 7% National NGO 15% 6% Network 2% 2% Research/Academic 22% 30% Teaching/Training 11% 5% No affiliation 5% 8%

9. Types of jobs users have

10. How engaged / interested our users are 92% are happy to be contacted again for further feedback on insights 67% would like to hear more about other id21 products and services 61% would like to hear more about other IDS Knowledge Services 56% are happy to be contacted again for further feedback 55% would like to hear more about other id21 products and services 58% would like to hear more about other IDS Knowledge Services

12. Over half of respondents like: id21 is holistic and covers up almost all socio-economic-political topics id21 insights is the evergreen source of knowledge and ladder of backward communities of the world. Easy to access and can follow up electronically Good scan of current thinking in development. Always a couple of articles I want to read / need to read to stay current. It's one of the most useful and interesting of the many email newsletters I subscribe to Can easily forward it to rural groups in Africa Strengths: Insights Email newsletters Research Findings Research Findings Fact it's free Fact it’s free Useful updates Up to date information Easy to read The short and clear mini summaries Range of topics Information on topics I'm interested in Links to further information The links to further summaries

14. Main suggested improvements These were very similar to those suggested by the respondents to previous surveys two years ago… Insights Email newsletters More pages Improve the format (incl. HTML) Prompt delivery Thematic / regional grouping More photos More success / progress stories Increase frequency Less frequent with more content or VV Lengthen articles Readers engaging with other readers Make further research easier Make sure further research possible Readers as contributors Readers as contributors

16. How our users usually read insights… Behaviours: I usually read "contents" or "In this Issue" of id21 insights. Then I slowly go through editorial and every article I read it all then send it to my friends or put on display if theme catches my attention Which bits they read % This is my first issue 2% Editorial 27% Every article 56% One or two articles 24% Title and first paragraph 14% Only if relevant to my work 25% Useful weblinks column 25% Links and further information 27% N.B.: by "read" I include scanning as one of the advantages of id21 insights is that one can scan quickly because of the good layout/graphic design and then slow down and read properly article of particular interest. Anything concerning Africa I do not have internet facilities and so miss the links I speed read everything do follow ups on web-links. Sometimes write authors to share ideas Later on kept for reference.

17. How our users usually read email news … Behaviours: Having clicked on the links, I look for date, author and institution, before I decide to read the full summary I save it in a dedicated folder for later use, at which time I search for relevant material on specific issues. I click on the links for full summaries whenever I find mini summaries interesting. print some full summaries off for reference/use I contact the authors for the article sometimes, and then follow up other references I open the mails, but sometimes much later I circulate the information that is most relevant to my colleagues I often only read the first list of contents, and only go to the mini summaries if something is of specific interest to me.

18. How our users usually share insights… Behaviours: Sharing with colleagues, students, employees, trainees, patients, friends and family members, their community When it is relevant to a particular discussion In workshops/seminars sometimes use facts When topics deemed relevant / interesting to others' work with the library, in the office, meeting /coffee room I photocopy for my local community members. Others pass on their own copy Usually I just keep them at home, I refer the info by email. Through our free CDs. Contributions to radio or press programmes Who? When? Where? How? Others’ perceptions People I share with enjoy reading the articles They want to become subscribers Several noted that they only receive one copy, which is not enough, and so are not able to share / have to give their's away. Others do not receive their copy back - due to colleagues finding it useful and keeping it Barriers Copies of insights Info/ideas from insights Always 39% 37% Sometimes 48% 54% Never 8% 3%

19. of email news readers of other products Awareness & Use: 85% of respondents have unlimited access to email and web via a good connection and can download files easily 9% have access to email and the web but downloading files is difficult/too slow 69% access the id21 website via the links in the newsletters, only 24% then browse the site and 15% use the search box. 18% access the website directly, whilst 6% access via Google

20. Of our products to our readers: Relevance: Insights Email newsletter Very relevant to everything I do 22% Always relevant 8% Relevant to some aspects of my work 44% Usually relevant 41% Some issues are more relevant than others 36% Sometimes relevant 40% May be relevant in the future 7% Rarely relevant 4% Not relevant at all 1% Never relevant 0%

21. Actions users take after reading our products: Usage: Insights Email newsletter I contacted the researcher 13% I forwarded the email to others (e.g. colleagues, a network) 50% I used the information in a report 40% I shared information/ideas I found through the email with others (e.g. colleagues, a network) 51% I used the information for teaching/training 53% I reproduced the information (e.g. in a newsletter, on a website) 10% I shared the information with colleagues/manager 62% I saved the email/information for future use 56% I shared the information with a network 13% I printed the research summary found through the email 29% I reproduced the information 7% I used information I found through the email in my work 43% I downloaded the full report 59% I contacted the original researcher 12%

22. Further information Please let us know your reactions to the survey results , or get in touch if you have any more feedback . Please contact: The id21 team, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RE, UK Tel +44 1273 91 5784  Fax +44 1273 91 5784  Email [email_address] id21 is one of several knowledge services based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) www.ids.ac.uk/go/ids-knowledge-services