Introduction

JELIS is a scholarly double-blind peer-reviewed publication of ALISE. As such, the goals of ALISE are foundational to the vision statements of the JELIS editors. Capps andHinson noted that, “both co-editors [Burnett and Kazmer] strongly agree with the need to address how the changing needs of libraries affect the education of librarians. Other current goals they hold for JELIS include: (a) what is taught, (b) how to teach the topics, (c) what is known about research, and (d) how the research is used” (2009, p. 64). These goals are in alignment with the ALISE goals; however, if JELIS is to be a venue for research dissemination, it is important to measure the perceptions of how well the journal is serving the needs of the research community.

The last systematic measurement of JELIS subscriber satisfaction was over 25 years ago. In 1984, the Readership Survey was conducted at the urging of the ALISE Board of Directors to the Editorial Board (Patterson, 1985). Patterson, who served as the JELIS editor from 1980 to 1988, stated, “a study had never been done and both boards were concerned about the status of the Journal among other refereed publications in the profession” (1985, p. 302). Patterson highlighted the 31-item questionnaire results in the JELIS 25(4) article titled, “An Assessment of the Status of the Journal” (Patterson, 1985). Based on the opinions gathered through the analysis of 177 usable surveys, Patterson concluded that the journal’s place was “firmly established among the scholarly refereed publications in our profession” (1985, p. 311).

Twenty-two percent of the ALISE membership participated in the 2008 ALISE survey (Cloonan, 2008). Part of this questionnaire was a design to solicit feedback on the value of various member services and benefits. The top three member benefits were identified as networking (64 members), conference (62 members), and JELIS (62 members). With just over half of the respondents placing JELIS as an important component of ALISE membership, the journal serves a vital role in the organization, and as such, JELIS must continue to solicit feedback from its readers.

Research Design

The JELIS Satisfaction survey was designed to assess the satisfaction of readers and to inform the editorial decision processes. Five major categories were devised: (1) JELIS use, (2) Degree of satisfaction, (3) Topics on demand, (4) Loyalty, and (5)Demographic questions. The instrument, hosted through an online survey system, was pre-tested for readability, reliability, and questionnaire completion-time. After a few minor adjustments, the survey was announced on the ALISE/JELIS web site and through other professional venues, such as an ALISE conference announcement, and the jESSE listserv.

The sample was divided into two categories: (1) ALISE members and (2) Non-members. The ALISE member category included institutions and individuals who receive the journal as part of their membership. The non-member category included individuals and institutions (primarily libraries) that obtain the journal through volume-based subscriptions, and other individuals who read or cite articles published in the journal.

Results and Discussion

The survey was conducted from January 21st to February 16th, 2009, and had 108 respondents with 95 usable responses. The questionnaire data was exported to an Excel spreadsheet from the online survey system and analyzed with SPSS. Open-ended question responses were manually coded. As results of this study, respondent profile, JELIS use, and JELIS satisfaction are discussed below. An expanded discussion related to the open-ended responses and the loyalty factor is planned.

Respondent Profile

The demographic questions gathered occupational position, organizational affiliation, and geographic region information. Seventy-four percent of the respondents described their occupational title as faculty and 2% as librarians. The faculty category encompassed deans/department chairs, professors including associate and assistant professors, and lecturers. Most of the respondents (n = 70) stated they were affiliated with doctorate-granting universities as classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2009) while 14 people were from master’s colleges and universities.

The majority of the respondents (91%) stated they were from regions within the US, while 6% selected Canada and 3% Asia and Pacific. This appears to be in keeping with the results of the earlier Readership Survey response of 90% of the 177 respondents reporting the US as the region of residents (Patterson, 1985).

JELIS Use

Respondents were asked how they use JELIS in terms of reading, citation, publication, length of subscription, sharing, and retention of the journal. The majority of the respondents (89%) indicated that in the past year they have either read or looked through an issue. Taken independently, this appears respectable; however, 37% (n = 33) state they spent between 16–30 minutes looking through an issue upon receipt. Twenty eight respondents (31%) stated they spent less than 15 minutes, and 72% of the participants reported skimming the titles to be aware of the contents and reading the articles of interest. This strongly indicates that past JELIS articles were not holding the reader’s attention for an extended period.

When the respondents were asked if they had cited JELIS articles in the past year, 70% responded negatively. When asked how often they cite articles in JELIS, 21 percent responded ‘never,’ 42% responded ‘less than once a year,’ and 28% skipped this question entirely. Thirty-two percent indicated they had previously published in JELIS.

The length of subscription has changed since the 1984 survey. Patterson wrote that “fifty-four percent of the respondents subscribed to JELIS for 10 or more years, 35% from 10–15 years, 27% from 4 to 9 years, 19% for more than 15 years, 18% from 1 to 3 years, and one person made no response to this question” (1985, p. 303). The 2009 survey indicates 33% have received JELIS for 10 or more years and 39% for three years and under. Understanding the needs of the latter large group of new subscribers may improve the journal’s citation rate.

When asked if they shared their copy of JELIS with others, three fourths of the respondents reported that they do not share JELIS with anyone. Asked how long they keep a copy of JELIS, 58% responded ‘indefinitely.’ With almost three fourths of the respondents self-selecting a faculty occupational classification, future administrations of this survey may need to investigate the extent to which JELIS articles are shared or used in the classroom as required readings.

                                                                Figure 1. Satisfaction with JELIS

Satisfaction

Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction with JELIS. The degree of subscriber satisfaction was assessed using a 5-level Likert scale (extremely satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, extremely dissatisfied, or undecided). As Figure 1 shows, 8% of the respondents were ‘extremely’ satisfied, 52% were ‘somewhat’ satisfied, 23% were ‘somewhat’ dissatisfied, 10% were ‘extremely’ dissatisfied, 7% were undecided, and 18 respondents skipped the question. Overall, 60% of the respondents (n = 54) were satisfied, while 33% (n = 30) were dissatisfied. The overwhelming majority response of Somewhat Satisfied for all of the satisfaction attributes listed in Figure 1 reinforces the value of conducting JELIS Satisfaction Surveys.

Table 1 shows the evaluation of satisfaction elements by the respondents who answered “Extremely Dissatisfied” or “Somewhat Dissatisfied” on overall satisfaction. Even though the statistical significance was not tested due to the small sample size, relevance of content is the major factor of dissatisfaction followed by quality of content, breadth of topics, and timeliness of content. The last two factors, quality of authors and design and layout are weakly related to the dissatisfaction, in that the percentage of satisfaction is higher than the percentage of dissatisfaction responses.

Conclusion

The major goal of this inquiry has been descriptive, with the intent that readers’ perceptions be used to inform future editorial efforts. Results from the 2009 JELIS survey indicate that relevance and quality of content are major factors contributing to dissatisfaction with JELIS. The survey outcomes provide important information to assist the current editors to obtain a closer journal alignment with the needs of its readers and subscribers. See Appendix A for additional demographic and JELIS use survey data.

Acknowledgements

The JELIS co-editors and editorial staff sincerely thank all of the respondents of the JELIS 2009 Satisfaction survey. Your participation and feedback will assist in improving the readability and reputation of JELIS. If you missed the opportunity to share your thoughts in 2009, we look forward to hearing from you in the 2010 JELIS Satisfaction survey. Special thanks to Michèle Cloonan (ALISE President) and Kathleen Combs (Executive Director) for their support in publicizing the survey.

Appendix A– Supplementary Data

References

Capps, J., & Hinson, C. (2009). JELIS connections. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 50(2), 59–67.

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. (2009). The Carnegie classification of institutions of higher education. Retrieved August 9, 2009 from http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/classifications/

Cloonan, M. C. (2008). ALISE 2008 survey results. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://data.memberclicks.com/site/ali/ALISE_Survey_Results.pdf.

Patterson, C. D. (1985). An assessment of the status of the journal. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 25(4), 301–312.