Keywords: JELIS, JELIS website, satisfaction survey, online questionnaire

Introduction

This  is  a  year  two  report  of  a  3-­year  longitudinal  design  that  tracks  the  Journal   of   Education   for   Library   and   Information   Science   (JELIS)   subscribers/readers’   satisfaction  with  the  scholarly,  double-­blind,   peer-­reviewed  publication  of  the  Association   for   Library   and   Information   Science   Education   (ALISE).   According   to   Park   and   Capps,   last   year’s   2009   JELIS   survey   indicated   “that   relevance   and   quality   of   content   are   major   factors   contributing   to   the   dissatisfaction   with   JELIS”   (2010,   p.  7).  This  year’s  JELIS  2010  Satisfaction   Survey   addresses   these   factors   and   highlights   the   changes   noted   in   user   satisfaction   as   indicated   by   the   feedback   of   the   anonymous  participants  (n  =  76).
As  part  of  their  stated  editorial  goals  to   make   JELIS   a   communication   dissemination  hub,  Burnett  and  Kazmer  demonstrated  a  concerted  effort  over  the  past  year  to   raise  the  acceptance  standards  of  the  manuscript   publications.   They   also   initiated   the  process  of  activating  the  evaluation  of   JELIS   for   inclusion   in   ISI.   In   addition   to   keeping   the   journal   publication   on   schedule,   the   Editors   continued   to   improve   the   journal’s  presentation  format;  e.g.,  reducing  the  table  size  and  adding  the  month.
The   web   presence   role   of   the   jelis.org   community   was   expanded   to   meet   the   needs   of   a   dynamic   research   community.   Operating   within   copyright   boundaries,   the   site   provides   high-­quality   content   online   and   communication   tools   that   may   be   used  to  initiate  scholarly  debate  on  current   issues.   The   jelis.org   site   is   designed   to   address  the  information  needs  of  JELIS  readers,  reviewers,  and  future  contributors.

Research  Design

The   JELIS   Satisfaction   survey   was   designed  to  assess  the  satisfaction  of  readers   and   to   inform   the   editorial   decision   processes.  The five major categories devised for   the   2009   survey   were   carried   over   to   the  2010  administered  online  survey.  The   areas   were:   (1)   JELIS   use,   (2)   degree   of   satisfaction,  (3)  topics  on  demand,  (4)  loyalty,   and   (5)   demographic   questions.   The   questionnaire   scope   covered   the   JELIS   subscribers/readers’  satisfaction  on  the  issues  published  during  the  2009  golden  anniversary  year,  50(1–4),  and  on  the  newly   revised  JELIS  website.
There  were  minor  2010  survey  revisions  to reflect participant comments received from  the  previous  year’s  questionnaire  administration.  To  investigate  the  sharing  of   JELIS  copies  with  others,  a  Yes/No  option   was  adopted  over  the  previous  year’s  multiple-­choice  response  format.  The  instructions   for   the   question   related   to   journal   ranking  were  revised  to  improve  readability plus a grammatical error was fixed. In addition   to   these   basic   readability   changes,   questions   on   the   recently   redesigned   JELIS  website  were  added  to  capture  user   satisfaction  with  the  website,  the  purposes   of  site  visitations,  and  future  site  enhancement  recommendations  that  would  address   currently  unmet  JELIS  community  needs.
The  survey  was  announced  at  the  2010   ALISE   conference   and   on   the   jESSE   listserv.  A  recruitment  blurb  was  also  posted on   the   JELIS   website.   The   respondents   were  asked  to  indicate  their  reading  and   use   patterns   plus   their   overall   satisfaction   with  JELIS.  The  survey  was  available  online   between   January   13th   and   February   12th,  2010.

Results  and  Discussion

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.   In   compliance   with   the   Internal  Review  Board  to  obtain  informed   consent,   the   one   negative   consent   response  participant  data  was  removed  from   the  study  prior  to  analysis.

Demographic  Characteristics

The   demographic   questions   gathered   occupational   position,   organizational   affiliation, and geographic region information.  The  characteristics  of  respondents  to   the   2010   survey   were   similar   to   those   in   the   2009   survey.   As   shown   in   Appendix   A,  70%  of  this  year’s  respondents  reported   to   be   faculty   members.   The   faculty   classification included professors and dean/department   chairs.   The   remaining   participants were self-identified as students (17%)  or  librarians  (6%).   Most  of  the  respondents  were  from
doctorate-­granting   universities   or   master’s   college   and   universities,   67%   and   22%   respectively.   Eighty-­three   percent   of   the   re-­ spondents   lived   in   the   United   States   at   the   time  of  the  survey;  the  remaining  11%  per-­ cent  of  respondents  were  distributed  across   two   categories,   Canada   (7%)   and   Asia   and   Pacific (4%). The demographic characteristics were used to obtain readership profile information.   Similar   to   the   2009   results,   Appendix   A  illustrates  that  the  majority  of   respondents   in   the   2010   respondents’   profile were from an academic setting.

JELIS  Use

Respondents   were   asked   how   they   use   JELIS  in  terms  of  reading,  citation,  publication,  length  of  subscription,  sharing,  and  retention of the journal. Ninety-five percent  of   respondents   this   year   reported   to   have  either  read  or  looked  through  an  issue   of   JELIS.   This   was   a   substantial   increase   over  last  year’s  89%;  5%  reported  spending  more  than  an  hour  on  an  issue  upon  receipt  while  72%  spent  30  minutes  or  less.   In   addition,   68%   of   the   respondents   indicated  that  they  skim  the  titles  to  be  aware   of  the  contents  and  read  the  articles  of  interest  (see  Figure  1).
46%   of   respondents   reported   that   they had  cited  an  article  from  JELIS.  This  was   a   substantial   gain   over   the   30%   reported   in   the   previous   year.   When   asked   how   often   they   cite   an   article   in   JELIS,   there   was   little   change   over   last   year.   Twenty-­ one   percent   still   responded   ‘never,’   40%   responded  ‘less  than  once  a  year,’  24%  responded  ‘once  a  year,’  and  16%  responded   ‘more  often  than  once  a  year.’  There  was   a  slight  downward  shift  from  34%  to  30%   of  the  respondents  that  indicated  they  had   previously   published   in   JELIS.   Fifty-­one   percent  reported  that  not  sharing  a  copy  of   JELIS  with  others.  When  asked  how  long   they  keep  a  copy  of  JELIS,  this  year’s  57%   was   in   keeping   with   last   year’s   58%   that   responded ‘indefinitely.’ Appendix B contains   additional   2009–2010   comparison   results  related  to  JELIS  use.

JELIS  Satisfaction

Figure   2   shows   the   changes   of   JELIS   subscribers/readers’   satisfaction   on   six   constructs   as   well   as   overall   satisfaction.   Based  on  these  numbers,  the  respondents’   satisfaction   rates   on   all   measurements   in   2010  are  higher  than  in  2009  and  they  may   be   interpreted   as   a   positive   indication   of   JELIS  subscribers/readers  satisfaction  rate   increases.
To test the statistical significance of rate increase  between  2009  and  2010,  T-­tests   were  conducted,  and  the  results  reveal  that  there was a statistically significant increase in  overall  satisfaction  from  2009  to  2010  (t   =  –2.681,  p  <  0.05).  In  terms  of  constructs,   in  particular,  the  mean  value  of  JELIS  subscribers’   satisfaction   for   three   constructs,   including   relevance,   timeliness,   and   layout, was significantly increased. However, there was no statistically significant change  in  2009  and  2010  in  terms  of  quality   and   breadth   of   topics,   which   suggests   editors   and   board   members   need   to   continue  their  effort  to  enhance  the  quality  of   the   journal   and   to   improve   the   breadth   of   journal  topics.

JELIS  Website

The  JELIS  editors  redesigned  the  web-­ site  to  include  blog  communication  tools   to   facilitate   an   interactive   relationships   between   readers-­authors   and   readers-­ readers.   The   redesign   of   the   JELIS   website  was  announced  in  the  jESSE  listserv   on   January,   2010.   Due   to   the   short   time   period   between   the   launching   of   the   revised  jelis.org  site  and  the  survey  administration   period,   the   readers’   ability   to   access   the   website,   only   36.8   %   of   total   respondents   had   visited   the   JELIS   web-­ site.   Overall,   the   majority   of   these   respondents were satisfied with the website contents  and  design.
The   most   frequently   stated   purpose   of   those   visiting   the   JELIS   website   was   to   ‘Find  author  guidelines’  (n  =  16).  This  was   followed   by   ‘Read   full-­text   articles   of   in-­ terest’  (n  =  12),  ‘Find  reviewer  guidelines’   (n   =   11),   ‘Find/Verify   citation   information’  (n  =  11),  and  ‘Review  recent  trends   in  LIS  education  research’  (n  =  10).
The   questionnaire   included   an   open-­ ended   question   to   identify   needs   of   website  users.  Even  though  there  are  only  seven   comments,   three   of   them   were   related   to  open  access  and  full-­text  service.  As  the   two  results  indicate,  open  access  is  a  topic   of  interest  to  JELIS  readers,  and  an  objective  of  the  editors.

Conclusion

This   article   reported   on   survey   results  that reflected respondent perceptions prior to  January  2010.  Satisfaction  is  a  dynamic   process.   The   JELIS   editors,   staff,   and   the   authors   continue   to   work   toward   the   production  goal  of  a  high  quality  journal  that   meets   the   needs   of   the   ALISE   members   and  the  research  community  at  large.  Your   participation   and   feedback   will   assist   in   improving   the   readability   and   reputation   of   JELIS.   If   you   missed   the   opportunity   to   share   your   thoughts   in   2010,   we   look   forward   to   hearing   from   you   in   the   2011   JELIS  Satisfaction  survey.

Acknowledgement

The  JELIS  co-­editors  and  editorial  staff   sincerely   thank   all   of   the   respondents   of   the   JELIS   2010   Satisfaction   survey.   Special   thanks   to   Lorna   Peterson   (ALISE   President)   and   Kathleen   Combs   (Executive  Director)  for  their  support  in  publicizing  the  survey.

References

Park,   S.,   &   Capps,   J.   (2010).   2009   JELIS   Satisfaction   Survey.   Journal   of   Education   for   Library   and  Information  Science, 51(1),  4–8.