The role of individual motivations in information source use and knowledge concerning divergent topics

A survey (n=280) was conducted to examine the motivational nature of enduring involvement in terms of its relationship to information source usefulness and knowledge. The results of the study indicate that enduring, or personal, involvement is associated with perceptions of greater information source usefulness and high topic knowledge. High involvement also is linked to the use of a smaller group—or repertoire—of information sources that are topic dependent. These findings suggest that highly involved audiences are active information seekers and help to clarify conflicting findings from the media reliance literature concerning the impact of reliance on knowledge.     

Insights and opinions of readers of the Journal of the Medical Library Association

The Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) conducted a readership survey in 2020 to gain a deeper understanding of our readers, their reading habits, and their satisfaction with JMLA''s content, website functionality, and overall quality. A total of 467 readers responded to the survey, most of whom were librarians/information specialists (85%), worked in an academic (62%) or hospital/health care system (27%) library, and were current Medical Library Association members (80%). Most survey respondents (46%) reported reading JMLA articles on a quarterly basis. Over half of respondents (53%) said they used social media to follow new research or publications, with Twitter being the most popular platform. Respondents stated that Original Investigations, Case Reports, Knowledge Syntheses, and Resource Reviews articles were the most enjoyable to read and important to their research and practice. Almost all respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied (94%) with the JMLA website. Some respondents felt that the content of JMLA leaned more toward academic librarianship than toward clinical/hospital librarianship and that there were not enough articles on collection management or technical services. These opinions and insights of our readers help keep the JMLA editorial team on track toward publishing articles that are of interest and utility to our audience, raising reader awareness of new content, providing a website that is easy to navigate and use, and maintaining our status as the premier journal in health sciences librarianship.

The Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA), in tandem with the Medical Library Association (MLA), periodically conducts readership surveys to gauge how well the journal meets the needs and desires of its readers. However, much time has passed and many changes have occurred since our last readership survey was published in 2013 [1]. These changes include our transition from a largely print-based to an almost fully digital mode of publication, more extensive reliance on providing access to supplemental materials to improve the rigor and reproducibility of research findings, and the use of social media to share and stay abreast of new scholarly works. Therefore, we conducted a readership survey in 2020 to obtain a more current understanding of our readers, their reading habits, and their satisfaction with JMLA''s content, website functionality, and overall quality.The survey was implemented using Qualtrics and consisted of sixteen closed- and open-ended questions (Appendix A). The survey invitation was distributed on July 6, 2020, through MLA email listservs and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), JMLA''s Twitter account, and an announcement on the JMLA website. Recipients were encouraged to forward the invitation through other communication channels as appropriate. The survey was closed on July 20, 2020.     

Differentiating telephone surveys from telemarketing to increase response rates

The purpose of this study is to test whether including “I'm not selling anything” in telephone survey introductions reduces refusals and increases response rates. Experiences with and attitudes toward telemarketing also are assessed. Based on telephone interviews with an RDD sample of 655 in the Seattle metropolitan area, including the statement “I'm not selling anything” in the introduction does not significantly affect response rates. Only an introduction with a university reference significantly increases response rates. Also, respondents in the condition with no survey legitimization have a significantly more favorable attitude toward telemarketing than respondents in the condition with survey legitimization.