Seiche Reader Survey Results
April 2005
by Sea Grant Staff
Thanks to all who took time to complete our readership survey last fall. We conduct a survey every two years to get your feedback about the Seiche, and use the information to shape the publication.
Other Sea Grant Newsletters Available in the Great Lakes
Illinois-Indiana
The HELM
www.iisgcp.org
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 350 NSRC, MC-635, 1101 W Peabody Dr., Urbana, IL 61801, (217) 333-8055. Published semi-annually. Free.
Ohio
Twine Line
www.sg.ohio-state.edu
Ohio Sea Grant, The Ohio State University, 1314 Kinnear Rd., Columbus, OH 43212-1194, (614) 292-8949. Published quarterly. Cost $10.
Michigan
Upwellings
www.miseagrant.umich.edu
Michigan Sea Grant, 401 E. Liberty, Suite 330, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2298, (734) 764-1118. Published quarterly. Free.
New York
Coastlines
www.nyseagrant.org
New York Sea Grant, 121 Discovery Hall, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5001, (631) 632-9124. Published three times a year. Free.
Pennsylvania
Keystone Shorelines
www.pserie.psu.edu/seagrant/
Pennsylvania Sea Grant, Penn State Erie, Station Road, Erie, PA 16563-0500, (814) 898-6420. Published quarterly. Free.
Wisconsin
Aquatic Science Chronicle (formerly Littoral Drift)
www.seagrant.wisc.edu
Wisconsin Sea Grant, Goodnight Hall, 2nd Floor, 1975 Willow Dr., Madison, WI 53706-1177, (608) 263-3259. Published quarterly. Free.
About 10 percent subscribers to our online service responded. Most respondents rated the Seiche as a very good to excellent publication (giving it a 4.6 on a scale of 5). You rated it highest for content and writing style (4.5 out of 5), then design (4.4), then comprehensibility.
Your favorite sections of the newsletter are the feature stories along with (and which often include) research and exotic species topics. Many of you also read information about new products and services and the "Did Ja Know?" factoid.
Many respondents (77 percent) have visited a Web site referenced in an article. Over 69 percent have shared articles with others or used the information for a professional or personal interest. A smaller number ordered a publication (54 percent). You don't have much interest in news about our staff, so we'll try to keep that to a minimum.
Your satisfaction with how Minnesota Sea Grant is performing is 3.7 on a scale of 4 (somewhere between satisfied and very satisfied).
Many of you want more information about Minnesota's inland lakes and rivers because you either own shoreland property or think inland waters deserve more attention. Please consider viewing another free online newsletter we produce in cooperation with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. It's called From Shore to Shore and you can find it at www.shorelandmanagement.org/citizen/.
If you're interested in what's going on with Sea Grant Programs in other Great Lakes states, information about their newsletters accompanies this story.
We received many more questions than one article can address, so we've decided to start a new column called "Readers Want to Know…." You can find the first installment in this issue.
Here are a few of your remarks:
Keep the article length the same, readability level same, enough meat to digest low on fluff and fiber, and where to find additional reading is always there. Address more heritage issues, bring in GLIFWC and other American Indian issues in the same non biased way you report. Keep up the good work. You have a formula that works.
The first Seiche I downloaded back in 2002 or early 2003 took a very long time to download, and was very difficult to print from. Since our poky phone lines haven't improved any, you must have streamlined things quite a bit. Thanks!
Thanks for your comments, readership, and for helping shape the Seiche!
