Between September and October 2013, the BHIC blog posted a questionnaire for readers to fill out. The purpose of the questionnaire was to get a better understanding of who was reading and subscribing to the blog and the content they wanted to see posted to the blog. There were 403 subscribers to the Digest when the questionnaire was sent. The questionnaire was posted to the blog and sent through the Digest three times. There were 105 responses. The original questionnaire has been included as Appendix A

National Network of Libraries of Medicine - MidContinental Region

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 1 An Overview of BHIC Subscribers and Content Monica Rogers, Health Information Literacy Coordinator NN/LM MidContinental Region September 2014  The Bringing Health Information to the Community (BHIC) blog was created in 2004. In the years since, the number of subscribers to the blog has grown, and the blog now has several contributors that create and post content. Subscribers to the blog receive the “Digest” which is an email with all of the day’s posts in it. In the current format, Monica Rogers, NN/LM MidContinental Region, is the lead author, posting content every week and sending out the Digest daily. Contributors to the blog have anywhere from 1 to 3 days a month assigned to them to post content. In order for the BHIC blog to be a truly national resource, contributors are all NN/LM Coordinators from other regions including the Middle Atlantic Region, Pacific Northwest Region, South Central Region and the Pacific Southwest Region.   Methodology  Between September and October 2013, the BHIC blog posted a questionnaire for readers to fill out. The purpose of the questionnaire was to get a better understanding of who was reading and subscribing to the blog and the content they wanted to see posted to the blog. There were 403 subscribers to the Digest when the questionnaire was sent. The questionnaire was posted to the blog and sent through the Digest three times. There were 105 responses. The original questionnaire has been included as Appendix A.  Results  1. “Where do you work?” (n=104)  Work Setting % Count Academic setting (college, university, etc.) 40.38% 42 Government agency (federal, state, or local) 18.27% 19 Community Based Organization or Non Profit 14.42% 15 Hospital or Clinic 14.42% 15 Other  12.50% 13 Total   100% 104  Prior to the questionnaire, the assumed majority of subscribers were in academia and the results supported this. The “other” response category was larger than expected and included public libraries, k-12 libraries, health networks, trade associations and a corporate setting, such as someone associated with a wellness program.    2 2. “Please rate the content on BHIC.” (n=105)   One hundred percent or all participants responded to this question with 56.19% (59) rating the content “very useful,” 43.81% (46) rating the content “useful,” and the option of “not useful” receiving no responses.  3. “Please rank the top 3 most useful types of content.” (n=105)  There were 15 categories presented, and participants were asked to rank their first, second and third most useful types of content. The categories corresponded to the tags used to label the blog posts. There was some overlap between tags, such as the “websites” tag getting used on all types of online databases, so there was an “other websites” category possible. Some infrequently used tags such as “National Library of Medicine News” were not an option for readers to rate.   Below is a chart that shows the choices, as well as the distribution of the rankings. This is important for a category like mental health where it was rated 7th, receiving few votes for being the most useful (#1) but did receive a fair number of votes over all.   3    4. “What topics or types of content would you like to see added to the blog?” (n=40)  The responses were varied. Some of the responses are things the BHIC blog deliberately chooses not to include, such as “Current health data and statistics specific to Douglas County, NE” but other suggested topics have been expanded upon. There were several requests for more Affordable Care Act (ACA) resources and updates as well as other public health policy postings. There were several responses requesting the BHIC blog continue to promote funding opportunities and continuing education. We have tried to accommodate some requests for information “sooner” for funding opportunities as well as promotional events like “minority health month” and similar public health initiatives.     1 1 3 2 5 4 7 3 5 9 10 15 28 17 5 5 3 3 8 5 6 2 9 9 10 12 17 17 22 1 1 6 4 2 5 5 6 7 13 15 15 12 13 22 6% 7% 10% 10% 11% 14% 14% 14% 18% 26% 32% 35% 42% 55% 58% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70veterans resourcesHIV/AIDSenvironmental healthseniorlow incomechildren/teensemergency preparednesswebsites (not in any of theabove categories)mental healthmultilingual resourcesnewsminority health concernshealth information literacyfunding opportunitieswebinars/continuingeducationTop 3 Most Useful Types of Content 123 4 5. “What tools do you use to share information from BHIC posts?” (n=104)  Participants were able to choose more than one option. The overwhelming majority (88.46%, 92) of readers use email. Facebook was second most used with 14.42% (15). Twitter, LinkedIn and “I don’t share” each had about 5% (5). The option for “other” was varied but “word of mouth” was mentioned more than once, and LibGuide or library resources database were mentioned several times as well. Because readers frequently share posts, this prompted the use of the AddThis widget, allowing users a way to directly share the blog post from the page by using email, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts.   6. “Please add any other comments you may have about the BHIC blog.”  There were 51 total responses to this question and they were overwhelmingly positive. The single outlier was critical of the tone of coverage the BHIC blog used when promoting ACA resources, “It needs to be less obviously pro-Obamacare in its coverage. As a taxpayer funded service it should show all sides of an argument and not just what makes the left/liberal view of the healthcare department look good.” While feedback is valued by BHIC contributors, no action was taken based on this particular comment, and the BHIC contributors were pleased that this was the only criticism of the blog.   The rest of the feedback was supportive. Some examples: • “A great source of information that we would never have time to seek out.” • “The blog is well run! I appreciate being made aware of resources I may not have otherwise found.” • “The resources are great. I forward/share at least one resource a week to my community partners that are a "good fit". Thank you for continuing the service.” • “Great job...I am often able to pull info to post on our Facebook page. It is very much appreciated!” • “I use it mostly to inform my own knowledge base and familiarity with issues that may affect a wide spectrum of people since i do outreach with a city public library; so very important for me to understand where people are coming from and to have more open communication with them when i can have access to news and resources about information that is relevant to their lives” • “I have shared the blog postings with many health professionals here in the university and am always thanked. Several have subscribed themselves and everyone wants to know How I found "that" out. You make me look good.” • “I gather funding opportunities for the whole BU Department of Family Medicine and other friends nationally who are also doing grants. I will tell you this is just a MARVELOUS resource for us! And if you email, you get an immediate response. On a scale of 1 to 10, BHIC is a 20!”  5 • “What I value and appreciate the most is that the information is of the highest caliber. I don't have to second-guess or double check the facts, it is truly reputable.” • “It's the most useful blog I receive!”  Changes  Based on the results of the questionnaire, the BHIC blog now has added a sharing feature. The AddThis widget is built in to the BHIC homepage, as well as appearing at the bottom on every post page. It allows readers to share BHIC content over a wide variety of social networks. The AddThis widget allows for sharing over 300 different networks and apps and continually adds new platforms as they become available.    Conclusion  Content posted to the BHIC blog is in-step with what readers rated highly, and the blog will continue to promote funding opportunities, continuing education, and focus on health literacy resources for special populations.    6 Appendix A   7  

An Overview of BHIC Subscribers and Content

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An Overview of BHIC Subscribers and Content

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