Journal readers share their opinions

Information Management Journal, May/Jun 2003

Last year ARMA International made some significant changes to The Information Management Journal, including increasing its frequency to six times a year. The changes were intended to make the Journal more readable, timely, and educational. In an effort to assess our progress and assist in our planning, ARMA conducted a reader survey.

Fully 95 percent of the readers who responded to the survey rated the Journal's content as "excellent" (41 percent) or "good" (54 percent). Readers gave the Journal high marks for "article length," "career applicability," and "timeliness of topics."

According to the responses, the UpFront section and the feature articles are the most regularly read sections of the Journal. Almost 75 percent of respondents said they read UpFront regularly, while more than 95 percent reported reading the features on a regular basis.

When asked what they like most about the Journal, the majority of respondents said they liked its "timely," "comprehensive/in-depth," and "well-written" articles as well as the publication's improved format, design, and layout. Respondents also offered suggestions for ways the Journal could be improved, including more international and Canadian content, shorter article length, more basic RIM content, and more how-to or practical articles.

Respondents said the types of articles that are important to them include

* how-to/best practices (87 percent)

* technology (80 percent)

* news about current events pertaining to the industry (77 percent)

* standards and regulatory/public policy news (75 percent)

* interpretation of legislative/regulatory issues (70 percent)

* professional issues (ethics/image of the profession and education) (63 percent)

The survey also found that topics readers would most like to see covered or emphasized more in future issues of the Journal include electronic records management, more RIM how-tos, and more content geared toward beginning RIM practitioners.

The Journal's editorial board will consider and use the survey results in the planning of future issues.