Wed, 06 Aug 2003 -- Media Matters No. 33
Dissemination and utilization: email is not enough!

In our last Media Matters, we looked at how e-mail news releases serve to disseminate information about your research. But dissemination via email is not enough. If your information is not also accessible via a website, you will lose much of the impact of your news release. Why? Because people need to be able to "access" your information easily when they want to -- and a website provides the tool to do so.

Many groups are becoming comfortable in sending out information via email. Far fewer are comfortable using their websites as a source of ongoing and updated information. Websites and email need to work together, in tandem, however, to make full use of electronic media for dissemination and utilization.

The Accessible Society website (http://www.accessiblesociety.org) is designed to provide information to journalists. We list studies, reports, facts, statistics and sources that journalists will find useful as they work on stories that have disability components. We also provide a weekly email newsletter, or "e-letter." But our e-letter would not work if we were not able to provide links to website information, that journalists can turn to at any time for indepth background.

We receive a great many email messages from advocacy groups, researchers and others telling us of new studies, new reports, information and data. Much of this is of great interest to us. However, if this information is available only via the email, and it is not available on an organization's website, it is difficult for us to make use of it.

A website is by its nature a repository of information accessible to anyone in the world who has a computer and internet connection. An email is by its nature a restricted communication; even if an email is forwarded again and again, it only goes to those on some email list or other. If we receive material via email which is not also on the organization's website, it is hard to refer others to it. Where would they find it? However, if it's on a website -- and coded properly, so that search engines can find it -- it can be found by anyone. Anyone in the world. It can be used by anyone in the world.

Whenever you disseminate information, be sure that information is available on your website as well. That way it can truly be utilized by anyone seeking it.

Next time on Media Matters: how can anyone in the world find our information? A short course on search engines.

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