EDEN Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP)

EDEN Newsflash - Special Issue

REPORT ON THE EDEN MEMBERSHIP SURVEY 2007

The full report can be read here, a short summary is presented below.

 

AIMS OF THE SURVEY

In 2007, it was decided to carry out a survey in EDEN, in order to ask the members' opinion about the achievements as well as on preferences for future developments. The first part of the Membership Survey assessed the satisfaction of members related to quality and importance of EDEN activities and services. The second part of the survey was gathering information on how they think, the Executive Committee and the Secretariat could improve the ways of serving the EDEN community.

METHODS AND TIMING

The survey was created in the spring of 2007 by the Secretariat. The online questionnaire was developed with a combination of rank-order scale, matrix questions, multiple choice close-ended and open-ended questions following the sandwich theory, including questions with brainstorming questions. The survey was tested by a small focus group of questionnaire experts and sample of target group representatives which resulted the final modifications. The survey was launched before the EDEN 2007 Annual Conference to reach the highest number of members possible, counting on the rising interest of members for EDEN issues around the time of the Annual General Meeting.

RESPONDENTS

The questionnaire and help-desk was open for respondents and several reminders were sent to the EDEN community. The survey was advertised to EDEN members via the EDEN website as well as circular mailings. The survey was accessible on the internet with the members' login
Responses were received from 98 NAP members representing 87 Institutional members in 31 countries, hence the respondents represented 44,6% of the EDEN Institutional membership.

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The questions were targeted to the six main areas of services in EDEN activities:

• events,
• information services,
• networking activities,
• promoting research,
• European projects,
• policy making.

The overall satisfaction with the services was quite convincing, members appreciated the quality, type and amount of the services EDEN offers. There are two main areas of activities where the expectations of members seem to be well fulfilled: the conferences and the information services. There is one area where a clear need for development is present: the online/personal networking tools.

Information, networking, personalising services

The role of EDEN in transmitting information on developments in the field seems to be one of the most valued features of the Association. Both the EDEN website and the electronic mailings are ranked as good quality. The website is visited by most respondents once every 10 days (average), and the most popular sections are the conference menus and the Fresh Article section. As for the usefulness, the Dissemination Space with members' event news and EU project outputs is regarded as the most useful part, followed by the Conferences, Downloads for members and the NAP Member Area sections.

The NAP Members' Area is visited by most members when they need a specific information. Although the NAP Members' Area was put in place to provide networking services, it is not really used in this way. From the extension of services requested (online community features and Web 2.0 tools), the current NAP Members' Area services seems to be outworn.

A strong need for the development of networking is present. In textual answers, the most used expressions for topics of "reasons for joining EDEN" and "benefits of being a member" were:

• networking,
• sharing experiences,
• meeting with partners, partnership,
• (exchanging) information.

We have decided therefore in 2008:

• to transform the NAP Member Area into an online virtual community. The EDEN RSS Feed and the President's Blog implemented in the autumn of 2007 can be considered as the first step in this direction.
• to develop further EURODL as prestigious professional online journal. Special issues, eventually with invited guest editors, and inspire the new Editorial Board for acting as regional multipliers as well as adding RSS feed to the website are examples of actions to be taken

Personal networking: EDEN events

The annual and thematic conferences are rated as well received services of EDEN. Members find the overall quality of the conferences as very good, their needs related to these events seem as thoroughly fulfilled. These events are rated as most important membership service. Members think that among the values of EDEN membership are access to information about trends and research achievements.
Conferences are also appreciated as networking places and platforms to share and also get information on latest developments.

It is suggested to strengthen sessions providing interaction and real place for discussion, to apply a more strict selection policy and give place to new type of sections offering collaborative methodology based content (eg. workshops, interactive sessions, cracker-barrel, open space, etc.)

Projects and Validation

The 1-2 days project events (workshops organised as part of EDEN events, 1 day conferences with project related topics, etc) are becoming more and more popular as they are mostly free but highly informative. Members find that the third most important value of being an EDEN member is to have access to outputs and events related to projects.

Research and policy

Respondents find that the most important value of being an EDEN member is access to information about policies and trends in the field while they ranked access to research achievements as the second most important value.

EDEN has been one of the leading bodies in promoting policy initiatives on the European scene. This profile should be maintained. Research is promoted in EDEN via the publication possibilities. This is appreciated by the members, and the support of young researchers is encouraged.