Insight 1 from Research Focus - current awareness planning should start with the "why"
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

In the first of the insights from Jinfo's Research Focus, "Content and technology for current awareness", director of research, Robin Neidorf, explains the importance of starting your evaluation of current awareness from perspective of the value it offers.

Item

To develop and manage a successful and measurable current awareness system, start by investigating why (or if) users value current awareness.

Aim for effectiveness, not just elegance

Most information services tackle the question of how to create an efficient and effective system the wrong way around... by asking what content and technology will provide a comprehensive solution.

You may end up with an elegant system, but:

• Priority users continue to rely on their own alerts
• You lack data on how the service contributes to success
• Renewal discussions flounder on costs
• Every year stakeholders ask you, "Why do we need to invest in current awareness when we have Google?"

Jinfo suggests: reframe your thinking to focus on "why"

You have a vast array of options for content and technology to support current awareness, but you can't create the right mix until you - and your stakeholders - thoroughly understand why users value current awareness:

• Who are the most important users of current awareness?
• How are they getting their needs met today?
• How does effective current awareness impact on their ability to achieve their goals?

Most importantly, don't try to make your system be all things to all people.

Identify your most important users and tune the system to their needs. After all, "current awareness" means something very different to the sales team compared with the product development team.

Support from Jinfo: leverage our research and experience

The content in the recent Research Focus, "Content and technology for current awareness", provides research-based analysis, tips and examples of different approaches to uncovering the "why".

Jinfo Consulting can carry out a thorough evaluation of your approach to current awareness, or we can explore with you any specific questions you have about how to understand "why".

These items from the Research Focus support your examination of why users value current awareness:

• Content efficiency for current awareness - a data science approach
• Carrying out a current awareness needs assessment
• Keeping up with the changing face of news
• What does declining usage reveal about my current awareness service?
  
• Webinar recording (available to all Jinfo Subscribers): Elements of a current awareness needs assessment

• Webinar recording (available to all Jinfo Subscribers): Why we keep talking about the news

The main lessons learned from this three-month Research Focus, plus a thematic index to all content published, are listed in the report Insights and actions from the Research Focus "Content and technology for current awareness". Visit the Research Focus page to get your copy.

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