Blog Survey Results

Hi everyone,

The Museum Anthropology Blog put out a survey last fall regarding our content and readership. 35 individuals responded to our survey. Right now we have 94 followers registered on the blog, making this a 37% response rate, fairly high though we recognize that not all blog followers are registered through Blogger.com.

If you are interested, the results of the survey are presented below.

Museum Anthropology Blog Readership Demographics

• 43% of survey respondents are graduate students, 31% are museum professionals, and 17% are scholars or professors.
• 83% of respondents have worked or do work for a museum or similar collecting institution
• 77% of respondents have volunteered for a museum or similar collecting institution

How often do people visit the blog?

• 37% visit at least once per week. Of these individuals, 62% visit twice or more per week.
• 31% visit at least once per month.
• 26% visit less than once per month.
• 6% visit only when directed by search engine query.

What are the primary uses of the blog?

• 71% use the blog for National Museum News
• 57% use the blog for Job and Internship Searching
• 54% use the blog for International Museum News
• 37% use the blog to find out about Exhibit Openings or Reviews
• 11% use the blog for other purposes such as finding out about panels or conferences, getting updates on the state of the discipline, or just for personal interest

What would survey respondents like to see more of on the blog?

• 89% would like the blog to cover New Directions in Scholarship and New Research in the Field
• 54% would like the blog to Announce Conferences and/or Relevant Sessions
• 43% would like the blog to cover Exhibit Openings or Reviews
• 37% would like to see more Discussions and Commenting on the blog
• 31-37% would like to see more of items already covered heavily by the blog (National Museum News, International Museum News, and Jobs/Internships)

3 other ideas were offered as blog content: analytical reviews of exhibits and trends in museum anthropology, how to use collections for research, and a museum ethics column with case studies for classroom discussion

What topics would survey respondents like to see on the blog?

• 86% selected Controversies in Museum Anthropology
• 80% selected New Directions in Scholarship and New Research in the Field
• 74% selected Museum Anthropology Method and Theory
• 63% selected Material Culture Studies
• 57% would like Introductions to Upcoming Museum Anthropology Journal Articles or Scholars
• 57% selected Use of New Technologies
• 43% selected Legal Issues such as NAGPRA, copyright, and intellectual property issues

3 other ideas were offered as blog topics: how to teach museum anthropology, analysis of the museum anthropology field, and integrating other collections (such as zoological) into anthropology research

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Thank you to everyone that participated and to those that provided additional comments on how we can improve the blog.

This is my last post to the Museum Anthropology blog as I’m leaving to begin a summer of fieldwork back home. I had a lot of fun maintaining the blog throughout the course of the school year and I’m very grateful to Jen Shannon and Cynthia Chavez Lamar for giving me this opportunity.

Thanks and happy end of the semester to all other students!

Kendall Tallmadge