Two methods of dissemination:

1.       Online blog, which is marketed more as an online newsletter – www.resakss.wordpress.com

2.       Monthly email digest of articles, disseminated through service called Mail Chimp – www.mailchimp.com

Advantages and disadvantages of this method:

-          The constant online version is available for users who are not subscribed to the monthly email version

-          The online version gives users access to the archives, so they can view posts from any time period

-          The email version reminds subscribers of ReSAKSS activities – gives them a reason to visit

-          Using Mail Chimp for the dissemination of the email version helps with list management, tracking and professional look

-          The main disadvantage is that the content has to be entered twice, so it is labor/time-intensive

o   Pete from the library may be able to show you alternative methods for extracting the content from the blog into an email format more easily and quickly

o   RSS feeds are one option, which notify subscribers every time a post is added

o   We chose against this option because we wanted our users to receive the information just once in a monthly digested format, instead of daily or semi-daily when we add new posts – it would have been too much information

Tips from library and communications

-          Keep the email version short and sweet – if it is frequently sent out, limit the number of articles and limit the text of each article

o   The point is to entice users to click to read more, not overwhelm them with too much text

-          Keep the frequency/date of email distributions consistent (same time each month, or same time each quarter, etc)

o   This shows that your organization/project is reliable and credible

-          Keep the size of your emails small

o   Should be less than 100KB, or else it will bog down users’ inboxes

o   One way to limit the size is to not use photos – they can view these when they visit your online version

o   Using html-based emails is okay – it looks better than plain text and enables tracking

§  BUT, beware that each email client reads html a bit differently, so test your formatting in several clients (outlook, gmail, yahoo, etc) before sending out your final version

-          TEST, TEST and TEST

o   Send out several practice emails to yourself first to make sure that your links work, your text makes sense and is formatted correctly

-          Using a list management service is very helpful

o   Not only will it save you time in the long run, it lends professionalism to your product

o   Also, it will help with all of the legalities of mass emailings, because spamming is illegal

§  Mail chimp has a very useful, cheap and easy-to-use system for ensuring you avoid any pitfalls