The MAHS Summer Newsletter Makes News
This 2009 summer edition of the Midwest Art History Society Newsletter marks the first issue to be circulated solely through electronic means. At the Members‘ Luncheon of the 2008 MAHS Conference in Chicago, we had floated the idea of producing an electronic journal to conserve paper and expenses. In January of this year, we sent out an online survey to our members that asked a series of questions to ascertain the membership‘s attitudes toward and preferences for a printed as opposed to an electronic journal.
We had eighty respondents, about twenty percent of our membership, to our twelve question survey. Here is a sampling of those questions:
1. What is your involvement in the field of Art History?
| Student | 10% |
| Educator | 71% |
| Museum Professional | 15% |
| Independent Scholar | 4% |
2. How did you learn of MAHS?
| Colleague | 80% |
| Newsletter | 12.5% |
| Website | 12.5% |
3. How did you learn of MAHS Conference Calls for Papers?
| Website | 38% |
| Newsletter | 59.5% |
| Colleague | 7.6% |
| Other | 13.9% |
4. How do you register for MAHS Conferences?
| Website | 70.8% |
| Newsletter | 27.7% |
| Colleague | 1.5% |
5. What sections of the Newsletter do you find most useful?
| title | very useful | useful | sometimes useful | not useful |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAHS Conference information | 70.9% | 27.8% | 1.3% | – |
| MAHS News | 38% | 53.2% | 7.6% | 1.3% |
| MAHS Board Members names and addresses | 26.9% | 29.5% | 33% | 10.3% |
| List of Member Museums and Galleries | 14.3% | 40.3% | 37.7% | 9.1% |
| List of Current exhibitions in the Midwest | 36.4% | 35.1% | 26% | 5.2% |
| Recent acquisitions by Midwestern museums and Galleries | 29.5% | 30.8% | 35.9% | 3.8% |
| News about MAHS Members | 36.7% | 41.8% | 20.3% | 1.3% |
6. How frequently do you refer to the MAHS Newsletter annually?
| Once | 21.5% |
| Twice | 48.1% |
| Five | 22.8% |
| n/a | 7.6% |
7. Which of the following would you prefer?
| Continuing to receive the MAHS Newsletter in printed form | 17.9% |
| Receiving the MAHS Newsletter electronically (as an e-newsletter), without a printed version, |
42.3% |
| Availability of both a printed and an electronic (e-) newsletter | 39.7% |
8. How often would you prefer to receive e-mail communications from MAHS annually?
| Monthly | 22.1% |
| Quarterly | 67.5% |
| Semi-annually | 10.4% |
9. What value do you place on electronic messaging, such as e-mails, e-blasts?
| High | 41.3% |
| Moderate | 46.3% |
| Low | 11.3% |
| None | 1.3% |
10. Would you be satisfied with a printed Call for Papers but no printed Newsletter?
| Yes | 74.7% |
| No | 25.3% |
As these questions show, the preponderance of responses tilted toward an electronic journal, especially if MAHS conference information will still be circulated in printed as well as electronic form. The majority of our membership already registers for MAHS conferences via our website, indicating an electronic literacy that will readily accommodate an online journal. Thus, on the basis of this survey, the MAHS Board believes that our membership‘s needs will be fulfilled by an online Newsletter. And there you have it: the genesis of our first completely online Newsletter. We have asked Creative Capsule and ConstantContact, our Web site design companies, to translate the newsletter content into an appealing electronic format, and we hope you will find this to be the case. Please let me know of any responses or suggestions you may have on it.
Our September/October issue will contain the traditional news of our membership individuals and institutions, announcements of the MAHS Graduate Student Award and Outstanding Exhibition Catalog Award, the annual conference Call for Papers and a description of the conference city, an updated list of Midwest Museum Exhibitions, Calls for Submissions, and List of Board Members. MAHS Conference Information, the Call for Papers, and Registration form will still be distributed to our membership in print form as well.
Look for the Summer 2009 e-newsletter among your email messages soon. We hope you‘ll be as pleased with the look and feel of the new Newsletter as your Board Members are.
Gustav Medicus
Newsletter Editor
gmedicus@kent.edu