What’s All the Talk About? Examining EVALTALK, an Evaluation Listserv

Abstract

Listservs have become a popular computer-mediated method for communicating with others who share a common interest. They offer subscribers quick feedback and provide a forum for ideas and beliefs to be exchanged, discussed, and modified. Although rarely studied, in some practical fields listserves have been shown to increase communication of best practices. EVALTALK is an online evaluation discussion forum, and the official listserv of the American Evaluation Association. The current study examined EVALTALK exchanges generated over a one-year period in order to better understand how the listserv is used by its members. Results from our analysis suggest that a significant proportion of the EVALTALK listserv postings are not directly related to evaluation; however, when lengthy discussions ensue, they are most likely to be evaluation related. Additionally, much of the EVALTALK activity centers on requests for evaluation examples, procedures, and experiences. We also found that the typical subscriber is more likely to be a “lurker” than an active participant.

Learning from the field and its listserv: Issues that concern health literacy practitioners

“…Subscribers who are most inclined to use the list as a feedback resource, seem to be students or practitioners who are in the nascent stage of a health literacy job or career. These findings are consistent with other studies of how health and non-health professionals use a peer, subscriber listserv [1,2,6,7,10,11,13,17].…”

“…Some other specific health literacy issues discussed within the HLDL include: health literacy research and assessment; how the U.S. Affordable Care Act and health insurance impact health literacy; health literacy interventions in healthcare settings; peer coalition building; providing or finding plain language health information; and the training of health literacy and other health professionals [2].…”

Engaging the Experts in Museum Computing: Seven Years of Queries on MCN‐L

“…It is common for the vast majority of subscribers to “lurk” on the list; the 6,106 emails evaluated as part of this study were sent from 231 unique email addresses, implying that only about 10 percent of MCN‐L subscribers are active participants. While it is likely the actual percentage is higher than 10 percent—historical data about the number of subscribers was not available, but there were almost certainly fewer subscribers in the past than there are today—these figures are similar to previous research findings that nearly 70 percent of listserv subscribers do not post to the list at all, and less than 20 percent are repeat posters (Christie and Azzam ).…”

“…While only a small percentage of listserv subscribers may be active participants, subscribing to listservs offers many benefits for information professionals. Studies of listservs used by nursing professionals (Hara and Hew ; ) and professional evaluators (Christie and Azzam ) found that email traffic on professional lists tends to be on topic, of interest to the community, and focused on knowledge sharing and professional development. Similarly, research examining the benefits of listservs for K12 physical educators highlighted the chance to interact with other professionals, a feeling of support and encouragement, and access to new ideas (Pennington and Graham ).…”

A Decade of Research on Evaluation

“…In recent years, however, RoE has once again captured the attention of evaluation practitioners, theorists, and scholars (Cousins et al, 2015). This renewed interest was arguably led by and likely related to the influence of Christie’s work (e.g., Christie, 2003, 2007, 2011; Christie & Azzam, 2004; Christie & Fleischer, 2011; Fleischer & Christie, 2009; Heberger, Christie, & Alkin, 2010; Vo & Christie, 2015) as well as that of several others (e.g., Alkin, Brandon, Cousins, Shadish, Smith, and Weiss).…”