Robert R. Jones
Communications Specialist
Oklahoma State University

Background Since 1998 the Agricultural Communication Services unit, part of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University, has maintained a web site of electronic Cooperative Extension documents called Pete's Electronic Archive and Resource Library (PEARL). The PEARL web site, http://agweb.okstate.edu/pearl, contains dozens of reports, fact sheets, and other print resources that have been converted to electronic format for Internet use.

From December 1999 through November 2000, the PEARL web site averaged 516 page requests per day from all sources, including countries as far away as Japan and New Zealand. While the vast majority of traffic on the PEARL web site comes from local users, at least 5 percent of last year's traffic originated overseas, while an additional 3 percent was generated by military and government users (Jones).

A recent survey of Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Services (OCES) employees revealed that while 98 percent of those surveyed viewed the PEARL web site as a useful resource, nearly 75 percent would use PEARL more often if they knew more about what it has to offer. Additionally, 25 percent either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, "It is easy to find information on PEARL" (Haigh).

Clearly, there is room for improvement. There is also a need for improvement. The World Wide Web is a big place, full of competition for our audience's attention.

As of June 2000, some 13.3 million web sites were being run from the United States alone ("Facts and Stats"). Web sites range from unashamedly commercial mega-stores like Amazon.com to the "I just bought a computer and here's my web site" variety. Somewhere in between these two extremes lie thousands of truly useful, informative sites, created solely for the purpose of sharing knowledge.

Where is the Internet headed? Will it grow into a large commercial enterprise, a kind of virtual mall? Will it be an entertainment medium that eventually replaces television, or will it continue to be a vast, free-spirited marketplace of information and ideas? Perhaps it will be all of these things and more. But at its heart, the Internet was founded with the concept of a free and fast exchange of information and ideas. That same spirit of service and cooperation embodies the Cooperative Extension Service, making e-Xtension a natural pairing of will and means.

However, the failure of many of the so-called dot-coms over the past year or so has made it plain that there is more to web presence than an expensive, interactive web site. Fortunately, Extension programs do not share the same need to turn a profit that has proven to be such a stumbling block for commercial ventures. However, in order for extension -- and, more specifically, the PEARL web site -- to be successful, some lessons on the transfer of electronic information and Internet marketing are in order.

Method
Offering Extension publications in electronic format involves re-thinking the entire publication and distribution process. Once Extension leaders determine a need to offer electronic documents, the next decision that must be made is the format or formats in which to offer information to Extension audiences. Format choices for text materials include HTML, PDF, and e-book.

On the simple end of the format spectrum sits the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) standard. HTML was the first language of the World Wide Web. Documents in HTML format are simply text documents with special codes that tell a web browser how the page is supposed to look. These codes also contain link information, so when a user clicks on a certain spot, a different document or portion of a document is retrieved and displayed on the screen. HTML has the advantage of wide support among a variety of software and computer platforms. Additionally, there are many free and low-cost tools available for the creation of HTML documents (DaveCentral, ZDNet). Many do not require the author or editor to learn HTML code in order to create or edit documents. Even so, HTML is easy to learn, and those who choose to learn quickly pick up the basics.

In addition to special-purpose HTML tools, nearly all commercial word processing packages offer some type of export-to-HTML option, but beware: some are better than others. Corel's WordPerfect is good, producing lean, efficient code. Microsoft Word is also OK, its documents rendering well in spite of the bloated and inefficient code Word produces. But Adobe Pagemaker is absolutely horrid. (If you must convert a PageMaker file, try Adobe GoClick instead.) At any rate, it is likely that most if not all of the computers in your organization already have the ability to create some type of HTML document.

The disadvantages of HTML stem mostly from its original design as a markup language, rather than a layout and formatting language. Consequently, documents can and do look different depending on what hardware and software is used to render the HTML code for the end user. These limitations become most apparent when trying to adapt printed material for online use. The HTML format lacks the ability, for instance, to indent the first line of a paragraph of text. It also lacks the ability to control how large or small a typeface appears on the end user's screen. There is, therefore, no guarantee an HTML document will render the same way each time it is viewed. These weaknesses and more are being addressed by newer standards that work with HTML, such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Extensible Markup Language (XML), and Dynamic HTML (DHTML). But as a rule, the newer the standard, the less support it has among both browsers and page-creation tools, and the more technically knowledgeable the editor needs to be.

At present, there is no better format for accurate electronic rendering of printed materials than Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). Using the inexpensive Acrobat software package from Adobe Systems, Inc., an author or editor can convert a document to PDF format as easily as sending it to a laser printer. The resulting electronic file looks nearly identical to the offset-printed version. In order to view a PDF file, the end user must have Adobe's Acrobat Reader software installed on the viewing machine. Although the Reader is offered as a free download, installing it requires a certain amount of effort from the end user. Extension leaders must consider their audience -- are the people who will be viewing your documents able and willing to visit a web site, download software, and install it? That may seem a simple task, but it can be a barrier to some.

Recently, there has been explosive growth in the world of e-books. Several different formats are currently vying for preeminence in this new medium. E-book readers are hand-held electronic devices with large screens designed to simulate the size, weight, and look of a printed book. Dominant formats in this field include Rocket e-book, Microsoft Reader, and Adobe PDF. While it may be too early to commit to producing documents in either Rocket or Microsoft Reader format, consideration of e-books should figure into planning for any program of electronic document distribution.

But perhaps the term "distribution" is a misnomer when applied to electronic documents. As Purdue University's David King and Michael Boehlje put it, "We're moving from a distribution to an access paradigm" (So You Want a Job 3). They argue that technology now allows us to shift from a "provider mentality" that focuses on what we want to distribute to a "user mentality" that tries to anticipate the users' needs and provide them with access to our knowledge base.

Such a fundamental change in the way we look at our role certainly qualifies as a paradigm shift. It changes everything. Fortunately, our audiences are not clamoring for us to abandon print publications and go totally electronic by next Thursday. This change is a process, but one that must be started now if Extension is to survive the era of extension

King and Boehlje propose that extension, or e-CES as they have labeled it, must not be bound by incrementalism and therefore must be approached as a new Internet start-up, with huge investments in talent and technology to get the ball rolling (On the Brink 3). Their ambitious approach is exciting, but it is also resource intensive and hardly practical for every Extension program. Most Cooperative Extension Service programs will choose an incremental approach to providing access to online content, and in the end, that will be enough.

But why change at all -- isn't technology merely a tool? Just because we can do something, does that mean we should?

Certainly, technology allows us to change the way we do things, but technology's impact extends beyond merely giving us the means for change. In some ways, it demands that change. The rise of the Internet has also given rise to a new breed of customer -- the information consumer. This is the computer-savvy person for whom answers lie just a mouse-click away. Increasingly, the information consumer seeks knowledge from the comfort of his or her own home. No longer are libraries and Extension offices seen as the primary sources of research in this new economy. Web sites and electronic databases are the repositories of knowledge and advice. Therefore, as the numbers of this new breed of consumers grow, so will the demand for access to electronic information. Without the requisite paradigm shift, Extension resources risk being supplanted by something faster and easier, much like the pony express was.

"Ultimately, customers will link with whoever has the most versatile combination of quality content and user-friendly technology" (So You Want a Job 4). Extension has no shortage of quality content, but once that content is in electronic form, the challenge becomes how to provide access to it in a way that is both useful and user-friendly.

First, site navigation must be clear, and it must be easy for the end user to find the information he or she is looking for. A search engine on your site can help, but is not a panacea. Site navigation and design are beyond the scope of this discussion, so for the sake of brevity we will assume that your extension publications site is well-planned and easy to navigate.

Now it's time to let your audience know where to find you. Marketing extension need not be costly, but it must be effective, and it will probably take on forms you had not expected.

Most importantly, extension products must all share a set of identifiable characteristics, or what is called in marketing parlance, "brand identity" (So You Want a Job 15). In other words, everything from the web site to the press releases to the instructional videos to the documents themselves must be immediately recognizable as extension products.

Next, make sure your audience knows where to find you on the Web by placing your site's web address, also called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), on all printed, audio, and video publications your Extension office produces. Make sure your web address appears on your business cards, letterhead, and anything else that goes out the door. Make sure that the people who answer your phones know your URL, and that they bring it to people's attention as a way to get additional information (Pilkington 3). These presentations of your site URL need not be ostentatious. In fact, it is better if they are not. Your web address is analogous to your office phone number. It should be readily available and easily found, but not overwhelming. Education is the goal. It is not self-promotion you're after with this type of marketing, but self-disclosure (Crane).

The browsers of most Web surfers have a Favorites or Bookmarks folder stuffed with links that never get visited. Perhaps the best way to keep online resources in the forefront of your audience's minds is also one of the least expensive: produce a regular opt-in e-mail newsletter. By providing your audience with regular updates on the progress of your site, industry news, and other useful information, you not only provide a service to your customers, you also give them reasons to keep coming back to your site.

No one likes unsolicited e-mail; at least, not anyone who is willing to admit it. Do NOT, under any circumstances, distribute an e-mail newsletter to a mailing list you have either purchased from an outside source or culled from an Extension database. If you try to distribute a weekly or monthly e-mail publication to a list of unsuspecting customers, you risk offending and alienating the very audience you are trying to attract. Fortunately, there is a better way.

Through your university's Computer Information Services department, you most likely have access to a program called LISTSERV. LISTSERV automates the maintenance of e-mail lists. It works via specific text commands sent from a user's e-mail program. A list manager creates a new mailing list using an online form or by mailing a list-creation command to LISTSERV (Site Manager's Manual). In most cases, LISTSERV will send a reply to the initial command, asking for confirmation. Once the list manager replies to that message, a new mailing list is created with the name given in the original command.

For example, as the hypothetical list manager for the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (OCES), I want to set up a list called OCES-NEWS. To create the list, I send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.SCHOOLNAME.EDU with the command CREATE OCES-NEWS in the body of the message, along with any other necessary commands such as my username and password, and what type of list this is to be. (Your LISTSERV web site should have a listing of all the commands you need to get started.) A few seconds or a few minutes later, I receive an e-mail from LISTSERV asking for confirmation. After replying to that message, I receive another message from LISTSERV informing me that my list has been created. In order to populate my mailing list, I begin to promote it in printed materials and on the Web, with instructions and/or a link for customers to subscribe to the list.

When it is time to publish an issue of the new OCES e-mail newsletter, I simply e-mail it to the list address, which in this hypothetical example is OCES-NEWS@LISTSERV.SCHOOLNAME.EDU, and everyone who has subscribed to the list receives an individually addressed copy.

What goes into an e-mail newsletter is at least as important as the nuts-and-bolts of getting it to its intended audience. E-mail news letters (or e-zines as they are sometimes called) vary in format, but some elements have become standard inclusions. Instead of dictating a specific format, here is a sample outline that covers the basics and can be adapted to virtually any situation:


-------------------------------
E-zine Title
Issue# Date Year
Slogan
-------------------------------
Subscription Information:

(NOTE: The following three lines are extremely important. This information also appears near the end of the newsletter.)

Subscribe info
unsubscribe info
contact list owner

Sponsor Advertising: (Usually only on for-profit newsletters.)

Message to Subscribers:

---------
Contents:
---------

- Article
- Resources
- In the News
- Poll
- Housekeeping items
- Last Month's Poll Results

----------------
Feature Article
----------------


----------
Resources
----------


------------
In the News
------------


----
Poll
----


-----------
Poll Results
-----------


Subscription Information:

Subscribe info
unsubscribe info
contact list owner

Closing Comments,
Your Name

Copyrights & disclaimers
(i.e., Copyright 2001 by your Cooperative Extension Service, All rights reserved. This publication is for informational purposes only.)

-------------------------------

Results The study of the PEARL web logs and the survey of OCES employees were conducted as a baseline measurement. Results will be evaluated a year from now.

Conclusions
The PEARL web site is generating more traffic -- in both volume and diversity -- than I would have guessed prior to analyzing the log files. But that is just the beginning. The design and usability of the PEARL web site will be improved over the next several months, and OSU Ag Communications will launch its own opt-in e-mail newsletter to support PEARL and other web site activities. By applying the methods discussed here, I am confident the 2001 log files will show a dramatic increase in use of the PEARL web site. The same principles and methods applied to other Extension web sites should have similar results.


Recommended Reading

Adair-Hoy, Angela. Profitable Email Publishing: How to Publish a Profitable Emag. 2000, Deep South Publishing. For more information: http://www.writersweekly.com/eorderform.htm.

Muske, Glenn, Ph.D.; Nancy Stanforth, Ph.D.; and Mike Woods, Ph.D. "The Internet as a Marketing Tool." Extension Facts WF-566, Oklahoma State University. Available online: http://agweb.okstate.edu/pearl/agecon/marketing.

Pirillo, Chris. Poor Richard's Guide to E-mail Publishing. http://www.lockergnome.com.

Willoughby, Chuck; Mike D. Woods; and Daniel Chaney. "The World Wide Web as a Tool for Rural Economic Development." Extension Facts F-904, Oklahoma State University. Available online: http://agweb.okstate.edu/pearl/agecon/resource.


References

Adobe, Inc. http://www.adobe.com.

Corel, Inc. http://www.corel.com.

Crane, Patti. (2000, Nov.) "First Things First: Branding Your Institution." From a presentation at the CASE Annual Meeting for Chief Publications Professionals, San Diego, Calif., November 15, 2000.

DaveCentral. Shareware and freeware downloads on the Internet. http://www.davecentral.com.

"Facts and Stats: US Market." (2000, Jun.) DotCom.com Network Solutions. Available online: http://dotcom.com/facts/usmap.html.

Haigh, Michel and Robert R. Jones. (2000, Dec.) A Technology Survey of OCES Employees. Agricultural Communications Services, Oklahoma State University.

Jones, Robert R. (2000, Dec.) An Analysis of Web Site Log Files for PEARL. Agricultural Communications Services, Oklahoma State University.

King, David A. and Michael D. Boehlje. (2000, Oct.) "Extension: On the Brink of Extinction or Distinction?" Journal of Extension, Vol. 38, No. 5. Available online: http://www.joe.org.

King, David A. and Michael D. Boehlje. (2000, Oct.) "So You Want a Job in 2005? Bringing Extension Back from the Brink." Text of a presentation delivered at the United States Agricultural Communicators' Congress, July 24, 2000. CES325-W, Purdue University Extension. Available online: http://www.agcom.purdue.edu/AgCom/EXTonBrink.

Microsoft, Inc. http://www.microsoft.com.

Pete's Electronic Archive and Resource Library (PEARL). http://agweb.okstate.edu/pearl.

Pilkington, Nikki. (1999, Mar.) "12 Offline Ways of Promoting Your URL," Free Pint #33, March 4, 1999. Available online: http://www.freepint.co.uk.

Rocket eBook. http://www.ebook-gemstar.com.

Site Manager's Operations Manual for LISTSERV Version 1.8d. May 5, 2000. Available online: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8d/sitemgr/sitemgr.html.

ZDNet. Reviews and archives of shareware, freeware, and demos. http://www.zdnet.com.