Since Newswise debuted its new website and enhanced features this past summer, we're happy to report that usage of the site by both registered and non-registered users alike has grown at a rapid pace during the three months of August through October. Below, you will find a detailed report on this activity.

As many of the improved features of Newswise depend on "logging in," that is, entering a username and password, we've provided the following chart which reflects the number of log-ins by registered users of Newswise over the past three months. Newswise has several types of users with distinct privileges, but for simplictity we've broken these users into two groups for the chart below: Verified Reporters (that is, reporters who have been granted password-protected acess to embargoed materials on Newswise), and "Other" registered users (namely PIOs, staff, and registered members of the public).

Growth in the number of log-ins to Newswise has been strong and steady: we recorded 26% more log-ins in September than in the previous month, while log-ins grew by about 15% between September and October. Verified reporters comprise the bulk of this group: 77% of all users, on average. Most strikingly, we see that in October 2003, verified reporters logged-in to Newswise an average of 113 times per day. This represented a more than 9% growth over average daily logins by reporters in the previous month, and a remarkable 68% growth over average daily logins by reporters in August-- a statistic we attribute to a growing confidence and familiarity of users with using their usernames and passwords on a daily basis.

In addition to log-ins, we examined overall hits on articles contributed to Newswise between August and October. For each month in the chart below, we counted only hits on articles contributed in that month, and more importantly, we only included hits that occured within 14 days of the article's contribution date. This gives us a fair basis for comparison of monthly activity. You'll also notice that we've distinguished between those hits generated by links published in the Newswise wires (SciWire, MedWire, DailyWire, etc.), and those hits coming directly from links on the Newswise website. Hits generated by the Newswise wires come mostly from reporters, given that 70% of Newswise wire recipients are journalists. Hits on the Newswise website come from a wider variety of users: reporters as well as members of the interested public, plus a smaller number of archival agents and search engines.

As with the growth in Newswise log-ins, article hit counts have also surged over this three-month period: 52% more hits were recorded in September compared with the previous month, and in October, hit counts grew by a further 18%. We believe that this growth in article accesses reflects both an enhanced awareness of Newswise among journalists and the general public, as well as greater exposure generated by an expanding network of Newswise partners, such as Google News and content distribution affiliates.

We look forward to working with you in the New Year, and we encourage all participants to share their success stories and experiences with the greater Newswise community so that we can continue to grow and innovate.

Your Individual Report

Earlier results
A preliminary report on access counts is now provided for files you've contributed during the most recent month, in addition to a final report on your prior month's activity. This allows you to track both preliminary and longer-range access counts for your stories.

Enhanced context
Your reports are now provided within the greater context of this monthly Newswise report, which offers perspectives on your data not previously available, such as studies of how the media access and use Newswise and your stories. We also hope to utilize this "interactive" newsletter as a way of eliciting your suggestions and to acknowledge those who have contributed suggestions.

(If your institution had contributed stories in October 2003, data on those stories would appear here. You will find overall site statistics below.)

Table 1
============================================================
          Newswise October 2003 PRELIMINARY Report          
------------------------------------------------------------
          HITS ON ALL INSTITUTIONS' NEWS RELEASES 
              By LIBRARY and TYPE OF STORY 
        (based on data gathered through 13-Nov-2003)
============================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------
      Number of       Type               Access  Counts    
       OCTOBER         of             ---------------------
    News Releases     Story           TOTAL    Avg   Median
-----------------------------------------------------------

 MEDNEWS LIBRARY
       272  Research or Feature       66262     244     215
         1  Policy                      154     154     154
        37  Announcement               4954     134     129

 SCINEWS LIBRARY
        98  Research or Feature       28296     289     246
         0  Policy                       --      --      --
        34  Announcement               4627     136     132

 LIFENEWS LIBRARY
        82  Research or Feature       20214     247     194
         2  Policy                      303     152     152
        14  Announcement               1957     140     136
         5  Higher Ed Event             810     162     132

 BIZNEWS LIBRARY
        23  Research or Feature        5608     244     201
         0  Policy                       --      --      --
        12  Announcement               1484     124     124

(If your institution had contributed stories in September 2003, data on those stories would appear here. You will find overall site statistics below.)

Table 1
============================================================
           Newswise September 2003 FINAL Report          
------------------------------------------------------------
          HITS ON ALL INSTITUTIONS' NEWS RELEASES 
              By LIBRARY and TYPE OF STORY 
        (based on data gathered through 13-Nov-2003)
============================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------
      Number of       Type               Access  Counts    
      SEPTEMBER        of             ---------------------
    News Releases     Story           TOTAL    Avg   Median
-----------------------------------------------------------

 MEDNEWS LIBRARY
       188  Research or Feature       55401     295     261
         4  Policy                      963     241     227
        30  Announcement               4045     135     146

 SCINEWS LIBRARY
       114  Research or Feature       30067     264     261
         0  Policy                       --      --      --
        23  Announcement               2638     115     124

 LIFENEWS LIBRARY
        85  Research or Feature       21193     249     233
         1  Policy                      128     128     128
        13  Announcement               2564     197     197
         4  Higher Ed Event             678     170     172

 BIZNEWS LIBRARY
        23  Research or Feature        4909     213     216
         0  Policy                       --      --      --
         3  Announcement                350     117     100

Journalists Respond

Success Stories

University of Iowa

The release "Why You Should Avoid Trans Fatty Acids" appeared on:

Health on the Net
Alternative Health News Online
Health and Age
Yahoo News
Life Sciences Network
About.com