Editor's Page

JOE Top 50

JOE Web developer Robyn Ness has added what I think is a great feature to our Web site: "The Top 50 Most Read Articles." Visit that list to find out which articles (from the 94 issues on-line to date) JOE readers sought out most often from January 2002 through May 2002. It makes fascinating reading.

The leader, with 12,709 views (in just 5 months, folks), is "Understanding Employee Motivation," by James R. Lindner. He was at Ohio State when his article appeared in the June 1998 JOE, but he's now at Texas A & M. (I know because I regularly get requests for copies of his survey instrument that I have to steer his way.)

The earliest article to get some "top 50 action" (521 views) is Number 42, "Nominal Group Technique: An Alternative to Brainstorming," by John A. Sample. That article appeared in March of 1984. The most recent articles are three from the February 2002 issue, Numbers 35, 41, and 44.

Remember, if you're tempted to try and "take the pulse" of Extension by analyzing the list, that JOE readers come from far afield. That is, they're not all in Extension, and they're not all in the U.S. But there's lots of food for thought here, nonetheless.

Robyn plans to update the list approximately every 6 months, so keep visiting the JOE Usage Statistics page.

August 2002 JOE

Beyond Information Transfer

Remember "Rousing the People on the Land: The Roots of the Educational Organizing Tradition in Extension Work," from the June issue? The author, Scott Peters, has a follow-up article in this month's issue, "Citizens Developing a Voice at the Table: A Story of Educational Organizing in Contemporary Extension Work."

Peters' point, that Extension can be and used to be and should more often be about more than transferring technical information to clientele, was underscored by several other articles in that issue. And it's also underscored by one of the two excellent Commentaries in this month's issue, Kathleen Dodge Kelsey's "What Is Old Is New Again: Cooperative Extension's Role in Democracy Building Through Civic Engagement."

Preparing for the Worst

The first two Tools of the Trade articles this month allude to the events of September 11 and discuss how to prepare for crises and disasters. The author of "Working at Home When You Have No Choice: Personal Experiences and Advice" shares some tips on how to deal with not being able to reach your office--for whatever reason. The authors of "Sound Internal Communication Is Crucial in a Crisis Situation" quote from the speakers at a recent workshop, "Crisis Communications After 9/11," and discuss the importance of a workplace crisis response plan. There's valuable advice in both.

I could go on about the August issue, but I've run out of space and time. The Contents page indicates just how rich it is.

Laura Hoelscher, Editor
joe-ed@joe.org