The Drum Beat – Issue 544 – Top 5s
May 31 2010
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This issue includes:
* TOP 5s BY RATING: learn what The CI network thinks is the most valuable content.
* Polio communication: NEW ARTICLES.
* TOP 5s BY VISITS: learn what The CI network is reading on The CI websites.
* In need? CAPACITY BUILDING: social and behaviour change communication.
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From The Communication Initiative Network – where communication and media are central to social and economic development.
Subscribe to The Drum Beat: http://www.comminit.com/en/user/register
Access this issue online at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_544.html
Drum Beat Subscribers: 45,627
Page Views across The CI website, since Jan 1 2010: 1,709,076
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One central principle of The Communication Initiative (CI) process is that it is you – the person accessing and utilising the knowledge on The CI websites – who decides what is most important, relevant, and valuable to you in your context and for your strategic priorities. What is required and valuable for someone working on community decision-making access for citizens in a barrio in Cali, Colombia is likely to be very different from that required by someone in a small organisation working on micro-economic development in rural Malawi or from that required by a policymaker/funder within a major bilateral agency in Europe.
However, there is an equally important principle: to draw some overall conclusions about the knowledge, ideas, and analysis that have the most overall value or «currency». There is a natural interest in and inherent need to hear what people in a community regard as the most valuable or the «best» to use.
Reconciling these two principles is difficult. They come from very different perspectives.
Related to the leading or «best» added-value knowledge, The CI strategy has revolved around two processes:
a) Building a «top knowledge» process through Page Ratings and Reviews submitted by CI network members, and
b) Complementing that process by highlighting the knowledge summaries most frequently accessed/visited by network members and others.
This issue of The Drum Beat focuses on those two processes and their collective and ever-changing results, with a focus on the Global CI website and our theme sites.
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RATE AND REVIEW KNOWLEDGE
For each page on The CI websites, you may submit 5-star ratings and comments in answer to the question, «How useful did you find the knowledge and contacts on this page to your work?»
We have received over 23,000 comments, along with over 60,000 page ratings, since opening the pages of The CI websites for review in late 2002. These ratings and reviews offer a representative field assessment of peer knowledge. Many of the comments indicate the value of programming experiences, impact data, etc., and make reference to whether the information is helpful or not in improving the quality of the reviewer’s work. For individual pages, the average rating is highlighted by stars, and the comments are visible at the bottom of each page.
You may rate and comment anonymously by clicking on the appropriate number of stars and by filling in the comment form along with the «Captcha» code at the bottom of the form. Or you may log in and comment as a registered network member, enabling other network members to know more about you and to potentially engage in conversations through The CI websites.
Each different CI WEBSITE (for example, Media Development Theme Site – http://www.comminit.com/en/mediadev.html) and each different KNOWLEDGE SECTION within each CI website (for example, the Evaluations section within the Polio Theme Site –http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/292/292%2C11) displays the TOP 5 PAGES BY PAGE REVIEW. The list will be different for each website and each section within a website. As you and others within the network rate and review the additional knowledge on the websites, the ratings will shift, and the Top 5 will shift accordingly.
TOP 5 PAGES by RATING
Each WEBSITE (for example, the Early Child Development Theme Site – http://www.comminit.com/en/earlychild.html) and each KNOWLEDGE SECTION within each website (for example, the Experiences section within the HIV/AIDS Theme Site –http://www.comminit.com/en/section5/347/347%2C10) lists the Top 5 pages, by rating, for that website or section in the lower left portion of the page.
The ratings are cumulative, so: The more ratings received for each page, the higher or lower that page will be within the Top 5s.
For example,
* The top-rated page within the Change Theories section of the HIV/AIDS Theme site – http://www.comminit.com/en/section5/347/347%2C25 – has had 73 rating/reviews and has an average rating of 4.14 stars.
* The top-rated page within the Planning Models Section of the Democracy and Governance Theme site has had 110 ratings/reviews and has an average rating of 4.77 stars.
And specifically,
* The summary of «Theatre for Development (TfD)» – http://www.comminit.com/en/node/201126 – has received 9 ratings, 5 reviews, and currently has a cumulative rating of 3.11 stars.
* The summary of the «Health Belief Model (Detailed)» –
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/27093 – has received 446 ratings, 94 comments, and currently has a cumulative rating of 4.26 stars.
* The summary of «Traditional vs. Participatory Planning» – http://www.comminit.com/en/node/201129 – has received 18 ratings, 2 reviews, and currently has a cumulative rating of 3.06 stars.
For the Top 5 Pages by Rating OVERALL for each CI website, see the lower left portion of the following pages:
Global CI: http://www.comminit.com/en/mainpage/36
Democracy and Governance: http://www.comminit.com/en/demandgov.html
Early Child Development: http://www.comminit.com/en/earlychild.html
Fragile Contexts and State Building: http://www.comminit.com/en/fragilecontexts.html
HIV/AIDS: http://www.comminit.com/en/hiv-aids.html
Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D): http://www.comminit.com/en/ict4d.html
Media Development: http://www.comminit.com/en/mediadev.html
Natural Resource Management (NRM): http://www.comminit.com/en/nrm.html
Polio: http://www.comminit.com/en/polio.html
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FOCUS ON POLIO COMMUNICATION
As part of its polio programme funded by USAID, The CI has recently coordinated the publication of a supplement in the Journal of Health Communication which focuses on health communication lessons from the polio experience.
The papers include:
* A Drop of Tension: http://www.comminit.com/en/node/316569/292
* Communication for Polio Eradication: Improving the Quality of Communication Programming Through Real-Time Monitoring and Evaluation: http://www.comminit.com/en/node/316573/292
* The Complexity of Social Mobilization in Health Communication: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Experiences in Polio Eradication:http://www.comminit.com/en/node/316576/292
* Using Data to Guide Action in Polio Health Communications: Experience from the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI):http://www.comminit.com/en/node/316577/292
* Polio Eradication Is Just Over the Horizon: The Challenges of Global Resource Mobilization: http://www.comminit.com/en/node/316581/292
* Health Communication: Polio Lessons: http://www.comminit.com/en/node/316570/292
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POLIO LESSONS DISCUSSION
CI’s Polio Communication Forum – http://groups.comminit.com/og/all?filter0=&op1=OR&filter1[]=292 – is hosting a discussion related to the Journal of Health Communication supplement Health Communication: Polio Lessons. We hope you can join us and some of the authors of the papers in a discussion which will start with the question «What, if anything, does the polio communication experience have to teach about health communication?» and then go where the conversation leads.
If you haven’t yet joined the forum, please take a minute to follow the link above and register. Once registered, you will be able to participate fully online and will be able to receive email updates (if you so choose) whenever someone makes a comment. If you have registered, we look forward to your contributions!
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Please VOTE in our NEW Polio Poll!
http://www.comminit.com/en/polio.html
Do you feel the polio experience has a lot to teach us about health communication?
VOTE and COMMENT at http://www.comminit.com/en/polio.html
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THE MOST VISITED CI KNOWLEDGE
If you see something of interest to you in an issue of The Drum Beat or one of the DB Click e-magazines, go to the more detailed summary on The CI website in order to read more about it! Each time you visit a page on The CI websites that is of interest to you, we count that someone (we won’t know WHO – no privacy issues here!) has visited that page, as well as how long you stayed on the page reading it, and when you «clicked» out of it.
By collecting this data, we are able to gather a good sense of what knowledge and interactive features are most interesting to you and what kinds of knowledge you might want us to focus on in the future.
TOP 5 PAGES by VISITS
Each CI WEBSITE (for example, the ICT4D Theme Site – http://www.comminit.com/en/ict4d.html) and each KNOWLEDGE SECTION within each website (for example, the Strategic Thinking section within the Democracy and Governance Theme Site –http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/348/348%2C23) lists the Top 5 pages, by «Most Visited», for that website or section in the lower right portion of the page.
Each Top 5 Most Visited listing reflects the past 6 months of network visits; they change periodically as one page surpasses another in number of network visits.
For example,
* The top visited page, overall, on the Early Child Development Theme Site – http://www.comminit.com/en/earlychild.html – has been viewed 5,551 times in the past 6 months (data retrieved May 26 2010).
* The top visited page within the Evaluations section of the Media Development Theme Site – http://www.comminit.com/en/mediadev.html -has been viewed 3,071 times in the past 6 months (data retrieved May 26 2010).
And specifically (at the risk of reinforcing these as the top pages!),
* The summary of «Shannon and Weaver’s Communication Model» is currently the top-visited page within the Planning Models section on the Global CI website – http://www.comminit.com/en/section5/36/36%2C12 – with 9,881 visits in the past 6 months.
* The summary of «Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freiri – an Analysis» is currently the top-visited page within the Change Theories section on the Democracy and Governance Theme site – http://www.comminit.com/en/section5/348/348%2C25 – with 12,680 visits in the past 6 months.
* The summary of «Rapid Outcome Mapping Approach (ROMA)» is currently the top-visited page within the Evaluations section of the Fragile Contexts and State Building Theme site – http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/3083/3083%2C11 – with 259 visits in the past 6 months.
For the Top 5 Pages by Visits OVERALL for each CI website within the past 6 months, see the lower right portion of the following pages:
Global CI: http://www.comminit.com/en/mainpage/36
Democracy and Governance: http://www.comminit.com/en/demandgov.html
Early Child Development: http://www.comminit.com/en/earlychild.html
Fragile Contexts and State Building: http://www.comminit.com/en/fragilecontexts.html
HIV/AIDS: http://www.comminit.com/en/hiv-aids.html
ICT4D: http://www.comminit.com/en/ict4d.html
Media Development: http://www.comminit.com/en/mediadev.html
NRM: http://www.comminit.com/en/nrm.html
Polio: http://www.comminit.com/en/polio.html
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We encourage you to monitor the Top 5 pages by Rating and by Visits in order to gain a picture of what The CI network is currently finding the «best» and most added-value knowledge, for its specific contexts.
We also encourage you to further engage in peer review of the information summarised on The CI website. Is the project, publication, article you are reading about helpful to you in your work? Do you agree with its assumptions and conclusions? Let us and the other members of The CI network know by rating and reviewing each page you visit.
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SBCC SUPPORT AND STRENGTHENING
Looking for support or capacity building in your social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) efforts related to HIV/AIDS, family planning, and malaria? Check out C-Change Picks at http://www.comminit.com/en/cchangepicks.html
where you can also access the C-Change Capacity Strengthening Online
Resource Center (CSORC) at http://www.comminit.com/en/cchange_capacity.html
To subscribe to the C-Change Picks e-magazine and receive updates on case
studies, evaluations, and resources that will support your SBCC programming and planning, send an email to cchange@comminit.com
To subscribe to the C-Change ORC e-magazine and receive updates on SBCC
capacity strengthening tools and materials, send an email to
cchangeorc@comminit.com
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This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Deborah Heimann.
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The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – ANDI, BBC World Service Trust, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Calandria, CFSC Consortium, CIDA, DFID, FAO, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano, Ford Foundation, Healthlink Worldwide, Inter-American Development Bank, International Institute for Communication and Development, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, PAHO, The Panos Institute, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, WHO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za
Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com
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The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries.
Please send material for The Drum Beat to The CI’s Editorial Director – Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
To reproduce any portion of The Drum Beat, see http://www.comminit.com/en/editorialpolicy/global for our policy.
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