The National Obesity Observatory (NOO) has been producing a weekly Knowledge Update (KU) since June 2010 (http://www.noo.org.uk/NOO_pub/KU). It currently has 1,500 subscribers. Following one year of publication, NOO undertook a user survey to monitor usage of the KU, and identify possible areas for improvement. This short report summarises the key findings and resulting actions.

Key Findings:

• The survey was completed by a total of 175 respondents, spanning Primary Care Trusts (37.7%), Universities (22.9%), Local Authorities (7.4%), central or regional government (7.4%), Public Health Observatories (1.1%), commercial or other non government organisations (7.5%) and others (16%).
• The findings demonstrated an overwhelmingly positive response to the KU, with 88% of respondents classifying it as useful or very useful. This was supported by numerous comments commending and highlighting the value of the KU.
• The most popular sections of the KU were the: UK and Ireland studies, systematic reviews, and latest reports.
• Only around a third of subscribers felt it would be useful to further subcategorise the studies included in the KU.
• When asked about the current length and detail of the KU, 80% of respondents felt it is about the right length, and 91% felt that enough detail is currently provided.
• Two thirds of subscribers stated that it would be helpful if the references provided were stored in a searchable open access online citation database such as Mendeley (http://www.mendeley.com/) or Zotero (http://www.zotero.org/).
• A number of themes recurred in the suggestions for possible improvements, including:
  • Providing an editorial or summary of the literature referenced, highlighting key messages or findings from the included papers;
  • Improving access to the full text journal articles;
  • Listing papers on children and adults separately;
  • Using the KU to advertise obesity related jobs.

Actions:

• Short term actions include:
  1. Setting up an open access online citation database to store references from the KU.
  2. Providing further information about the KU, including advice about accessing full text papers. It is important to note that NOO has no control over individual journal access rights or subscriptions.
  3. Flagging publications listed within the KU that are available free of charge.
• Longer term actions include:
  1. Develop an advanced symbol and colour coding system to improve scan reading and facilitate prompt identification of adult and child papers.
  2. Assess the cost and feasibility of producing a weekly editorial to summarise key findings from the included references, with the aim of saving time and overcoming access issues reading individual papers.

Acknowledgement: The NOO team would like to thank everyone who participated in the survey for their useful comments and feedback. If you have any further questions or feedback please contact: info@noo.org.uk

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