Below is the site's 1999 Impact Statement, including information under the following headings:

Situation--Brief descriptions of evaluative data and promotional activities

Impacts Achieved

• Comment by Governor Jim Geringer

• Most popular pages
• Use of the site
• Number of Visits
• Number of Visitors

Use and Evaluation by University of Wyoming Extension FCS Educators

• Frequency of use
• Purpose
• Quality of site information

SITUATION

A work group* composed of county- and state-based UW CES educators is responsible for maintaining and expanding the UW Extension Food and Nutrition Web site at <http://west.uwyo.edu/food>. The following are key points related to the site's use in 1999:

• Activity data: From December 1998 through August 1999, special Web server software collected and compiled monthly data related to the site's activity.
• Site feedback: Visitors to the site have been submitting feedback since October 1998.
• Promotion: In April 1999, the work group developed Rolodex cards with the site's address and provided a supply to UW Extension FCS educators to use to promote the Web site, their food and nutrition programs, and UW CES in general. The cards have been distributed in a range of settings and to a wide variety of audiences, including health, P.E. and FCS teachers; Cent$ible Nutrition Program clients and advisory councils; youth and senior interagency councils; Eldercare workshops; Team Nutrition cooks and team members; public library clientele; ServSafe participants; 4-H leaders; public health and UW Family Practice Center clientele; PATCH coalitions; national professional meetings; and college nutrition classes.
• Year-end survey: In September 1999, a survey was sent to the 24 UW Extension FCS educators and FCS contacts eliciting information about their use and assessment of the quality of the site. A total of 16 surveys were returned (67% response rate).

Governor Jim Geringer: I found the Food and Nutrition Web site to be very informative.

Activity

• Popular pages: By far the most popular page visited was Food Composition/Analysis. (At this site, visitors can enter individual foods or meals for a day to get a detailed analysis of nutritional content.) Other popular pages were Food and Nutrition Publications, Diet and Disease, Food Preservation, Dietary Guidance, and Food Preparation.

 
• Use of the site over the nine-month period has steadily increased, evidenced by the monthly data on visits (number of times people accessed the site) and visitors (number of different people who accessed the site):

Visits have doubled, from 296 (December 1998) to 599 (August 1999). The total number of visits was 4,095. (Note: In April 1999, the Rolodex cards with the site's address were given to UW Extension FCS educators to distribute. This time period corresponds to the highest number of visits.)

Visitors have more than doubled, from 181 (December 1998) to 380 (August 1999). The total number of visitors was 2,492. (Note: In April 1999, the Rolodex cards with the site's address were given to UW Extension FCS educators to distribute. This time period corresponds to a peak in visitors.)

• Visitors sent a total of 30 feedback messages; 24 reflected praise and positive feedback about the site, and six represented suggestions or requests for additional information. Examples of positive feedback include the following:
• The information I found useful is] emergency preparedness. It injected a common sense approach to the Y2K hype. (Consulting dietitian)
• [What I found useful is] the good schedule of events [for Wyoming Food Safety Coalition trainings] that we are doing...Lookin' GOOD. (Wyoming Dept. of Ag health inspector)
• I LIKE this web site and use it often! Keep up the good work! (UW FCS educator)

• Frequency of use: In terms of use by respondents (with 6% not answering this question),
• 31% said "several times a week"
• 44% said "several times a month"
• 13% said "rarely or never"
• 6% said "other frequency: occasionally."

• Purpose: In terms of respondents' purpose in accessing the Web site,
• 81% said "answer client questions"
• 81% said "locate resources"
• 44% said "research information for a program, project, or activity"
• 44% said "keep updated"
• 13% said "access UW newsletters."

• Quality: In terms of respondents' ratings of the quality of the Web site's information,
• 69% said "Excellent"
• 31% said "Good."

*UW Food and Nutrition Extension Web-site Work Group: Randy Anderson, Bonnie Ellenwood, Chris Pasley, Suzy Pelican (chair), Debbie Popp, Nina Romero-Caron, and Rhonda Shipp.
 

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