To determine whether the introduction of the new technology has affected the organization positively, this study must look into the objectives for which the technology was implemented.
The first objective of POLISCY in implementing a mailing list was to provide a means by which the officers of the organization can disseminate information concerning activities to its members. Alongside this objective is to give the members of the organization the opportunity to give feedback to the officers of the organization concerning the announcements or other related issues. Second, the implementations of the mailing list aims to create a medium by which members can discuss ideas and issues related to the organization. Because POLISCY was a non-profit organization with a limited source of funds, their primary concern in looking for an answer to their needs is the cost of the new technology.
After having seen the objectives the organization has set to for implementing the technology, it is important to find out whether or not the new technology is capable of accomplishing the objectives of the organization.
Living Internet (http://www.livinginternet.com/l/lp.html) tells us that mailing lists provide users a "one-to-many" capability. (Last accessed July 16, 2001). This tells us that the mailing list is capable of disseminating information from one person to all other persons included in the list. Translating it to more operational terms, this means that an officer can make announcements on behalf of the organization concerning activities of POLISCY. This characteristic of the technology also allows the members of POLISCY to ask the officers questions or make comments on the announcement that has been made. It also allows members of the list to view what other people have been discussing, and to respond to the discussion that is going on.
Informundi (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ajra/) tells us that communicating via mailing lists is mostly free, especially for web-based lists. (Last accessed July 15, 2001). This fulfills the organization's need for a solution that is inexpensive.
Knowing that on the technical side, the technology is capable of accomplishing the objectives of the organization, the study looks into the characteristics of the organization and its members that may affect the efficiency of this technology in helping in the operations of the organization. This study will look into the degree or extent to which the members are connected to the Internet and e-mail servers, the number of people participating in the mailing list, the members' frequency of checking their e-mail, as well as the familiarity with and comfort in using the technology, and the content of the messages distributed.
This study looks into how much of the members of the organization have available access to the Internet. This would give us information as to how many members of the organization can be reached by this technology. The more people connected to the Internet makes the technology a more efficient means of communication. The number of people on the list will tell us the actual number of members who receive the e-mail sent by the officers or by other members of the organization. Determining how often the members check their e-mail determines how soon members receive messages sent to the list. The more frequent users check their e-mail, the more chances that the announcements are read at once, the more efficient the technology.
The factors mentioned above help us determine how potent a medium the mailing list is in disseminating information among members of the organization. However, the second objective of the organization for setting up the mailing list, which is to have a venue for interaction among members, requires that members not only be connected to the Internet but that members be familiar and comfortable with the technology.
Familiarity with the technology affects how willing the members of the organization are to use the technology, and will also show us if the members are capable of participating in the interaction that takes place. However, being familiar with the technology does not entail that the members are comfortable with the form of interchange. If the members are not comfortable with using the technology, then this may restrict the flow of discussion, and render the technology incompatible with the objectives of the organization in implementing it.
Ultimately, the study can only determine the success of the mailing list if the users indeed communicate with one another on issues related to the organization. The list was set up to communicate information and generate interaction among members on matters related to the organization and its concerns. If bulk of the messages on the list do not fulfill this requirement then it renders the list useless in creating interaction that would benefit the organization.
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