NCJ Number
87938
Date Published
1981
Length
226 pages
Annotation
The survey found high levels of satisfaction with the quality of data disseminated, with the Summer program, technical assistance, consultation services, and the computer conference, while suggestions for improvement are offered for enlarging the data collection and advertising services.
Abstract
The major activities of the Criminal Justice Archive and Information Network (CJAIN) are acquiring, processing, and disseminating machine-readable criminal justice data; providing consultation on substantive and technical issues related to data use; conducting seminars and workshops to train criminal justice researchers; and facilitating communication among members of the criminal justice community by maintaining a computerized conference network. The users survey evaluated levels of user satisfaction with CJAIN resources and services and solicited proposals for ways to improve the delivery of services and resources to users. Data from the archive are being used by government researchers and administrators as well as by academic researchers and instructors, suggesting that the data are valuable to the academic community and to policymakers alike. The quality of the data is rated 'very good' or 'good' by 83 percent to 93 percent of the users, and participants report high levels of satisfaction with the summer program, as 82 percent said they would 'strongly' recommend the program to colleagues. Of those users receiving technical assistance or consultation from archive staff, 90-100 percent rated the services 'very good' or 'good.' Improvements most often suggested were in the areas of enlarging the criminal justice data collection and increasing the levels of advertising information about the availability of data and services. A list of proposed changes follows the detailed report of the survey findings. Tabular data are provided. (Author summary modified)