ayubi understanding the marketplace, part two

From Print Book to

Writing Platform

American Psychological Association ǀ www.apastyle.org/asc

Developing an Innovative Educational Solution for the 21st Century Student

NISO Webinar on Creating the New Information Product Emily L. Ayubi

March 15, 2017

From Print Book to Writing Platform

APA Style CENTRAL® ǀ www.apastyle.org/asc

Market Demands


Why did we transform the print product?

• The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association®

is written for researchers submitting

manuscripts for professional publication.

• Buyers of the print Publication Manual have been requesting an electronic version of the book for many years.

• New technologies are profoundly transforming research, instruction, and learning on university and college

campuses (e.g., use of learning management systems).

• A growing trend of reduced spending on course materials by students.

• Need for a comprehensive, authoritative educational product to help prepare students to conduct sound

research, write scholarly papers in APA Style, and prepare them for their careers.

• Most common questions and challenges: in-text citations and references, bias-free language, plagiarism,

copyright, paper formatting, basic research and writing skills, and grammar.

Market Demands


How do we reach our users?

• For many years, APA Style Experts assisted with style queries over the phone.

• Style Expert email (200–300/mo; answered 20,000 emails to date).

• Launched the APA Style blog with the release of the 6th edition of the Publication Manual in 2009. Since then,

we’ve had more than 1.5 million visitors.

• Feedback form on apastyle.org

• APA Style Facebook and Twitter accounts in 2010, followed by Google+ in 2012.

• Added APA Style CENTRAL Twitter account in 2016.

• Conducted surveys, focus groups, interviews, presentations, workflow studies, and alpha/beta testing.

• Consulted with Library Advisory Council.

Market Demands


Market Demands

I am looking for APA Style

templates to facilitate

document creation. I need

papers that will be formatted

correctly, allowing the author

to concentrate solely on

content.

I'm a librarian and

would like to know

if you have an

instructional program

for learning APA Style.

Are there any plans for an

online version of the

Publication Manual? An

institutional license would be

fantastic. Please consider

creating an ebook or web-

based version of the manual.


What is APA Style CENTRAL®?

• Web-based application that facilitates learning and empowers users to become better researchers, writers, and

scholars.

• Designed for undergraduate and graduate students and their instructors and librarians.

• 24/7 educational mentor with an emphasis on learning reinforcement and retention.

• Facilitates collaborative writing and research.

• Encourages students to develop critical thinking and scholarly writing skills and take ownership of their work.

• Provides an authoritative suite of expert instructional resources.

• Integrates with learning management systems.

• Everything a student needs all in one easy-to-navigate and easy-to-use online space.

Market Demands



Market Strategy


What is our initial market strategy?

• Introduced APA Style CENTRAL® as an institutional solution.

• Pricing model: annual subscription, tiered based on FTE.

• Customers are familiar with our FTE-based tiered pricing subscription model.

• Internal APA systems are aligned with the institutional subscription model.

• Existing relationships with database customers.

Market Strategy


Who is purchasing it?

• Librarians

• Library consortia

• Academic administrators (e.g., deans, provosts)

Market Strategy



Market Adoption


What types of institutions are licensing it?

Market Adoption

• Members of consortia

• Research institutions

• Liberal arts colleges

• Online institutions

• Specialized institutions

• International institutions


Who is using it?

• Anyone teaching and/or writing in APA Style®

across the social and behavioral sciences, nursing,

education, business, and beyond.

• Undergraduate students

• Graduate students

• Faculty members (research and writing)

• Writing center staff

• Instructors in freshman composition programs

• Librarians engaged in student instruction about writing and writing styles

• Researchers

Market Adoption


Product Usage


What are our customers saying?

Market Adoption

“Students were struggling, and then came APA Style CENTRAL.”

“Faculty and students love it!”

“We don’t want students to start a paper anywhere else.”

“It really worked well instructionally.”

“This goes way beyond a citation style manual.”

“I wish I had this when I was in school.”

“I got an A on my paper!”


Market Reception: Social Media



Next Steps


What happens next?

• More market research and outreach.

• Product data collection to refine and expand content, tools, and functionality.

• Continue community development with librarians, faculty, and students.

Continuous Improvement


We follow academic libraries, writing centers, and publishers. If we are not following you, let us know!

Product information: www.apastyle.org/asc

APA Style feedback form: http://forms.apa.org/apastyle/

Need APA Style help?: [email protected]

Google.com/+APAStyle

blog.apastyle.org

Facebook.com/APAStyle

Twitter.com/APA_Style and Twitter.com/APAStyleCENTRAL

http://www.apastyle.org/asc

http://forms.apa.org/apastyle/

mailto:[email protected]