2003 Annual Reports
Webmaster's Report
Betsey Brada, SMA Webmaster
webmaster@medanthro.net
The website for the Society for Medical Anthropology is www.medanthro.net. We began planning the site in January 2002, and launched it publicly in early October 2002 by sending announcements to SMA members and to other distribution lists and websites that focus on social science and health. The site’s major components are:
- Academic Resources: syllabi, special topics, tools, journals, organizations, etc.;
- Interest Groups: resources, activity listings, and membership information;
- Job Postings: academic teaching, academic research, government, practicing anthropology, international jobs, and other useful tools & tips;
- Funding: sources and grant-writing tips for researchers and scholars at all stages;
- News&Views: conferences, calls for papers, collaboration, announcements, etc.;
- In Print: articles by SMA members, book chapters, new books, theses & dissertations;
- Discussion Forums;
- Newsletter.
Site Traffic
Between October 1, 2002 and October 1, 2003, we received 113,655 visitors, with a monthly average of 10,168. We’ve seen an average of 310 visitors per day, and the average visitor looks at 3.75 pages and stays just under 3 minutes.
The site’s popularity and usefulness have been growing. We had about 6000 visitors in our first month, October 2002, and steadily increased to 10,000 per month in March and April of 2003. We declined to about 8500 visitors per month during May and June of 2003, hovered between 9000 and 10,000 in July and August, and shot to more than 18,000 for September and more than 19,000 for last month (October 2003).
The pages visited most frequently are the front page, the main page of Academic Resources section, the main page of the Jobs section, the main page of Special Interest Groups section, the main page of the Medical Anthropology Quarterly section, and the page displaying the Take a Stand forum members. Academic Resources is the most popular section, followed by the forum, Jobs, Special Interest Groups, Take a Stand, and Funding.
What's Next?
- Develop an email-based moderated discussion list for SMA members with H-NET;
- Expand topical resources, including sections on social capital, structural adjustment, and civil society, and critical studies of NGOs;
- Encourage further adoption of topical resources by respective study
groups;
Build database of films relevant to medical anthropologists and other health social scientists; - Foster institutional memory: past SMA Board members, past MAQ editors, documentation of website procedures, etc.;
- Solicit photographs and build an SMA photo archive;
- Encourage member contributions: syllabi, useful sites, job postings, etc.