Reader response to the electronic version of the Record has been favorable. Seven out of eight people opting out of receiving the print Record reported doing so because they prefer the electronic version.
Earlier this academic year, the Office of Public Affairs began sending twice-weekly e-mail versions of the on-campus newspaper to the University community. The Record Monday and Record Thursday e-mails are sent to more than 25,000 people, including faculty, staff and students.
The electronic Record offers an environmentally friendly option with full-color, searchable content and links to Web sites throughout the University.
Reader rates of opening the e-mail version are encouraging and rank positively for e-newsletter readership rates.
Recent statistics show that 34 percent of faculty and staff open the e-mails, while 24 percent of students open them. The e-mail Record has an overall open rate of 29 percent, placing it well within the 20 percent to 40 percent average open rate for electronic communications, according to Campaign Monitor, a marketing firm that manages e-mail campaigns.
Each of the e-mails averages more than 29,000 page views per month.
The print version of the Record is published every Thursday during the school year, except during class breaks, and monthly during the summer. Content from the print edition is divided between the Record Monday and Record Thursday e-mails.
Although the e-mail version displays differently on different computer monitors depending on screen resolution, the two weekly e-mails contain the complete print version. A navigation bar along the top of the home page takes visitors to separate pages for news from the School of Medicine, the Calendar listing of campus events, Notables, Campus Watch and Sports.
In addition, the e-mails often include articles not found in the print Record, announcements and breaking news.
The online Web version of the Record is available to anyone at any time at record.wustl.edu. The home page is updated to coincide with the e-mail distribution of the Record.
The Web Record is archived back to 1995 so readers easily can search for any information they might have missed in past issues. Links on the site provide access to other Web sites, including those that contain video footage related to news stories.
To unsubscribe from the print Record and receive only the e-mail version, visit record.wustl.edu/unsubscribe.