Questionnaire on VERBUM SVD

Through this questionnaire we want to better understand our readers and their reading preferences as well as receive suggestions to improve the service VERBUM SVD wants to offer.

Please put your answers or ticks in the appropriate fields in the table. Feel free to comment.

Personal information

Province
Country

Working area (please tick the relevant field):

Teaching, research
Missiology, mission awareness
Parish, pastoral care
Studying, formation (initial, higher education)
Special pastoral ministries (chaplaincy, counselling, etc.)
Other (please indicate)

Fields of interest (please tick the relevant field):

Anthropology
Theology
Bible
History
Sociology
Communication
Other (please indicate)

Regarding VERBUM SVD:

Since when have you known VERBUM SVD (year)
You read VERBUM SVD / regularly
always
occasionally
rarely
When VERBUM SVD arrives, you read it / soon
immediately
later
You read / always all the articles
the interesting articles only
You always read / the entire article
specially the abstract
as long as you stay interested
VERBUM SVD is kept in your community / house library / yes / no
Back issues of VERBUM SVD are accessible / yes / no

Uses of VERBUM SVD (please tick the relevant field):

Personal on-going formation
Basis for communitarian on-going formation
Basis for courses, lectures
Interest
Material for your work (Bible, liturgy, inspiration for your mission)

Valuation:

I consider important in VERBUM SVD:
VERBUM SVD’s strong sides:

Presentation of topics (yes / no; feel free to comment):

Each issue of VERBUM SVD should preferably be monographic, concentrated around a central topic
Each issue should carry a variety of topics / themes

Suggestions:

What topics should be addressed in VERBUM SVD?
Would you want to read on conferences, meetings etc.?
Others

Footnotes (yes / no)

Extensive footnotes with bibliographical information are important to you
– are not that necessary
– are helpful to follow up on a topic
– are of no importance, since I can’t control the information
– are of little importance, since I can’t get the referred titles
– should be kept as they are

Book reviews:

Are book reviews important for you? (yes / no)
Do you order / buy books after reading reviews?
In VERBUM SVD there are / sufficient reviews
too many reviews
too few reviews
What kind of books or other material should be reviewed?
Should reviews summarise the content or rather stress a critical perspective on the content?

Appearance: At the moment, VERBUM SVD is published in four issues a year with around 450 pages.

Four issues a year is good, since ...
Double issues are welcome, since …
Do you use the VERBUM SVD website?
Do you use the Verbum SVD archive on the SVD Generalate’s website?
Do you read journals like VERBUM SVD online?
How would you imagine a more prominent presence on the internet for VERBUM SVD?

Languages in VERBUM SVD:

What languages are important for you? / English
Spanish
German
Indonesian
In what languages do you read articles? / mostly in my own language
in other languages
Abstracts / you read them always
in Indonesian would be desirable

Level of language:

Normally, the language is / easy to understand
hard to understand
Do you have suggestions for change or improvement?

Articles:

Length of articles / I prefer longer articles
I prefer shorter articles

Interest in VERBUM SVD:

Who or what institutions could be interested in a subscription to VERBUM SVD:
Could you get us in touch with these persons / institutions?
Could you promote a subscription?
Further comments

Please mail the questionnaire (and further comments) to: mailto: — Steyler Missionswissenschaftliches Institut, Arnold Janssen Str. 24, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany.

Thank you very much!