New NCDDR Product
Dissemination Self Inventory

The NCDDR has produced a new resource for NIDRR grantees that are interested in assessing dissemination activities and identifying a starting point in improving overall dissemination strategies. The current inventory represents the first in a series of three. The first self-inventory is based on the scholarly literature concerning dissemination, knowledge utilization, and the change process. The second version of this self-inventory (scheduled for completion in 1998) will include best practice examples taken from business and industry public relations and marketing efforts. The third version of this self-inventory will combine the two previous areas with best practices taken from public relations and marketing firms specializing in outreach to minority Americans. The combination of these three major dissemination tracks in one instrument should create a helpful tool for NIDRR grantees.

The NCDDR staff believe that no matter how good a dissemination effort may be, it can always be improved. This is the spirit with which the self-inventory was developed. It is designed to provide assistance in analyzing relative strengths and weaknesses of current, actual dissemination efforts.

As a self-inventory, the instrument can be used by the Principal Investigator alone or by all staff working on a project. This flexibility adds to the potential power of the inventory in identifying clear areas in which actions may be appropriate and beneficially undertaken. The self-inventory is designed to allow the respondent to chart results and as a consequence, identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of your project's efforts in dissemination. The 54-item self-inventory uses the areas shown to be critically linked to the effectiveness of dissemination activities. The major categories of dissemination-related inventory items are:

• User group (or target audience)-actual and potential users of the information that is disseminated;
• Information source-the developer and disseminator of the information;
• Content of message-new information along with any supporting information or resources;
• Medium of the message-the ways in which the information is described, "packaged," and transmitted; and
• Contextual consideration for implementation-the environmental, personal, financial, and other supports needed to use the information.

References and other resources to assist grantees in addressing or understanding categories of the self-inventory are included. A total of 78 citations are included in the references section of the self-inventory. These are divided into the major categories identified above and, in addition, a general references section is included.

An electronic copy of the NCDDR Dissemination Self-Inventory is available:
HTML: http://www.ncddr.org/du/products/disseminv/index.html
PDF: http://www.ncddr.org/du/products/disseminv/selfinventory.pdf

Alternate formats and additional copies may be requested from the NCDDR.

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NIDRR Project Number: H133A990008
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