The solutions to all our problems may be buried in PDFs

[NobleSavage]

... The World Bank recently decided to ask an important question: Is anyone actually reading these things? They dug into their Web site traffic data and came to the following conclusions: Nearly one-third of their PDF reports had never been downloaded, not even once. Another 40 percent of their reports had been downloaded fewer than 100 times. Only 13 percent had seen more than 250 downloads in their lifetimes. Since most World Bank reports have a stated objective of informing public debate or government policy, this seems like a pretty lousy track record.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2014/05/pdfs.jpg

 

[Loren Pechtel]

But is that the only distribution mechanism?

 

[NobleSavage]

But is that the only distribution mechanism?

I put up the wrong link to the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...lems-may-be-buried-in-pdfs-that-nobody-reads/

Moreover, downloads aren't the be-all and end-all of information dissemination; many of these reports probably get some distribution by e-mail, or are printed and handed out at conferences. Still, it's fair to assume that many big-idea reports with lofty goals to elevate the public discourse never get read by anyone other than the report writer and maybe an editor or two.

 

[rousseau]

So who are the people who are supposed to be downloading these articles to inform public debate? Citizens?

The result doesn't surprise me at all, given the level of influence a single individual has over government and policy-making you can't expect them to spend their time seeking out policy-making research. On the other hand, useful statistical information like this is littered all over the internet, and if you're pro-active enough you can learn a lot about a lot of things.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

So who are the people who are supposed to be downloading these articles to inform public debate? Citizens?

The result doesn't surprise me at all, given the level of influence a single individual has over government and policy-making you can't expect them to spend their time seeking out policy-making research. On the other hand, useful statistical information like this is littered all over the internet, and if you're pro-active enough you can learn a lot about a lot of things.

It also occurs to me--are the reports visible to the googlebot? If not, they would likely be missed.

 

[funinspace]

I've probably downloaded one of their PDF's before, on financial matters. Now how many have downloaded the PDF report on how few download reports

So who are the people who are supposed to be downloading these articles to inform public debate? Citizens?

The result doesn't surprise me at all, given the level of influence a single individual has over government and policy-making you can't expect them to spend their time seeking out policy-making research. On the other hand, useful statistical information like this is littered all over the internet, and if you're pro-active enough you can learn a lot about a lot of things.

It also occurs to me--are the reports visible to the googlebot? If not, they would likely be missed.

Wow...what a hard question to figure out...Google works just fine on the World Bank:
https://www.google.com/#q=International+Debt+Statistics+

 

[doubtingt]

I've probably downloaded one of their PDF's before, on financial matters. Now how many have downloaded the PDF report on how few download reports

So who are the people who are supposed to be downloading these articles to inform public debate? Citizens?

The result doesn't surprise me at all, given the level of influence a single individual has over government and policy-making you can't expect them to spend their time seeking out policy-making research. On the other hand, useful statistical information like this is littered all over the internet, and if you're pro-active enough you can learn a lot about a lot of things.

It also occurs to me--are the reports visible to the googlebot? If not, they would likely be missed.

Wow...what a hard question to figure out...Google works just fine on the World Bank:
https://www.google.com/#q=International+Debt+Statistics+

Some researcher should assess how often each report or its contents was mentioned in a media article and compare that to the downloads (noting that most journalists who actually read the report would have downloaded it). They would likely find that reports being widely reported on by countless media outlets have never been read by any of the journalists or writing about them or by economists who use them as evidence for their pseudo-science theories.