As the administrator of DM&E for Peace, Search for Common Ground is often asked which resources are being accessed the most. After all, there are so many different resources on the website – where does one even start?
The answer, of course, depends on what you are looking for – which is why we created an extensive taxonomy in the Learn section: pick a category that matches what you are looking for and voila: resources! You can also search for resources using key words.
And don’t forget, registered users can bookmark resources to your account so that you can easily access them regardless of which computer you are using! Simply click the orange “Add to Bookmarks” button on each resource page and you’ll be able to easily access that resource again by clicking on Bookmarks at the top of any page.
But what we’ve noticed is that there is rarely a common theme to what our users are looking for: such a wide range of resources are being accessed that it is difficult to make generalizations on the type of resource or content.
For example, more than 700 resources have been downloaded more than 14,000 times from the website since we first launched in November 2011 (each resource page—the resource number you see on the front page—may have more than one document attached to it). Clearly there is a thirst to learn.
But, there are certain resources that have been accessed more than others. This sheds light on the areas where our visitors want more information, but is not necessarily representative of the peacebuilding field. Nevertheless, the information is revealing. Presented below are the top 15 downloaded resources.
As our resource library continues to grow, what would you find useful to help you locate the information you need? For example, key resource lists or in-depth or exploratory blog posts, including key resources for that topic? Which topics are you most interested in?
The more we know about your needs, the more useful we can make the website. This is, after all, for the community of peacebuilding.