[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 34 (Friday, February 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7974-7975]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3713]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Evaluation of User 
Satisfaction With NIH Internet Sites

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to 
review and approve the information collection listed below. The 
proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal 
Register on October 28, 2003, in Volume 68, No. 208, pages 61452-61453, 
and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were 
received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days 
for public comment. The NIH may not conduct or sponsor, and the 
respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection 
that has been extended, revised, or implemented after October 1, 1995, 
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
    Proposed Collection: Title: Evaluation of User Satisfaction with 
NIH Internet Sites.
    Type of Information Collection Request: New.
    Need and Use of Information Collection: Executive Order 12862 
directs agencies that provide significant services directly to the 
public to survey customers to determine the kind and quality of 
services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing 
services. With this submission, the NIH, Office of Communications and 
Public Liaison, seeks to obtain OMB's generic approval to conduct 
customer satisfaction surveys. Since the late 1980's, the NIH has 
seized the opportunity to disseminate information and materials via the 
Internet. Today, rapid technological changes of the WWW warrant on-
going constituent and resource analysis. With survey information, the 
NIH is enabled to serve, and respond to, the ever-changing demand by 
the public. The `public' includes individuals (such as patients, 
educators, students, etc.) and interested communities (such as national 
or local organizations/institutions) and business. Survey information 
will augment current Web content, delivery, and design research that is 
used to understand the Web user, and more specifically, the NIH user 
community. Primary objectives are to: (1) Classify NIH Internet users; 
(2) summarize and better understand customer needs; and (3) quantify 
the effectiveness/efficiency of current tools and delivery. Overall, 
the Institutes, Centers, and Offices of the NIH will use the survey 
results to identify strengths and weaknesses in current Internet 
strategies. Findings will help to (1) understand user community and how 
to better serve Internet users; (2) discover areas requiring 
improvement in either content or delivery; (3) realize how to align Web 
offerings with identified user need(s); and (4) explore methods to 
offer and deliver information with efficacy and equity. Frequency of 
Response: On occasion [As needed on an on-going and potentially 
concurrent basis (by Institute, Center, or Office)]. Affected Public: 
Users of the Internet. Primarily, this is an individual at their 
place(s) of access including, but not limited to, home or/and work 
environments. Type of Respondents: Public users of the NIH Internet 
site, www.nih.gov, which may include organizations, medical 
researchers, physicians and other health

[[Page 7975]]

care providers, librarians, students, as well as individuals of the 
general public. Estimated Number of Respondents: 104,000. Number of 
Respondents Per Respondent: 1. Average Burden Hours Per Response: 
0.084. Burden Hours Requested: 8684. Total annualized cost to 
respondents is estimated at $130,260. There are also no capital costs, 
operating costs and/or maintenance costs to report.

                    Survey Title: Web Customer Satisfaction Survey, Annual Reporting Burden*
             [Web-based; Required for Federal Register requests under PRA, Paperwork Reduction Act.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                Avg. burden per
                Survey area                     Number of       Frequency of        response       Burden hours
                                               respondents        response          (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NIH Organization-wide (1 entity).......            4,000  ................  ...............              334
                                            ------------------
Overall customer satisfaction..............            2,000                1           0.1002               200
Specific indicator: Top-level/Entry pages..            1,000                1           0.0668                67
Specific indicator: Tools and initiatives..            1,000                1           0.0668                67
                                            ==================
    Individual Institute/Office............          100,000  ................  ...............            8,350
                                            ------------------
Overall customer satisfaction..............           50,000                1           0.1002             5,010
Specific indicator: Top-level/Entry pages..           25,000                1           0.0668             1,670
Specific indicator: Tools and initiatives..           25,000                1           0.0668             1,670
                                            ==================
      Total................................          104,000  ................          0.084              8,684
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Request for Comments: Written comments and/or suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies are invited on one or more of the 
following points: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the function of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) The 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used; (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on those who are to 
respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information on 
the proposed collection of information contact:
    Dennis Rodrigues, NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison, 
9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg. 31, Rm. 2B03, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2094, 
or call non toll-free at (301) 435-2932. You may also e-mail your 
request to [email protected].
    Comments Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection 
are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days 
of the date of this publication.

    Dated: January 5, 2004.
John Burklow,
Associate Director for Communications, Office of the Director, National 
Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 04-3713 Filed 2-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P