Hello AAS members, AAVSO needs your help!

Dear colleagues,

The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international non-profit organization that has been conducting citizen science in astronomy for more than 110 years. Our members include professional as well as amateur astronomers.  We are best known for our long-term record of variable star photometry and the skilled observers who are contributing to it, but we also have growing spectroscopic and exoplanet transit databases and other resources related to stellar variability.

We are surveying AAS members to find out whether you are aware of AAVSO resources and have used them, how AAVSO can better serve your research and teaching needs, and how AAVSO could be more useful to you and other astronomers.  

We hope you will take the time to respond to our questions.  The information you provide will guide our future services, so I am grateful to you for taking the time to respond.  As an extra incentive, we will hold a raffle for those who complete the survey by February 19.  Two respondents will be selected to receive $25 Amazon gift cards.  Information about how to enter appears at the end of the survey.

Many thanks for taking the time to respond to this survey.  We look forward to working with you!

Best wishes--clear skies,

Stella Kafka
AAVSO Chief Executive Officer
 
RESPONDENT CHARACTERISTICS

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* 1. Which of these describe you with respect to astronomy?  Please check all that apply.

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* 2. If you are a professional astronomer, what is your primary institutional affiliation?

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* 3. Do you currently teach classes in astronomy?

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* 4. What kinds of students are in the astronomy classes that you teach?  (Please check all that apply.)

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* 5. What is your age?

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* 6. What is your gender?

EXPERIENCE WITH AAVSO

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* 7. How familiar are you with the American Association of Variable Star Observers?

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* 8. Have you ever:

  Yes No Not sure
Been a member of AAVSO?
Recommended AAVSO membership to someone else?
Visited the AAVSO website?
Used an AAVSO database for research?
Used an AAVSO database with a class?
Contributed data to an AAVSO database?
Recommended an AAVSO database to someone else?
Worked with an AAVSO observer?
Recommended working with AAVSO observers to someone else?
Taught in an AAVSO CHOICE course?
Participated in an AAVSO CHOICE  course?
Presented in an AAVSO webinar?
Watched an AAVSO webinar?
Attended an AAVSO annual meeting?
Used AAVSO materials in a class?

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* 9. Have you ever asked AAVSO to initiate an alert or campaign for one of your research projects?  That is, have you ever asked  AAVSO observers to collect data for you?

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* 10. If so, how did that work out for you?  How could AAVSO have improved that experience for you?

JAAVSO.  AAVSO launched the Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (JAAVSO) in 1972 and publishes issues twice a year.  The journal is double-blind peer-reviewed and published articles are immediately accessible to all.

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* 11. How familiar are you with JAAVSO?

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* 12. Were you aware that JAAVSO is peer-reviewed?

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* 13. Have you ever:

  Yes No Not sure
Read an article published in JAAVSO?
Submitted an article to JAAVSO for publication?
Had an article published in JAAVSO?
Reviewed a manuscript submitted to JAAVSO?
Recommended an article in JAAVSO to a colleague or student?
Used a JAAVSO article in a class that you teach?
Had one of your students submit a manuscript to JAAVSO?
Encouraged someone to submit a manuscript to JAAVSO?

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* 14. What is your impression of the quality of articles published in JAAVSO?

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* 15. Please add any comments or suggestions relating to JAAVSO.

DATABASES.  AAVSO provides databases for numerous variables.  Use of these databases is generally available to the public.

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* 16. For each of these databases, please indicate whether you are aware of them and ways in which you have used them 

  Aware of database Used database for research Used database for a class Contributed data to database
Variable Star Index (VSX)
AAVSO International Database (AID)
AAVSO Solar Database
AAVSO Spectroscopic Database (AVSpec)
AAVSO Exoplanet Database

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* 17. If you have used AAVSO databases, how useful have they been to you?

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* 18. What is your opinion of the quality of the data AAVSO collects?

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* 19. Please provide any comments or suggestions related to AAVSO's data and databases.

TOOLS.  AAVSO has developed numerous tools for use by observers and data analysts

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* 20. For each of The following AAVSO tools, please indicate whether you are aware of it and whether you have used it.

  Aware of this AAVSO tool Have used this AAVSO tool
Data download tools
Light curve generator
VStar
Photometric analysis (VPhot)

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* 21. Please add comments about AAVSO's tools or suggestions about how to make them more useful to you.

SOCIAL MEDIA.  AAVSO uses social media extensively to communicate information about AAVSO activities and about astronomy in general.  We are interested in learning about social media sites AAS members access for astronomical information

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* 22. When was the last time that you accessed each of these social media services for astronomical information?

  Within last week Within six months Never
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube

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* 23. Which of the following AAVSO social media sites have you accessed in the last six months?  (Please check all that you have accessed.)

CITIZEN SCIENCE.  As an organization that has been conducting citizen science in astronomy for more than 110 years, AAVSO is interested in finding ways to enhance collaborations between professional and citizen/amateur astronomers.

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* 24. Have you ever:

  Yes No Not sure
Used data collected by a citizen/amateur (other than your own students) in your research?
Included a citizen/amateur (other than your own students) as a co-author on a paper?
Acknowledged the work of a citizen/amateur in a paper that you published?
Listed your work with or as a mentor to a citizen/amateur as an example of your service to the profession?
Cited work with a citizen science group in a grant proposal as an example of broader impacts of the proposed work?
Written a grant proposal that included a request for funding for a group that will provide data for your  project?

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* 25. Please comment on ways that AAVSO could enhance connections between your work and the work of citizen/amateur scientists who work in astronomy.

THANKS and RAFFLE

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* 26. Please enter your name and email address below if you would like to be entered in our raffle for two $25 Amazon gift cards.  You must respond by Friday, February 19, to be eligible for the raffle.

MANY THANKS FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP AAVSO ENHANCE ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU.

T