State of the Site

home > essays > essay 19
State of the Site
By Andrew D. Carson, VocationalPsychology.com

I intend this to be a "rolling essay" on the State of the Site to be revised and added to over time. I will generally incorporate the latest visitor statistics, but I will also add in thoughts on the design of the site, user experience, citations of content on the cite, and so on that affect my thinking regarding future development of the site. I would value any comments from users on what they like (or dislike) about the site, any suggestions for its improvement, and so on. Where possible, I will incorporate your comments into subsequent revisions of this essay.

Visitors During 2006

Since the launch of VocationalPsychology.com in 2000, there has been a gradual increase in the yearly number of visitors. VocationalPsychology.com received 65,013 unique visitors in 2006, with an average of 181 unique visitors per day.

Visitors During 2007

NetFirms informs me that the site had 85,098 unique visitors in 2007, up 31% from the prior year. The site had an average of 237 unique visitors per day. Most visitors were from the United States (82%) or from other large English-speaking nations (with the UK, Canada, and Australia contributing another 15% of visitors).

Country	Percentage of Visitors during 2007
United States	82%
United Kingdom	7%
Canada	6%
Australia	2%
France	2%
Singapore	<1%
India	<1%
South Africa	<1%
China	<1%
Germany	<1%
Uraguay	<1%
Ireland	<1%
Sweden	<1%
Philippines	<1%
Korea, South	<1%
Japan	<1%
Norway	<1%

Citations of Site Content: May 2007

The site appears to be increasingly cited in other websites as well as in mainstream articles, theses, and scholarly books. I did a search on Google using the term "VocationalPsychology.com" (which the reader may also do) and found several pages of citations, including those presented here as URLs. Not surprisingly, most of the citations point to the Dictionary of Vocational Psychology, which constitutes at this time the bulk of content on the site. (Note to those wishing to reproduce a definition: you should request permission; the text is copyrighted.) Notes 1-10 were collected in May 2007. This is not the complete set of citations; I provide it only as a representative set of who seems to be citing what.

1. Christine Momberg's thesis at the University of Pretoria, in which she cited the terms "Interest" and "Vocational Psychology" from the Dictionary of Vocational Psychology on this site. See:
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-03172005-101139/unrestricted/00dissertation.pdf

2. Sloan Work and Family Research Network printed in full the definition "Life Stage" from the Dictionary of Vocational Psychology on this site. See: http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/glossary_entry.php?
term=Life%20Stage(s),%20Definition(s)%20
of&area=All

3. The definition for the term "Synchronicity" from the Dictionary of Vocational Psychology on this site gets cited variously, including in an extended discussion on the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq. See:http://answers.google.com/answers/
threadview?id=366451

4. Apparently, the term "Executive Processing" from the Dictionary of Vocational Psychology on this site was cited in a Russian neuropsychology site. See:
www.neuroscience.ru/index.php?Itemid=25&id=327&option=com_
content&task=view - 53k -

5. In a discussion of Holland's Vocational Personality Types, Stompy includes VocationalPsychology.com in a set of 5 general web-based references.

6. In an essay analyzing the Harry Potter stories in reference to the seven deadly sins, the author Jemlibris cites the essay on the 7 deadly sins at work on this site. See:
http://z4.invisionfree.com/thinkpotter/index.php?
act=Print&client=printer&f=38&t=537

7. A page on "Greed" links to the 7 deadly sins essay. See:
http://www.deplorers.com/Greed.html

Some of the references found are in ongoing web-based discussions.

8. Banshee, in a thread "Evolution of Society: What do you call it?" on the site BelowTopSecret.org, refers readers to the entry on hormones on this site:"Try this on for size. http://www.vocationalpsychology.com/biology3.htm It's a real nice starting point for hormones and sexuality." See:
http://www.belowtopsecret.com/thread13825/pg1

Some references are now incorporated into web-based curricular materials.

9. QuestGarden.com provides help in teaching students skills in information search, and also points the user to the essay on the 7 deadly sins and work on this site. See:
http://questgarden.com/45/80/6/070121174953/process.htm

10. David Capuzzi and Mark Stauffer provide a link to the site as part of their web-based companion site for their textbook, Career Counseling (first edition), published by Pearson Assessment. See:
http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_capuzzi_career_ 1/0,11223,2638804-content,00.html

There are also a number of other references to the site or elements of the site on various topic-oriented lists of links.

The most popular references to the site appear to be links to or citations for various terms from the Dictionary of Vocational Psychology. In addition, there are a number of links to a handful of the essays, perhaps especially those related to blood type (and links to healthy diet), the seven deadly sins at work, and childhood play and the development of vocational personality. What I found especially interesting was the interdisciplinary nature of these links, and the repurposing of the content to a variety of domains other than vocational psychology and career development. What vocational psychologists per se and what other visitors find of greatest interest on the site is probably not the same thing.

Citations of Site Content: March 2008

I did a quick review through Google of citations of vocationalpsychology.com. I didn't see that many new types of citations. However, I saw a lot more sites simply providing a link to an essay or definition with a very brief description, this in a links page.

11. The essay on managing white collar job loss was cited by Monica Davis in Kansas City Info Zine, which appears to be a newsblog. Davis' article "Layoffs, Foreclosure and Economic Uncertainty Planting Seeds of Violence" is very interesting and worth reading. See http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/
storiesView/sid/25876/

12. Japanese writers continue to cite my essay on Blood Type. A good example is in an article on Japan Today, within a chain of email comments at http://www.japantoday.com/jp/popvox/723/all