Stanford Evaluation of the Green Thumb Box Experimental Videotext Project for Agricultural Extension Information Delivery in Shelby and Todd Counties, Kentucky

摘要

The Green Thumb (GT) project was a test of videotext information delivery system for farmers and their families, which was conducted by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service; Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and National Weather Service, U.S. Department of Commerce. Two hundred GT videotext terminals were in operation in Shelby and Todd Counties, Kentucky, from March 1980 until July 1981. The Stanford evaluation reports on GT users' acceptance of the experimental services offered, and users' perceptions of Green Thumb's value. Findings are based on interviews with nearly all the 200 users, nonusers (volunteers for the experiment who were not selected as participants) and key observers from the media and other organizations in the two counties. Findings include: rates of retrieval of information from GT (self-reported and computer recorded); informational topics most frequently accessed, and; relation of farmers' characteristics to frequency and type of informational retrieval. The authors conclude that Cooperative Extension has a definite stake in the quality and accessibility of future rural videotext systems, whether as system operator or information provider only. The report also describes the major agricultural computer networks serving U.S. farmers and provides a literature review of videotext developments world-wide.