The Strategic Public Relations Center at USC Annenberg has launched an easy-to-access, free, online database aimed at providing communications executives with data on such critical PR management issues as budgeting, determining the optimal size and structure of communications organizations, methods of evaluation, and specific functions for which in-house PR organizations are typically responsible. 

Called the PR Management Datasource, or PRMD, the online database consists of all the information the Strategic PR Center has gathered through the four PR Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) studies it has conducted to date. 

The ultimate purpose of the PRMD is to fill an important informational void, said Jerry Swerling, public relations professor and director of PR Studies and the Strategic PR Center.

“Communications executives generally lack comparative data they can rely on when making important decisions about managing their organizations and planning for the future," Swerling said. "Through the GAP studies we have conducted over the last five years, the Strategic PR Center has collected a great deal of managerial information, but it hasn’t been easy for professionals to access. The PRMD database solves the access problem, and its content will become richer and more comprehensive as we add data from future GAP studies, starting with GAP V this fall.”

Public Relations Management Datasource 
Strategic Public Relations Center
More on Jerry Swerling