Open Eye: First Tuesday What do you think of it, so far?

There I was, in the supermarket queue, wire shopping basket threatening to pull my arm from its socket, when I realised that I was disqualified from the Eight Items Or Less line, but still entitled to use the check- out designated for Shopping Baskets Only .

Then I thought: is it asking to much to expect a supermarket to write Eight Items or Fewer?

On the other hand, though, perhaps it is just horses for courses: supermarkets don't teach English and we don't sell goods.

But we do. Increasingly, we do.

OUSA, for example, markets an impressive range of commemorative items, from porcelain thimbles and cotton T-shirts to solid gold cufflinks and platinum rings. AOUG, the graduates' association, produces yet more University memorabilia, all bearing its distinctive Omega sign.

The Alumni Association sells insurance for the CGU, books and tapes for amazon.co, banking for Beneficial, money in the form of loans from Hamilton Direct (a Beneficial Bank partner), its own Internet Service, ouvip, and even special OU car number plates.

All these items are designed to provide income for the OU Foundation which in turn provides benefits for disadvantaged students.

Many graduates (and current students) have told us that they are happy, even eager, to support these ventures as a subtle way of assisting the University while invariably getting a good deal at the same time. The Beneficial Bank partnership with the OU, now celebrating its tenth year, has raised more than pounds 1.4million in contributions which emanate both from the opening of new accounts and from the use of the Visa cards thereafter.

Among its advantages are no annual fee, up to eight weeks interest-free credit, and a possible maximum pounds 5,000 spending limit.

From our view, in the Alumni Association, this seems a more acceptable way of raising money than perpetually passing round the begging bowl, as most higher education institutions are inclined to do.

But now we would like to do more.

We are looking for new opportunities for affiliations which would be both useful to our members and beneficial to our income stream.

Some readers will shortly be receiving a questionnaire asking details of their life-style - their family, jobs and interests - in order to provide a clue to the sort of opportunities we should be offering. There is, however, no need to wait to be asked: if you have an idea, if you can see a gap in the market or a market in a gap, please contact us.

Meanwhile, what about a spot of reader research? This is a project which, when conducted by newspapers, can be fascinating. It has held me enthralled, in its graphs and pie charts, for complete minutes.

You would think more of them would do it. But they don't, mainly because readership surveys can't be be relied on. If you asked a million people to outline the newspaper they would most like to read, hardly any of them would describe the Sun. Yet 3.7million people buy it every day.

Years ago, the News of The World and Playboy each sold 7million copies - but could you ever find anyone who would admit to buying either?

Who on earth subscribes to Readers' Digest? And yet lavatories throughout the home counties are full of shelves of its backnumbers - invariably these are the lavatories referred to by their owners as "the smallest room in the house".

People can quote entire stories out of newspapers and magazines, then explain: "I read it at the hairdresser's."

Focus groups are not much more useful as a method of research. Too frequently, people simply sit round a table and tell the researcher either what they think he or she would like to hear, or what they think would show them in the best possible light.

Publishers tend to work on the basis that if readers dislike what is being produced, they will say so without waiting to be asked, either by writing to complain or by cancelling a subscription (or, rarely, both).

They also know that people find cancellation a bit of a chore and consequently are more often than not fairly satisfied with what they get. Nevertheless, we would like to hear your views on Open Eye.

So let's try a different tack.

We would like to hear from you about what you think - secure in the knowledge that, if you don't reply to this sincere request, we will understand that you are content.

Basically, the feedback we would like to receive falls into two categories: your comments, and your contributions.

For the first, there are no questions to answer, no forms to fill in. But if you have a comment you feel worth making, please let us have it, whether by e-mail or snail-mail.

The second invitation is to you to contribute to Open Eye.

There's no need to write great screeds of stuff: in fact, if you have a long tale to tell, please send only a brief outline in the first instance.

Far better, though, to write a short piece. Around 200-400 words, the length of one or two legs of this column, would be plenty.

We have created a new e-mail address: open-eye@open.ac.uk to assist you.

Meanwhile, the first results of the pilot for our questionnaire are being returned. They suggest that the one thing our alumni most want to buy is... more education.

Supermarkets can rest easy, for the time being.