The Mad Men (And Women): Library Awareness/Publicity

            Library awareness is another aspect that librarians must consider. While it may fall under the marketing tree, the awareness or publicity of the library is the action part. Once the market research is complete you can implement the types of awareness that the library is trying to achieve. Creating awareness is a good step in trying to get people to come through the door or browse online. Still, libraries must also be aware themselves to a changing trend in awareness tools and techniques.

            Many research databases purchased by libraries now provide current awareness tools, including new issue, new article, citing, and topic alerts, delivered by email or RSS feed (McKee, Koltutsky & Vaska, 2009). These types of awareness make it so that the library can constantly provide new information to the users, especially if they are using at home. There has been a change going on regarding the awareness tools, they are shifting from a current awareness as a library tool to a set of databases provided by vendors (McKee et al., 2009). However, this shift has showed that although it is a useful tool, it is not tailored to users specific needs and is updated very frequently potentially creating a type of information overload (McKee et al., 2009).

            Many librarians are finding hard to market themselves due to the fact that marketing and branding were not a typical part of their vocabulary (Cipkowski, Cole & Graves, 2009). Needless to say that librarians are finding ways to promote themselves, either through traditional means such as flyers or more recent types such as email and listservs (Cipkowski et al., 2009). Even though libraries have always been doing awareness programs, they have to constantly adapt to their surroundings. It seems that as of late the typical awareness techniques are being replaced by more cost effective online tools.

            Upon a recent visit to a local library I inquired how the library advertises itself. The librarian said that the library uses email and RSS feeds and no longer sends out mailings due to the costs involved. This prompted me to ask how a librarian tackles the potential hazard of a technology based awareness system with an aging user base that is not able to use such tools. The librarian said that it is a problem, but that they offer computer classes and instruction, even at the basic level. It could be implied that part of the marketing strategy is to make sure that you have the necessary services in place for the less technologically gifted users so they can be alerted of what the library is offering.

            Another thing I noticed when visiting the library was how quick the staff was to reference the online website for the library. Since I was behind the scenes I was able to see how the website was put together and how users can navigate through it. What struck me as interesting was how there were many links to what the librarians were reading and other links to book clubs and readers advisories. It was a breath of fresh air to see a library adopting such simple, but effective tools to provide their users with more information. Even though the page is still being worked on, the library has managed to fully utilize the space in providing awareness and publicity to its users in the library and at home.

            Trying to show your users what is available to them is a changing process. With online tools making information easily and quickly available, many hi tech users are used to having everything at their fingertips. However, even with all these new technologies, you cannot forget about the users that cannot use or even understand what these tools are. Therefore, it is up to the library to ensure its users that, even though they have to adapt and stay in stride with current technology trends, they will remain dedicated to teaching older users how to use and understand the new formats.

References

Cole, K., Graves, T., Cipkowski, P (2010). Marketing the library in a digital world. The Serials Librarian, 58, 182-187.

McKee, S., Koltutsky, L., Vaska, M (2009). Introducing refaware: A unique awareness product. Library Hi Tech News, 29, 1-6.

Trends in Marketing: From Traditional to Virtual

            Marketing. It is a simple word, one that can make or break many institutions. The library is no exception. When people generally think of the library, they can tell you that it exists. There are those who know the types of materials and services they provide, while others know only bits and pieces of the library. Therefore, it is essential for libraries to take marketing seriously, especially in a new digital age where materials are becoming much easier to access at home rather than in the library.

            Libraries are in a transition period. There are many people who are visiting less and they are using in home search engines such as Google to have quick access to information (Cipkowski, Cole & Graves, 2009).  This is becoming a not so much a problem, but a gap in the fact that many users fail to realize the importance of the library and how it can meet the users needs (Cipkowski et al., 2009). Clearly, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but libraries are as Cole describes, “librarians have more in common with marketers than you would think” (Cipkowski et al., 2009).

            Being able to readily predict where library needs will lead is an important step. Libraries need to be proactive, and the authors provide steps in order to reach the desired goals. The first step is researching your market because this can tell you exactly what they need and what the users characteristics are (Cipkowski et al., 2009). This is crucial as this first step provides the detailed information the library is seeking in order to fully recognize and then meet the needs of the users to the best of its ability.

            The second step is the SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Cipkowski et al., 2009). Knowing what your users think is a key component to the marketing strategy. For instance, a user can come up to a librarian and tell them what they think is working within the library. It’s these types of interactions and feedback that provide the library with many answers that can create a better atmosphere for the users.

            Third, is the SMART analysis, taking into account the specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed (Cipkowski et al., 2009). This is a very precise analysis that makes it so the library has something to set its standards to. Think of it as a guideline that they follow when they ask questions to themselves or the staff. Is this going to be something we are going to be able to measure? Is it even realistic? How long will this take? These are all questions that can be applied to the SMART analysis when dealing with new marketing strategies.

            The final step is brainstorming (Cipkowski et al., 2009). This is the time when everything comes together and you can start planning. It is during the brainstorming process that all the tough questions are asked and an overall consensus can be reached. Generally, there needs to be a five minute session where all this can be processed in a “brain off” zone (Cipkowski et al., 2009).

            Now, there is also the idea of having to market a completely online experience. In order to do that you have to make sure your electronic resources are easily searchable and are customized in the best way possible (Fagan, 2009). By having a robust online system to easily search items, the librarian must be able to create something that offers a wide variety of services including email, downloadable PDF’s, and online tutorials among many others (Fagan, 2009). Another good strategy is to promote the virtual space within the physical space (Fagan, 2009). What this means is that librarians showcase the online catalogues, databases and journals in revealing places in the actual library, typically with promotional tools (Fagan, 2009). However, part of the marketing strategy is to also bring people who would otherwise be in the virtual world to come to the library to seek information that is only available in bound form (Fagan, 2009). These tools are used to effectively persuade the users to move to the virtual world if they would like to.

            Marketing the library is a necessary, but often times difficult task. With the advancing technology and an extremely tech savvy user base, libraries must change with the times. Being able to identify the users needs the library can provide the types of services they are seeking. This is especially true when the physical space of the library is seemingly taking a back seat to the virtual space. Therefore, libraries need to implement smart, effective marketing strategies to make sure they don’t go unnoticed.

References

Cole, K., Graves, T., Cipkowski, P (2010). Marketing the library in a digital world. The Serials Librarian, 58, 182-187.

Fagan, J.C. (2009). Marketing the virtual library. Computers in Libraries, 29, 25-30.