Keeping abreast of administration and marketing trends

Citation

Fitzsimons, E. (2004), "Keeping abreast of administration and marketing trends", The Bottom Line, Vol. 17 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.2004.17017aab.001

Keeping abreast of administration and marketing trends

Keeping abreast of administration and marketing trends

Although there are some principles that may remain static, in general the changes in our culture over the last decade or so have had a profound effect on the way libraries conduct their businesses. There are some publications and workshops that will provide a twenty-first century look at library organization and marketing.

Neal-Schuman is publishing two books in early spring that promise to be helpful in financial planning for libraries. Leadership, Higher Education, and the Information Age: A New Era For Information Technology and Libraries, edited by Carrie E. Regenstein and Barbara I. Dewey, is a guide to developing a vision and devising plans for changing higher education's information technology infrastructure and will help to create more effectively functional libraries, campus IT organizations, and new classrooms. In this book, 17 experts share their visions and methodologies for -- as well as actual experiences with -- achieving campus-wide IT leadership roles. Among the many topics discussed (trends in and strategies for departmental planning, intellectual property, reorganization of university staff structures, to name a few) is the subject of capital investments (ISBN 1-55570-455-7. 234 pp. $75.00).

In another Neal-Schuman publication, Suzanne Walters, author of Library Marketing That Works! shows how commercial marketing and public relations methods can be used by the nonprofit and educational sectors. New technologies not only change work habits; they offer multiple new avenues for promoting library products and services. In Part I of this guide, Walters, author of the classic Marketing: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (1992), provides step-by-step guidance for each and every phase of a comprehensive marketing program: determining the mission, conducting a SWOT analysis, doing market research, holding focus groups, planning campaigns, developing strategic marketing plans, and evaluating marketing efforts. Part II explores new techniques librarians can use, including relationship marketing, marketing using listservs and Web sites, developing and using a wide variety of contact databases, and building relationships with stakeholders and donors. This manual also covers demographic studies, outreach programs, Internet advertising, niche marketing, branding, effective competition strategy, and more. Real success stories from all types and sizes of libraries highlight the effectiveness of different approaches for marketing campaigns. The book comes with a CD-ROM that has all the forms, and other tools in the book make this a complete marketing action plan for libraries (ISBN 1-55570-473-5. 200 pp. Book and CD-ROM. $65.00).

Tying into the marketing theme, the use of retail marketing techniques is also the subject of two programs that the American Library Association's (ALA) Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) is sponsoring at the 2004 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. More information is available at www.ala.org

LAMA's Buildings and Equipment Section (BES) is sponsoring "If You Brew It, They Will Come: Applying Retail Techniques to Create Customer-Based Libraries." The purpose of the program is to show how to apply customer market analysis to assess the specific needs of the patron/customer population, and how to use this understanding to inform the layout of the library and the design of its services in a way that will optimally serve the patrons. The program will give conceptual and practical guidance on determining the nature and location of services based on the needs and expectations of the patron/customers. Attendees will learn how to design library layouts with "retail" awareness, in order to introduce effective new services, such as cafes and information commons, or to locate seating and collections where they will best serve the patron/customers. The underlying message is that librarians must consider the customer base whenever developing services and avoid making changes or introducing services without understanding whether they are meeting their customers' actual needs. The program is scheduled for Sunday, 27 June 2004, 10:30 a.m.-12.00 noon.

The LAMA Public Relations Section (PRMS) will address another key aspect of marketing with "What's Next @ Your Library: Harnessing PR Magic." Because 2004 is the midpoint for ALA's Campaign for America's Libraries, this program can reflect on library public relations in terms of lessons learned from the campaign and envisioning future directions. There will be a panel discussion with two representatives from public libraries, two from academic libraries, and a senior Disney public relations and marketing executive. The panelists will discuss their public relations/marketing endeavors in the context of the larger organization; reflect on lessons learned; and describe their visions or expectations for the future. The program is scheduled for Saturday, 26 June 2004, 1:30-3:30 p.m.