Australian Academic Librarians Perceptions of Marketing Services and - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Australian Academic Librarians’ Perceptions of Marketing Services and Resources

Zhixian (George) Yi, Damian Lodge and Sigrid McCausland School of Information Studies Charles Sturt University 16 January, 2013

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Overview

Introduction Literature review Methodology Findings and discussion Conclusions References

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INTRODUCTION

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Background to the Problem

 With the rapid development of information technology and increasingly intense competition with other non-profit and profit organizations, academic libraries are facing a pressing need to market their unique services and resources and reach their client base utilising various marketing techniques.  Currently, many print and online marketing techniques are being used. However, little has been shared about which marketing techniques are most effective and the factors influencing the effective marketing approaches used.

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Purpose

This pilot study examines how Australian academic librarians market their services and resources, which marketing techniques are most effective, and the factors influencing the effective techniques used.

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Research Questions

1). What do academic librarians perceive as effective approaches for marketing their services and resources? 2). What approaches do academic librarians use to market their services and resources? 3). Which marketing approaches do they perceive are most effective? 4). What factors influence the choice of marketing approaches used?

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Significance of This Pilot Study

Librarians may use the results to reflect on the effectiveness of the marketing approaches used, to balance the weight of the factors’ influences, and to better understand various effective marketing approaches to enable them to market academic library services and resources more effectively in the future.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

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Current Books & Articles

Some current books and articles are concerned with marketing library services and sources using various techniques (Gupta & Savard, 2011; Jones, McCandless, Kiblinger, Giles, & McCabe, 2011; Ojiambo, 1994; Schmidt, 2006; Schontz, Parker, & Parker, 2004; Verostek, 2005; Xia, 2009).

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Literature Gaps

Little is known about how academic librarians actually

market their services and resources.

Little information is given about the factors influencing

the effective marketing approaches used.

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METHODOLOGY

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Data

 An online survey was sent to 37 academic librarians

in two Australian universities. The response rate was 54.1%.

The information sheet and consent form for phone

interview participants were emailed to 17 participants and 10 signed consent forms were emailed back to the chief researcher. The response rate was 58.8%.

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Variables

Dependent Variables: Approaches used to market

services and resources

Independent Variables: (1) demographics; (2) human

capital; and (3) library variables

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Data Analysis

The qualitative data were analysed using content

analysis.

The collected quantitative and qualitative data were

analysed using descriptive (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (correlations).

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FINDINGS & DISCUSSION

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Survey

Of the 20 surveys returned, 15 (75%) respondents

successfully completed the survey. The pilot study excluded 5 incomplete surveys.

The personal and organizational information of the 15

respondents are provided in Tables 1 and 2.

Table 3 shows the descriptive statistical results of

variables used in the analysis.

The correlation between independent variables and

dependent variables (techniques used to determine clients’ needs and wants are displayed in Table 4 (Parts 1 and 2).

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Table 1: Pilot Survey Results of Academic Librarians’ Personal Information (n = 15) Personal Information

• No. of Responses

(%) Female 11 (73.3) Male 4 (26.7) Age (Years) <24 25-29 1 (6.7) 30-34 35-39 40–44 3 (20.0) 45-49 3 (20.0) 50–54 3 (20.0) 55–59 5 (33.3) 60-64 >65 Education Level Less than a bachelor’s degree 1 (6.7) Other bachelor’s degree 1 (6.7) Bachelor’s degree in LIS 5 (33.3) MA/MS not in Library Science 3 (20.0) MLS 5 (33.3) Formally Studying Marketing 2 (13.3) Not Formally Studying Marketing 13 (86.7) Attending a Workshop on Marketing in the Last 5 Years 2 (13.3) Not Attending a Workshop on Marketing in the Last 5 Years 13 (86.7)

Legend: No = Number

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Table 2: Pilot Survey Results of Academic Librarians’ Organizational Information (n = 15) Organizational Information

• No. of Responses

(%) Mean (SD) Job Responsibility (multiple responses) Access services 2 (13.3) Acquisitions (0) Cataloguing 2 (13.3) Collection services 2 (13.3) Information literacy 4 (26.7) Library administration 4 (26.7) Reference services 5 (33.3) Other 3 (20.0) Work Service Years at present position 5.5 (3.4) Years of library services 19.0 (11.3) Number of different professional library positions 5.4 (3.5) Number of staff in libraries 69.7 (35.8) Number of library branches 5.3 (2.0) Type of Institution Where Respondents Work or Worked (multiple responses) College libraries 3 (20.0) Profit-organizations 1 (6.7) Public libraries 6 (40.0) School libraries 1 (6.7) Special libraries 6 (40.0) University libraries 15 (100) Other 2 (13.3) Total Population that Respondents’ Libraries Serve 27009.9 (12928.9) Legend: No = Number, SD = Standard deviation

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Table 3. Descriptive Statistics of Variables Used in the Analysis Variables Percent/Mean SD *DEPENDENT VARIABLES Techniques used to determine clients’ needs and wants (5-point scale) *2.0a *3.0b Approaches to breaking down library users into smaller groups (5- point scale) 3.0a 4.0b Techniques for promoting library services and resources (5-point scale) 3.0a 3.0b Approaches to evaluating marketing activities (5-point scale) 3.0a 3.0b Web 2.0 tools used to market library services and resources (5-point scale)

3.0a

3.0b Techniques for marketing electronic resources (5-point scale)

3.0a

3.0b Strategies used to market library services and resources (5-point scale) 3.0a 4.0b INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Female 73.3% Age (10-point scale) 7.0a 6.0b Education level (7-point scale) 4.0a 3.0b Years at present position 5.5 3.4 Total years involved in library service 19.1 38.0

• No. different professional library

positions 5.4 10.0

• No. library staff

36.7 61.4

• No. library branches

5.3 9.0 Legend: SD = Standard deviation; ª Median, b Range *The results of medians and ranges of dependent variables were for the first dependent variable of each category.

School of Information Studies Table 4 (Part 1): Correlation Matrix for Variables Used in the Analysis Techniques used to determine clients’ needs and wants A B C D E 1

• .084
• .281

.093

• .065

.032 2 .242 .266 .297 .348 .287 3 .022

• .009
• .365

.038 .408 4

• .060
• .090
• .219
• .465*
• .373

5

• .071
• .147
• .028

.110 .271 6 .026

• .164
• .068

.377 .189 7 .466* .050 .065 .258 .188 8 .472* .242 .234 .096

• .170

Notes: A=Online Survey, B=One-on-one Interview, C=Phone Interview, D=Focus groups, E=Other 1=Female, 2=Age, 3=Education, 4=Years at Present Position, 5=Total Years of Library Service, 6=No. of Different Positions 7=No. of Library Staff, 8=No. of Library Branches *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p≤0. 001

School of Information Studies Table 4 (Part 2): Correlation Matrix for Independent Variables Used in the Analysis (N = 15) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 1.000 2 .612** 1.000 3

• .185
• .302

1.000 4

• .143

.040

• .350

1.000 5 .416 .590*

• .380
• .143

1.000 6 .388 .547*

• .112
• .228

.669** 1.000 7 .539* .379 .280

• .117

.139 .364 1.000 8 .334

• .021
• .030
• .138
• .284
• .184

.408 1.000 Notes: 1=Female, 2=Age, 3=Education, 4=Years at Present Position, 5=Total Years of Library Service, 6=No. of Different Positions, 7=No. of Library Staff, 8=No. of Library Branches *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p≤0. 001

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Phone Interview

The average years of library service was 16.5 years. 80% of

participants said that marketing is a part of their official roles.

 The main approaches used to identify library user needs and

expectations included client surveys, online enquiries, one-to-one interactions with the users, face-to-face meeting, orientation session, and physical tours.

The most effective social media tools used to market services

and resources were the library website, library blogs, library forums and email.

The factors influencing the marketing techniques used were

technology, time, cost, librarian’s skill levels and client groups.

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CONCLUSIONS

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Summary of the Findings

Academic librarians were involved in a variety of marketing

activities and had varied perceptions of the effective approaches used to market services and resources. As one participant mentioned, “I am not a marketing person, but I do a lot of marketing activities.”

Correlation analysis confirms that demographics, human capital

and library variables play significant roles in predicting librarians’ perceptions of the effective marketing techniques used.

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Practical Implications

This pilot study provides a better understanding of

academic librarians’ attitudes, views and effective techniques with regard to marketing their services and resources.

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Limitations

Because of very small sample size, the results may lack

generalisability.

There was no hypothesis development and some

predictors such as formally studying or not studying marketing and attending or not attending a workshop on marketing in the last 5 years were not incorporated in the analysis of correlations.

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Future Research

The future research is a large-scale study to survey

academic librarians in other Australian universities using the revised questionnaire based on the results of this pilot study.

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REFERENCES

Gupta, D., & Savard, R. (Eds.). (2011). Marketing libraries in a web 2.0 world. Berlin: De Gruyter Saur. Jones, Y., McCandless, M., Kiblinger, K., Giles, K., & McCabe, J. (2011). Simple marketing techniques and space planning to increase circulation. Collection Management, 36, 107-118. Ojiambo, J. B. (1994). Application of marketing principles and techniques to libraries and information centres. Library Review, 43(2), 46-51. Schmidt, J. (2006). Marketing library and information services in Australian academic libraries. In D. K. Gupta,

• C. Koontz, A. Massisimo & R. Savard (Eds.), Marketing library and information services: International

perspectives (pp. 120-130). Munchen: K. G. Saur Verlag GmbH. Schontz, M. L., Parker, J. C., & Parker, R. (2004). What do librarians think about marketing? A survey of public librarians’ attitudes toward the marketing of library services. Library Quarterly, 74(1), 63-84. Verostek, J. M. (2005). Affordable, effective, and realistic marketing. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 12(1/2), 119-138. Xia, Z. D. (2009). Marketing library services through Facebook groups. Library Management, 30(7), 469-478.

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Acknowledgments

This pilot study was supported by the School of Information Studies Research Fellowship. Thank respondents and participants so much for participating in this pilot study.

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Thank You So Much! Questions or Comments?