Marketing Today's Academic Library: A Bold New Approach to Communicating with Students

by Brian Mathews

Overview

In Marketing Today’s Academic Library, Brian Mathews uses his vast experience to speak directly to the academic library practitioner about matching services with user needs. This book proposes new visions and ideas, challenging the traditional way of thinking and providing a framework to target users more precisely.Most library marketing intended for undergraduates promotes the collection, reference and instructional service, and occasional events such as guest speakers or exhibits. The guiding principle of Marketing Today’s Academic Library is that marketing should focus on the lifestyle of the user, showcasing how the library fits within the daily life of the student. Mathews’ personal and compelling presentation will assist readers in Challenging and rethinking their marketing strategies Demonstrating their value through applied relevance Focusing on the needs of the student and their expectationsWritten in a concise and engaging manner that speaks to popular anxiety points about new marketing techniques, this book is filled with tips and strategies that academic librarians can use to communicate with students, surpassing their expectations of their library experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780838991558
Publisher:	American Library Association
Publication date:	01/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	171
File size:	906 KB

About the Author

Brian Mathews is the Assistant University Librarian for Outreach & Academic Services at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has previously served as the user experience librarian at the Georgia Institute of Technology and as a reference librarian at the George Washington University. Brian has published numerous journal articles and is an active speaker and panel member on a variety of library topics, particularly on increasing the awareness of library services to students. He is also an advocate for empathic design, and is currently exploring new ways of encouraging patrons to participate in scholarly, creative, cultural, and service-oriented endeavors. His blog is The Ubiquitous Librarian.

Table of Contents

Foreword – Del Ross, InterContinental Hotels Group Acknowledgments Prologue – Becoming Ubiquitous 1 Do Libraries Need to Advertise? 2 Defining the User 3 Student Need States 4 The Library as Product 5 Conducting Marketing Research 6 Building Relationships 7 Developing Brand Strategies 8 Promotional Building Blocks 9 Designing Messages 10 Measuring the Impact 11 Putting It All Together Epilogue – Staging Academic Experiences Afterword – Amanda McNamee, Georgia Institute of Technology Index

Editorial Reviews

In this readable volume, Mathews (assistant university librarian, Outreach & Academic Services, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; theubiquitouslibrarian.typepad.com) brings us Marketing 2.0 for academic libraries, defining it as student-centered and social, for showing "how the library fits within the daily life of our students, rather than the other way around." He covers standard marketing topics such as product lines, market segmentation, market research techniques, and branding, all with an emphasis on partnering with students and centering efforts (and library services) on their needs and lifestyles. Unlike many such books, this one avoids the top-down approach that begins with a detailed marketing plan. Instead, Mathews suggests a more scalable approach, outlining a marketing process but also providing ideas that can be implemented quickly and cheaply. VERDICT Mathews's upbeat, can-do approach is refreshing and inspiring, with lots of creative ideas applicable to academic libraries of all sizes and budgets. Highly recommended.—Janet A. Crum, Oregon Health & Science Univ. Lib., Portland

Library Journal