Marketing Of Library Products And Services And Its Challenges To Professionals

Marketing Of Library Products And Services And Its Challenges To Professionals

Chapter One

Preface

Background of the study

Academic libraries are presently passing changes in the new information age, due to fleetly changing media technologies, adding druggies ’ preferences and prospects, competition from other information providers similar as the internet, and abating library budgets. These necessitate library and information wisdom professionals using competitive marketing approaches to strategically reorient themselves and libraries as information superhighways that individualities can’t do without.

Marketing is considered one aspect of the capabilities demanded and is critical among library and information wisdom professionals. Osinulu, Adekunmisi and Okewale( 2017) stress that librarians should be competent in all aspects of librarianship, which includes introductory foundational knowledge in librarianship, compendiums ’ services, information and communication technologies( ICTs) running and use, reference services, etcetera, before library professionals can adequately and effectively request library services and information. products, librarians must be knowledgeable, professed and must retain good attributes or disposition in these core aspects of librarianship. Marketing is introductory and is considered to be essential in the operation process for promoting information products and services. Marketing knowledge can help libraries to have a competitive advantage over challengers and it’s through development of new services or changes in the living bones that they can achieve this and satisfy druggies more. In other words, marketing faculty can bring about enhancement in organizational status and enhance the image of librarians, thereby perfecting library performance.

Unfortunately, numerous studies have proved librarians ’ lack of professional understanding of the marketing conception and its connection to librarianship. utmost library directors believe that marketing is only applicable and applicable to for- profitorganizations.Most librarians don’t promote library coffers, services and products effectively due to a lack of training and poor knowledge of marketing tools and ways, as well as the fear of marketable hype. Some librarians see marketing as manipulative, unskillful, a waste of time and coffers.

also, Adekunmisi( 2017) indicated a lack of business moxie among academic librarians and he refocused out a lack of interest in the idea and conception of marketing blend among librarians and library top operation as a challenge in marketing marketing of products. These scripts can be attributed to scarcities in the marketing generalities and principles in the library academy classes. These factors also contribute to low patronage and under application of library information coffers, products and services. Librarians, as information professionals, need acceptable knowledge, chops and attributes of marketing principles and a clear understanding and appreciation of the applicability of marketing to librarianship. Librarians must be involved in marketing and must use marketing principles and strategies to move and attract druggies to the library collections and services they offer. A crucial responsibility of academic libraries is to give timely access to information coffers, both print andnon-print, that meet the class and programme requirements of scholars and tutoring staff.

Statement of the Problem

In malignancy of the benefits deduced from the use of social media tools in promoting the marketing of library and information coffers and services, there are a lot of challenges hindering the creation and marketing of library coffers and services. The conception of a library without” walls” is catching up and is getting popular among patrons. In this information- centric stoner community, libraries are anticipated to give online access to information in a24/7 mode as they’re used more in an online terrain. druggies visit libraries to use computers and internet installations, to piercee-contents in a comfortable air, and to use library space for reading and group discussion. likewise, when compared to the former century, the use of physical collections is reduced because information is available and accessible via the internet fromanywhere.However, the major problems in marketing library and information products and services are a lack of time to use social media, a lack of sequestration and identity theft, too numerous social media tools to learn, a lack of knowledge of how to use social media tools, the slow speed of the internet, inadequate backing for libraries, a lack of good staff, and inadequate trainingopportunities.Thus, a high position of ease of access to coffers and services in the preferred format, largely professed library labor force, ease of position, a high position of access to ICT operations, coffers, and services, and fascinating library outfit and installations are needed for the library to maintain a competitive advantage. More so, librarians must identify public donation, direct marketing, advocacy, bulletins, newsletters, compendiums ’ mindfulness training, display strategy, library web runners, lectures, library tenures and use of web tools as strategies for promoting library information products and services. As a result, this study seeks to probe the marketing of library products and services, as well as the challenges that this presents for professionals.

Ideal of the study

The main focus of this study seeks to examine the marketing of library products and services and its challenges for professionals. Specifically, the study will be

To determine if there’s a need for marketing library services in academic libraries in Rivers state

To probe the obstacles that help librarians from effectively selling library services.

To offer strategies to enhance the effective marketing of library services.

Exploration Question

Is there a need for marketing library services in Rivers State academic libraries?

What are the challenges that hamper effective marketing of library services?

What are the strategies to enhance effective marketing of library services?

exploration suppositions

The following thesis are formulated to be tested in this study

HO There are no difficulties for professionals involved in the marketing of library products in Rivers State.

HA There are difficulties for professionals involved in the marketing of library products in Rivers State.

Significance of the study

The study will be applicable to academic institutions, directors, library panels, librarians, druggies and experimenters. In specific terms, the findings will be significant to academic institutions’ administration in the area of policy expression by furnishing a road chart for bridling the challenges that hamper the effective marketing of library products. It’s hoped that it’ll produce mindfulness for the library commission as regards the strategies to enhance the effective marketing of library services to druggies. This work will also educate librarians on how to effectively and efficiently request library products and services. It’ll also help them in relating their setbacks and hence perfecting their services by attracting, satisfying, and retaining druggies in the library. The findings will also be useful to druggies by creating mindfulness of the colorful services available in the library. druggies will get an enhancement in the services offered as a result of the recommendations of this study. The exploration will also contribute to the being body of knowledge about marketing library services and make on the knowledge of the problems in academic libraries in Nigeria. More so, the result of the study will add to the body of knowledge and serve as a reference material for other experimenters who wish to suffer exploration in a affiliated field.

Compass of the Study

The compass of this study borders on marketing of library products and services and its challenges to professionals. The study is still demarcated to University Libraries in Rivers State.

Limitation of the Study

fiscal constraint Insufficient fund tends to stymie the effectiveness of the experimenter in sourcing for the applicable accoutrements , literature or information and in the process of data collection( internet, questionnaire and interview)

Time constraint The experimenter will contemporaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This accordingly will cut down on the time devoted for the exploration work.

description of terms

Librarian A librarian categorizes, prepares, and registers these accoutrements . Librarians also recommend material and help individualities find the information that they need. They dissect and organize collections by subject. They educate individualities on how to use the library systems to find the information they need.

Product In marketing, a product is an object or system made available for consumer use; it’s anything that can be offered to a request to satisfy the desire or need of a client

Marketing In marketing, a product is an object or system made available for consumer use; it’s anything that can be offered to a request to satisfy the desire or need of a client

Marketing in Library marketing in library and information services is the process of planning, pricing, promoting and distributing library products to produce exchanges that satisfy the library and the guests or druggies.

REFERENCES

Aderibigbe OA, Farouk BL( 2017). Challenges on Marketing of Information coffers and Services in Federal University Libraries in North- West Zone of Nigeria. Inter.J. Acad. Lib. Info.Sci. 5( 3) 92- 96.

Adegoke,K.A.( 2015). Marketing of library and information services in university libraries a case study of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Library, Sokoto, Nigeria. Intellectual Property Rights, 3( 2) 143- 148. doi10.4172/ 2375-4516.1000143.

Adekunmisi,S.R.( 2013). Strategies for marketing library services and information products in Nigeria. Global Advanced Research Journal of Educational Research and Review, 2( 12) December 240- 245. Adekunmisi,S.R.( 2017). Marketing library services and information products in Nigeria. Lagos Journal of Library and Information Science, 6( 1 & 2) April/ October 53- 66.