Somewhat surprisingly, it is only mid-way through this work the reader will find that basic statement of fact “marketing your E-resources can change your library”. So true is this that waiting until page 68 isn’t so much nerve-jangling suspense as all too obvious by the time you have ambled your way through the various stages necessary to create a marketing plan. For me, concepts of greater importance appear in the preface – often a section too easily passed over or ignored – but so important to this volume that it really should have been re-badged as Chapter One. In the preface you will find a description of “clumsy infancy” – a brilliant term to describe where most libraries remain in the context of promoting e-resources in comparison to the slickness of the “Google era”. Here too you will find reference to Neal's “academic library needs to be present to anyone, anywhere, anytime” thesis – again, a fundamental and vital premise.
There are nuggets of gold throughout including some key research findings provided by NOVELny and OCLC (pp. 120-122) covering barriers to access and use of e-resources as well as user perceptions of searching for information online. The same section (an extended case study) then builds on these aspects to identify and consider ten strategies within a developing marketing plan to counter negative user perceptions. Other highlighted facets include “speak with one message” and the underlying need for technical stability, reliability and consistency in e-resource provision – there is no point promoting something which only works some of the time and produces an unreliable result.
This is a well organised, logical and comparatively easy-to-read book given the subject matter. It does provide library teams with a sensible and clear road map to follow – but not necessarily the only way to cover this activity in my experience and one which requires significant resources in terms of staff input, team engagement and marketing materials.
If you are wondering how to market your e-library, regardless of whether you have been doing so for some years or have only recently seen the light then this is a worthy read. I describe it as comprehensive, practical, well researched and even basic (in the best possible sense). The prose and examples reflect the authors’ US-based experiences but this isn’t a subject particularly impacted by geography.
