The importance of marketing was recognised by librarians and information managers at least a decade ago and there have, as a result, been quite a few useful texts published on the subject. This is the second edition of this book, which is aimed primarily at practitioners with little prior knowledge of marketing, and presumably at LIS students. It is in the same category, and covers much the same material, as Rowley’s recent Information Marketing (Rowley, 2000). The author is a chartered marketer in the UK and until recently she taught in the School of Information Studies at the University of Northumbria. One would expect the text to be thorough, current and well supported with practical examples, and so it is.
For readers of this journal, the most important part of the second edition is a new chapter called “Marketing in the digital age”. De Saez concludes that there is not an enormous amount of difference between marketing traditional library services and marketing digital information services. The differences lie in accepting the interactivity of the medium and building that into the marketing strategy. “The real difference is in treating the customer as a partner in the provision of services” (p. 146). A Web site, the author says, is at once product, place and promotion. There are some good suggestions on using “push” technologies that we still need to use more comprehensively. How many libraries use the channel of e‐mail messaging to its full potential? A more thorough response to marketing in the digital age lies in de Saez’s suggestion that libraries develop personalised portals that communicate directly with each and every customer, just as the amazon.com site has been doing for some years. Most customers are not afraid of the privacy matters this involves.
The other aspect of marketing that information managers must take on board is the new range of customers that can be attracted to the electronic library. The 15‐year‐old video games fan is not a “typical” library customer but the electronic library may have something for him or her, and the way to attract these young people to use library services is by promoting the library through media that they regularly use. How many libraries advertise on local Web sites used by young adults?
There are references and suggestions for further reading at the end of every chapter, and there is a good index. This is a good read for all practitioners, and the new chapter should be on the list of all those working in electronic libraries.
