Marketing Library Services to the Net Generation Jia

Marketing Library Services to the Net Generation Jia Mi (The College of New Jersey, USA) Frederick Nesta (Lingnan University, Hong Kong, SAR China) Shanghai International Library Forum 2006

Current Reality • As early as 1999, 40 -50% of students used the Internet on a weekly basis (D’Esposito 1999) • Nearly four-fifth of university students agreed that Internet use has had a positive impact on their university academic experience (Jones 2002) • 71% of college students used the Internet as a major source of information in 2002 (Jones 2002) • 79% of the university students in a 2002 survey used search engines as their first choice Web resources for most of their assignments (OCLC 2002) • 89% of university students across all regions start their information searches from search engines. Only 2% of university students begin their research by using a library Web site (De. Rosa 2005) 2

Current Reality-cont. • 83% of faculty felt they spent less time in the library now that they have access to the Internet than before (Jones 2005) • 94% of university faculty members allow their students to cite Internet sources in their work (Jones 2005) • Electronic Journals as a percentage of all journals have increased 83. 3% in baccalaureate institutions and 71. 3% in masters institutions (Mc. Cracken 2003) • Google Scholar brings over seven times more visitors to the British Medical Journal than does Pubmed (Giustini 2005) 3

Marketing-Classical Concepts • Definition—John B. Mc. Kitterick (1957) – Customer oriented and integrated system • Philip Kotler and Sidney Levy (1969) – Not selling, not promotion, but service and adding value • Philip Kotler and Zaltman (1971) – Social marketing • Philp Kotler and Alan Andreasen (1996) – Create, build and maintain beneficial exchange relationships with target audiences for the purposes of satisfying individual and organizational objectives 4

Marketing-Fundamental Principles • Theodore Levitt (1960) – Marketing Myopia – Distinguish selling from marketing – Product oriented or customer oriented • E. Jerome Mc. Carthy (1960) – 4 Ps of marketing 5

Redefine 4 Ps PRODUCT – Electronic & print items & services – Time and effort that patrons must spend in accessing and acquiring information PLACEMENT– Provide multiple physical or virtual access points PROMOTION – Not advertising but a form of communication that exists in a positive or negative form in every contact a patron has with an institution PRICE 6

Brand Image 7

Brand Image-Main Purposes of the Library U. S. 18 -24 Yrs Information Books Research 15% 49% 32% 25 -64 Yrs 56% 20% De. Rosa, Cathy et. al. (2005) “Perceptions Of Libraries and Information Resources; A report to the OCLC membership. ” 8

The Changing Market • Explosion of the Internet has changed the way that students and faculty conduct their learning, teaching and research • Libraries no longer have a monopoly on information sources • 89% of university students across all regions start their information searches from search engines. Only 2% of university students begin their research by using library Web sites. (De. Rosa 2005)

Users and Contexts • Net Generation (Generation Y, Millenials) – Don Tapscott (1998) • The generation that has been raised with computers from infancy – Tulgan and Martin (2001) • The people who were born in the late seventies – Howe and Strauss (1992) • Millenials: 1982 -2000 as the birth year • Information Seeking – The Library is NOT the ONLY source of information – Not all information needs are “Academic” 10

Who is the Net Generation? Characteristics Tech Savvy Thinking Styles Behaviors/ Life Styles Learning Styles Internet Non-Linear Visual Learners Positive Thinkers IM / Email Graphic Oriented Self explorers Multi-Taskers i. POD/MP 3 Players Start Randomly Variety Goal-Achievers Laptop No Patience Motivators Pod. Casting Personal Blog Video Games Cell Phones 11

Net Generation 12 Rich Holeton 2005 -2006 “Undergraduate Computing Survey: The Millennials Are in Residence. ”

Google Web Search, Scholarly Papers, Image Search, Keyword Book Searching, no cost Library Above via Google, keyword journal searching with full-text, other databases, selected resources, indexonly access to held or shared books, high cost Need to convince users that the added value is worth the cost, lower the cost, or do both

Different Viewpoints User’s View Librarian’s View Books, Videos & More Reserves Library E-Journals Library of Congress Articles & Databases Google Friends Other Catalogs Research Resources Digital Collections Email/IM Course Websites Library Website Text Books Assigned Readings 14

The Market is There • Library usage has been increasing, not decreasing • The ease of acquiring information has created millions of information consumers, with university students the most discerning and demanding of them 15

Marketing Library Services • Marketing-the key to connect content to users – A way of thinking – Every interaction, every connection • Users don’t really know what we can offer • Switching from collection centered to user centered through access and services – Understanding who are users and focusing on their specific needs and their expectations 16

Marketing Library Services • Become the person who reaches out to users and bring them the answers. • Deliver needed information and also provide services of which they were unaware. • “The best services give more than the customer expects - through stimulation of the unexpected learning that comes through serendipity, and unplanned beneficial interactions with services, people and resources. ” Eric Wainwright (2004), “People, Networks, Books: New Strategies For University Academic Information and Service Delivery. ” 17

Marketing Library Services-Physical • Creating flexible environment in the library – Comfortable browsing seats – Built-in Café – Late study areas – Various spaces for individuals with different learning styles – Group study rooms, quiet study place, Computer zones, teaching space • Information Commons 18

Marketing Library Services-Virtual • • • Creating library website with visual graphics – Generating individual portal webpage listing relevant resources Developing online game or multi-media tutorials Positioning librarians as players in teaching – Incorporate library resources into course management system Email reference services and live reference assistance in real time My. Library Portal (My. Space and Orkut) Web Blogs, Wicki, RSS feed and Podcasting Offering workshop directly related to their particular topic Attending departmental faculty meetings and always have new and relevant information for them Provide CONVENIENT services to the users (Endeca, Library 2. 0) Others – Creating Library Newsletter – Advertising in college web site – “Database of the month” – Involvement in College Public Relations Activities 19

Conclusion • “Unless customers and the collection come together in a way both interesting and meaningful to customers, the library is nothing more than an expensive warehouse. ” • “Marketing is creating an awareness of your value. ” Hernon, P. and E. Altman (1998). “Assessing service quality: satisfying the expectations of library customers. ” 20

Conclusion • “Finding the right way to achieve balance between traditional values and the expectations and habits of the wired generations will determine whether libraries remain relevant in the social, educational and personal contexts of the information age. ” Thomas and Mc. Donald (2005) “Millennial net values: disconnect between libraries and information mindset. ” 21

Google Library