A presentation made during the 26th UN/WB/UL partnership meeting

1. Marketing of e-resources
The 26th
UN/WB/UL partnership Workshop and
meeting, 23rd
May 2013, Kericho

2. Marketing concept
What is marketing and why market?
- Making known of an e-resource with an aim of
increasing access and use of a resource, to
support quality teaching and research output.

3. How to market e-
resources/marketing tools

TRAINING- Effective training and most
valuable promotional tools of an e-collection.

Helps to limit anxiety associated with
electronic searching.
Effective approaches:
• Top- down training-
• Training as part of library Programme/project
• One-on-one training- to individual users.
• Training as part of information literacy
Programme(also known as freshman’s kitty”).

4. Tips on effective training:
• Esthetic value
• Keep it simple and to the point
• Timely- when required- not during CATS and exam
period
• Right audience- use appropriate databases as
examples
• Acquire promotional tools from the
publisher/consortium/parent institution - makes it
more authentic
• Demonstrate search and access of e-resources at
events initiated by the institution

5. Other marketing tools

Brochures

Share user names
and passwords-
the issue of
usernames

Alerts: thematic e-
resources of the
month;

share Uniform
Resource Locator’s
(URLs); share links

Branding: pens,
writing materials,
flask disks and T-
shirts.

E-resource online
guides favorites,
bookmarks,

6. Marketing tools...

Pins: these are
buttons with a
marketing slogans
e,g Data junkie,
data queen, I love
marketing data.

Word of mouth:
formal or informal
gatherings

Screen severs- E-
resource

Social Media:
facebook, LinkedIn
and twitter

Participate in
promotional
awards

Library newsletter-

Web page alert- An
announcement of
anew e-resource,
posted on the
library Web page

7. E-resources
Why e-resources:

Increase in availability of resources in electronic
format

Improved infrastructure

Reduced costs of computers and related
hardware

CHALLENGE: in-effective marketing of
resources

8. Selection criteria

e-resource MUST contribute to the Library's
mission of providing support for instruction and
research for its primary clientele

Demand driven

Authentic and reputable source

Accurate

Within library budget

9. Technical requirements

Hardware & software – standard

Product must be net-workable
- What is the means of accessing data (e.g.,
are passwords required)?
- Is the resource available at all times (e.g.
Internet resources)?
- Are there special security requirements
beyond what the library usually provides?
- Is the resource stable (i.e., is the software
"buggy")?

10. Technical ...

User friendliness

Searching functionality
• Is the data current? How often updated?

Does the content include abstracts? Full text?

Does the vendor have a good reputation and
provide good service?

Does the vendor provide support materials?

11. Electronic resources available to
institutions:

Electronic resources have a direct or indirect
cost.

Options:
Paid for- scholarly reputable databases – as
direct payment and access by individual
institutions or through consortium’s Access to
resources through consortium’s - 2 ways:
1. negotiating for discounted access and usage
of e-resources with publishers on behalf of the
client.
2. negotiating for discounted through pulled
payments

12. 
“Free” – available through programmes
such as Research4life programme.

Free- open source in the Internet. In most
cases NOT authentic.

13. “Free” – available through programmes such as
Research4life programme. Such programmes
negotiate for e-resources with the publishers on
behalf of clients. In this model, cost of access to
resources is pegged on country GDP.
Free- open source in the Internet. In most cases
not authentic.

14. Challenges
1. Some users may harbor a distrust of all
electronic formats, while other users may not be
aware of newly available resources that would
meet their needs
2.The cost of e-resource (initial cost and the ever
increasing annual subscriptions). Initial costs for
infrastructure (hardware, networking) and staff
training.

15. Recommendation
• Simply attempt to get the attention of our patrons – be
courteous, approachable and friendly
• Improve the acceptance of the new service- basic
training on search and navigation
• Enhance awareness of what is available and its value
to users- basic marketing strategy; pins, poster, library
hour, library screen savers,
• Guide clients to the appropriate resources- carry out a
basic needs assessment to understand your user
needs and to guide them to the appropriate e-content.
• Develop a feedback mechanism. This will assist
improve and develop an effective marketing strategy
that best meets user needs.

16. References
Evaluation Procedures for WWW Information Resources: A Final Project Report. Paper Presented at
The Annual Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology
(AECT), St. Louis, MO.] and published as Wilkinson, G.L., Bennett, L., & Oliver, K.
Evaluation Criteria and Indicators of Quality for Internet Resources." Educational Technology,
March/April, 1997.
http://www.library.illinois.edu/infolit/fiveyearvision.html
Cosgrove, J.A. (2006), “Drop Them a Postcard”, College and Undergraduate Libraries, Vol. 12, No.
1, pp. 93-100.
Ellis, R. (2004), “Marketing of electronic resources: projects and experiences”, Serials, Vol. 17, No.
1, pp. 57-59.
Marie R. Kennedy. 2011. “What Are We Really Doing to Market Electronic Resources?” Library
Management 32(3): 144-158.
Kendall, S. and Massarella, S. (2001), “Prescription for Successful Marketing”, Computers in
Libraries, Vol. 21, No. 8, pp. 28-32.
Leong, J. (2007), “Marketing Electronic Resources to Distance Students”, The Serials Librarian, Vol.
53, No. 3, pp. 77-93.
Millet, M.S. and Chamberlain, C. (2007), “Word-of-Mouth Marketing Using Peer Tutors”, The
Serials Librarian, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp. 95-105.