Academic library marketing in the post-COVID world

The COVID pandemic forced academic libraries to quickly and dramatically adjust their operations. This article explores how marketing in academic libraries was represented in the research and practitioner literature during the pandemic through an examination of articles published between March 2020 and March 2023 as compared to LIS marketing articles published in the three previous years (between March 2017 and February 2020). Marketing was selected as the lens through which to examine library and information science (LIS) articles because marketing strategies and techniques offer powerful insights into how libraries perceive themselves and the communities they serve. The 2017–2020A set included 165 articles, while the 2020B–2023 set contained 93 articles. These articles were inductively coded to identify marketing-related concepts and themes. The most common marketing themes from the per-pandemic article set were marketing strategies and planning, marketing methods, social media, outreach, and engagement. The most common marketing themes from the pandemic article set were social media, marketing strategies and planning, library instruction and orientations, marketing methods, and perceptions of libraries. The categories that experienced the largest levels of change between the two periods were engagement (a reduction of 12.67 % during the pandemic), marketing methods (a reduction of 11.75 % during the pandemic), marketing strategies and planning (a reduction of 10.75 % during the pandemic), outreach (a reduction of 9.11 % during the pandemic), and library instruction and orientations (an increase of 8.44 % during the pandemic). Recommendations for library marketing practice are provided based on this literature analysis including the use of multiple physical and digital communication channels when developing marketing strategies; the importance of continuing to market core operational services, especially during challenging times; the need for libraries to regularly review their engagement methods as the needs and behaviours of users shift; and that there are many ways in which the voice of the user and the effectiveness of library marketing activities may be captured.     

A family affair: Library opportunities to connect with parents and families

Parents are important aspects of our students' academic lives, and as such, should be acknowledged and considered as allies and potential partners with libraries. This article presents ideas for many ways in which libraries can engage with parents and families, while also exploring the benefits of such efforts. The broad areas in which these efforts fall include 1) overall student success, 2) connecting with other student-supporting and student-reaching entities on campus, and 3) supporting the critical efforts of student recruitment and retention. In this article, examples of different parent engagement opportunities are also discussed, including involvement in campus events, engaging with parent associations, considerations of legacy engagement, and collaboration with other campus units. The results of these parent-library initiatives and connections can help accomplish a variety of things including supporting student academic success, ensuring that the library is involved in other university student outreach efforts, contributing to development and fundraising activities and finally, supporting the recruitment and retention of students.     

Connecting with Community: The Importance of Community Engagement in Rural Public Library Systems

While the topic of community engagement in public libraries has been researched in urban public library systems, little research explores community engagement in rural library systems. The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is largely rural and sparsely populated, with a dwindling and aging rural population. This report examines how community engagement can connect Nova Scotia’s rural public libraries with their communities. Librarians from eight predominantly rural library systems across the province were interviewed regarding the community engagement practices currently being used within their libraries and how their patrons (particularly youth) were reacting and responding to these practices. This article synthesizes the information derived from these interviews and provides a summary of the community engagement efforts being made throughout Nova Scotia. This study ultimately determines that while librarians in rural communities face a number of challenges when attempting to implement community engagement (e.g., small budgets and low staffing numbers), they remain extremely passionate about the topic and dedicated to serving their communities in the most meaningful and relevant way possible.     

Books,Children, Dogs,Artists: Library Programs for the Entire Family

The promotion of library resources and services is a continuous process for all libraries, especially hospital family resource center libraries. Like public libraries, a family resource center can utilize programs as a pathway for connecting with and developing awareness of library resources and services available to patient families. This column describes the programs currently offered for All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine patient families, marketing initiatives to promote these programs, and utilization of grant funding to supplement a program.     

智慧图书馆的研究与实践在中国的发展

[目的/意义]结合我国智慧图书馆的理论研究和实践建设,分析我国智慧图书馆研究和建设的现状及发展趋势.[方法/过程]利用中国知网、万方数据知识服务平台、维普中文科技期刊等对我国2010-2019年关于智慧图书馆的CSSCI期刊研究论文进行检索,对其主要研究主题进行总结分析,并通过网络探讨中国智慧图书馆的实践建设现状.[结...     

MTL 2.0: A Report on the Social Media Usage and User Engagement of the “Big Four” Academic Libraries in Montréal

Although academic libraries continue to use social media to encourage student use of libraries and promote library resources and services, there has not yet been a study of social media use by the academic libraries in Montréal. This paper examines the social media accounts of the four university libraries in Montréal and, based on data gathered over the course of an 8-month period, seeks to determine the influence of each libraries' social media activity. Success was defined by measurable growth in the number of followers during the period studied. For the three universities with Facebook and Twitter accounts, the account considered most successful was the one with the highest engagement rate. The results indicate that all of the libraries were successful on the first measure, and the libraries with the fewest number of posts had higher levels of user engagement.     

美国高校图书馆参与机构学习分析研究与启示——基于IMLS《图书馆机构学习分析整合》报告的解读与思考

近年来,在图书馆价值评估活动的影响下,越来越多的美国高校图书馆开始参与到学习分析项目中来。《图书馆机构学习分析整合》是美国博物馆和图书馆服务研究所基于三次全国图书馆学习分析整合信息论坛讨论结果发布的报告,内容涉及图书馆机构学习分析整合形式,支持图书馆参与学习分析的策略方法,图书馆机构学习分析整合障碍及未来努力方向等。该报告对于指导图书馆员如何参与学习分析及应对学习分析带来的挑战具有重要的价值和意义。     

Best Practices for Creating an Online Tutorial: A Literature Review

In the digital era, information literacy skills enable users to locate and use online materials effectively. One persistent library service for libraries is providing skills training to students. This article traces the creation of online library instructional tutorials, currently referred to as digital learning objects, in academic libraries. It isolates the factors that improve the success of these learning tools, including knowledge of the tutorials’ purpose and potential, collaboration with other individuals, the use of standards, student engagement, and evaluation. The literature review also illustrates the incorporation of multimedia learning theories and assessment strategies in these tutorials. By developing appropriate learning tools, librarians offer services aimed at meeting user needs while reducing time and resource demands on library staff.     

回顾与前瞻:图书馆转型发展面临的问题与思考

"十三五"时期我国公共图书馆事业发展取得显著成绩:法制体系建设取得重大突破,总分馆建设深入推进,传承弘扬优秀传统文化的方式不断创新,全民阅读服务蓬勃开展,数字化网络化建设促进事业转型发展。在全球图书馆事业转型发展的背景下,我国图书馆事业发展也面临诸多问题和挑战,主要表现在:在不断拓展的跨界融合趋势下,图书馆的主动谋划和作为尚显不足;在信息技术的加速迭代下,图书馆业态的创新发展已迫在眉睫;营销意识缺乏、手段单一,使图书馆的社会影响力受到较大局限;多元文化体验需求日益旺盛,对图书馆的传统空间设计理念带来冲击;数字文明时代,图书馆的资源采集与保存体系亟待被赋予新的内涵;体制机制改革中仍存在某些错位与不到位的问题,一定程度上限制了图书馆的发展活力。全国图书馆界正在从传统文化传承弘扬、资源建设、服务创新、新技术应用、转型发展、跨界融合、营销推广、管理运行机制等多方面主动谋划,用前瞻思维引领更加长远的发展。     

The future of electronic reserves and the presence of librarians in content management systems: A case study at Manhattan College

This article addresses the development of electronic reserves within academic libraries. Libraries have been offering electronic reserve services on separate platforms since the 1990s (Austin, 2013). However, since the integration of campus-wide content management systems (CMSs), the need for a library reserves platform that is independent from an institution's CMS has decreased, and independent e-reserves systems have potentially become obsolete (Maddison & Kumaran, 2017). This article presents the steps taken between 2015 and 2017 by the O'Malley Library to streamline the electronic reserves services so that they are accessible through the college's CMS, Moodle. Through careful study, the library decided to eliminate electronic reserves services in the future. This will be replaced with encouraging faculty to add the course content traditionally placed on electronic reserves in Moodle while librarians provide guidance in avenues such as copyright and Fair Use.     

高校图书馆利用与学生学习结果关系的实证研究——基于“2017年首都大学生就读经验调查”

[目的/意义]高校图书馆利用状况及其对学生学习结果的影响是图书馆成效评估的重要方面之一，高校如何提升图书馆对学生学习活动的支持水平，学生自身又怎样提高利用图书馆的能力是本研究之价值意义所在。[方法/过程]基于"2017年首都大学生就读经验调查"，研究采用t检验、单因素方差分析、相关分析以及回归分析等方法分析高校图书馆利用现状及其对学生学习结果的影响。[结果/结论]结果显示，不同学生群体对图书馆利用程度存在差异，图书馆利用与学生学业成绩、在校满意度、学习收获呈显著正相关关系，且图书馆利用影响学生学习结果。基于此，建议高校加强对低年级、农村学生等图书馆利用情况较差学生群体的引导；图书馆自身提升综合实力，提升信息化服务质量，加强图书馆学习空间、专业馆员队伍、学生信息素养教育等资源建设；大学生自身要提升利用图书馆资源的意识与能力。     

Enhancing Family Learning Through Exhibits

Can enhanced exhibits produce measurable increases in active family learning? Four Philadelphia area science institutions—The Franklin Institute Science Museum, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the New Jersey State Aquarium at Camden, and the Philadelphia Zoo—have investigated the answer to this question as part of the PISEC (Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative) Family Learning Project. PISEC is conducting research and exhibit development aimed at increasing the understanding of family learning in science museums and identifying the characteristics of successful family learning exhibits. The PISEC project is organized into three phases: (1) a research study to establish behavioral indicators for family science learning (Borun et al., 1996); (2) the development and evaluation of four exhibit enhancements aimed at achieving family science learning goals (Borun and Dritsas, 1997); (3) a research study comparing the frequency of learning behaviors for treatment families that have used enhanced test exhibits to control-group families that have used only the test exhibits. The results of the first two phases of this project have been discussed previously. This article describes the research study conducted during Phase 3 of the project. Results of the study show that all four modified exhibits produced significant increases in performance indicators. Using seven characteristics of successful family exhibits—multi-sided, multi-user, accessible, multi-outcome, multi-modal, readable, and relevant—as a guide to exhibit development proved to be an effective strategy for increasing active family learning.     

Anything,Anywhere, Anytime: The Promise of the ANimated Tutorial Sharing Project for Online and Mobile Information Literacy

ABSTRACT

Reaching and teaching users in the diffuse, multigadget, online/mobile world is a significant challenge facing libraries. This article discusses how the ANimated Tutorial Sharing Project (ANTS) production model provides libraries with a sustainable approach to building large numbers of multimedia learning objects that are useful beyond one library. It will also discuss how ANTS file conversion and syndication efforts mean that these learning objects (1) can be made highly visible to users accessing content via a computer or smart phone and (2) enable libraries to establish a meaningful electronic presence for the purpose of providing point-of-need information literacy.     

Libraries and Distance Education in Nigerian Universities: A Revisit

The emergence of the system of open and distance education is an inevitable development in the evolution of education internationally. With the increasing popularity of distance education, focus has turned to the role of libraries in the distance learning process. The library is an important tool for individuals' intellectual development. Academic libraries contain resources for research, teaching, and learning. This paper examines the efforts being made by Nigerian university libraries to fulfill the information needs of distance education students in their respective institutions.

This study was carried out in four Nigerian universities running distance education programs. The questionnaire method was used for data collection. The respondents used in this study were randomly selected from the distance learning (DL) students of the universities under study. It was discovered that DL students were not adequately catered for as far as the use of library resources is concerned. A student could graduate without having used libraries. The study recommends that adequate planning and financing should be made for DL students to be able to make use of the libraries and information resources. It adds that this would enhance their critical thinking and also enhance their degree of exposure to existing knowledge.     

“Lots of Questions about ‘Fake News’”: How Public Libraries Have Addressed Media Literacy, 2016–2018

ABSTRACT

This exploratory research investigates how American public libraries have addressed the issue of media literacy in their communities from 2016 to 2018, including programs, partnerships, and other initiatives. The authors selected this period because events, such as the 2016 U.S. presidential election, contributed to an increased national concern about media literacy. This study fills a research gap by providing a broader assessment of public library responses to this issue, as most of the published literature thus far stems from academic libraries. An electronic survey solicited data from both a stratified purposive sample and a self-selecting sample of public libraries throughout the United States (U.S.). Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from sixty-five public libraries revealed several key themes related to media literacy initiatives, including types of initiatives developed, initiatives deemed most successful by staff, community response to initiatives, and reasons for not pursuing initiatives. Findings denote the current state of how public libraries address media literacy and offer practical guidance for those developing media literacy initiatives. Key findings are as follows: lack of staff time is the reason most often cited for not engaging in media literacy initiatives; more effective measurements are needed to assess both community needs and outcomes of library initiatives; “fake news” is a topic of interest in the community and among library staff; and there appears to be a relationship between staff interest in the topic and perceived interest on the part of the public, which may impact efforts to address the issue. Implications for practice resulting from those findings include engaging in initiatives that maximize service while minimizing staff time involvement; measuring and assessing community interests as well as outcomes of initiatives; using trending topics such as “fake news” to increase interest in library services; and continuing to increase staff awareness of and training in issues deemed important by the library community.     

超越图书馆：寻求变革方向——第77届国际图联大会观感

在简要总结国际图书馆界对图书馆面临挑战的相关调研的基础上,着重介绍国际图联2011年会关于图书馆变革的讨论,分析“试验与展示”型图书馆、围绕用户过程的图书馆服务、作为多元化社会交互与合作媒介的图书馆等发展愿景,描述研究与教学信息服务、支撑智慧化城市、支持跨学科知识沟通与构建等变革经验,报告人们通过云服务、营销与推广、科学数据服务等来支撑发展的努力。     

Strategies That Public Libraries Use to Build Communities

This article is a companion to “The Role of Public Libraries in Community Building,” which appeared in Public Library Quarterly 30, no. 3. That article explored five facets of public libraries as agencies of community building: (1) how libraries serve as a conduit to access information and to learn, (2) how libraries encourage social inclusion and equity, (3) how libraries foster civic engagement, (4) how libraries create a bridge to resources and community involvement, and (5) how libraries promote economic vitality within the community. The goal of this article is to provide concrete examples of library community building. The focus here, therefore, is on the specific strategies that libraries employed to create and operate library programs that effectively built a library community.     

Core competencies for information professionals of Thai academic libraries in the next decade (A.D. 2010–2019)

This research aimed to develop core competencies framework for information professionals of Thai academic libraries in the next decade (2010–2019). The study consisted of two phases, Phase 1- the study of opinions about the roles of Thai academic libraries and information professionals in the next decade (Tanloet & Tuamsuk, 2011) and Phase 2- the development of core competencies framework conducted by using the Delphi technique. This paper presents Phase 2 of the study. The research conceptual framework on core competencies for information professionals was synthesized and adopted from several resources including [Gulati and Raina, 2000] , [Gorman and Corbitt, 2002] , [Abels et?al., 2003] and [Ashcroft, 2004] and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Library (2007). The subject of this small Delphi study included 21 experts from the following three groups: eight instructors of library and information science, eight administrators/practitioners of academic libraries, and five scholars who have had active roles in the library and information professionals. Data were collected in three rounds and analyzed by using the median, mode, and inter-quartile range. Results of the study were concluded and discussed on the three following core competencies for information professionals of Thai academic libraries in the next decade. 1) The Knowledge - consists of eight areas including knowledge of the foundations of information profession, information resources, information and knowledge management, information technology, library and information services, organizational management, research and user studies, and continuing education and lifelong learning. 2) The Skills – consist of 11 skills including user services, information resource management, information technology, marketing, language and communication, team working, analytical thinking, problem solving and decision making, management and planning, teaching and training, conceptual thinking, and knowledge management skills. 3) The personal attributes – consist of seven characteristics including the leadership, service mentality, morals and professional ethics, achievement motivation, accountability, self-management and adaptability.     

Libraries and Living Learning Communities: Exploring strategies for outreach and programming

Living Learning Communities (LLCs) are first-year student residence groups based on a shared academic focus, interest, or social identity. Key to LLC success is co-curricular engagement, which can be greatly aided by library involvement. Because much of the literature on library outreach to LLCs was published two decades ago, the authors conducted a survey of academic librarians in North America to learn about the prevalence of library/LLC partnerships today. The authors learned that at many institutions with LLCs, the library is involved or is planning to be involved in offering outreach or programing to LLCs. Outreach to LLCs is primarily instruction- and library services- based, and the mechanism for delivering outreach varies widely across institutions. Survey results show that most libraries who target LLCs for outreach believe their efforts are successful and that the greatest challenge in sustaining these efforts is staffing.