Preparing for the millennium: the case for using marketing strategies - Marketing of Library and Information Services

* in both sectors, there is intended interaction between producer and consumer.

* the word "product" is derived from "producer," and the library does produce a range of services.

* the desired interaction is grounded in an exchange of commodities. In the profit sector, the exchange involves items or services that are offered for purchase; in the nonprofit sector, the exchange involves items or services that are supported by tax monies, contributions, or other support. (p. 132)

The library's products can be arranged within the three-dimensional structure of product mix, product line, and product item. Examples of library products can be arranged as follows:

Product Mix

Product Line #1. Collection * Product Items: Books, periodicals, videos and films, audio recordings

Product Line #2. Services * Product Items: Circulation, interloan, online searches, reference service

Product Line #3. Programs * Product Items: Bibliographic instruction, displays, lectures

This arrangement puts the various library products into context: individual product items are collected into product lines that express commonality of purpose, and the totality of product lines form the overall product mix offered by the library to the community. The library provides a range of products/services to its community, including the collection, reference/information service, hours during which there is access to the collection and professional expertise, bibliographic instruction and other programming, and so forth. Some of the library's products are traditional and have been in existence for many years. Other products have been developed more recently, such as online searching, microcomputers for in-library use, and databases on CD-ROM, to name a few.

Expansion and Contraction

In this time of rapid change, it becomes increasingly important that library managers and staff continually assess the products currently being offered in light of community needs, developing technologies, and societal shifts. Too often the library's products remain the same with additions during times when money is available - no real analysis of product timeliness and effectiveness is routinely done.

There is a time for a product to emerge: it will develop and enjoy a peak time, there will be an inevitable decline due to changing conditions, and, finally, there must come a time of phase out. In libraries, this life cycle may be interrupted during the decline phase because of staff reluctance to part with traditional services, and products may "hang on" long past the point of real effectiveness. Therefore, it is crucial that products be regularly evaluated during the annual planning cycle and library staff need to become comfortable with the concept of a normal product life cycle. Figure 2 lists criteria that may help the process of assessing both present products and ideas for potential products.

Once this evaluation of each present and potential product is completed, those products appearing to be the most appropriate to the library's goals and objectives must also be reassessed in light of cost and demand. This, however, is not possible until the cost to produce each product is calculated.