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Marketing of academic health libraries 2.0: a case study

Marketing of academic health libraries 2.0: a case study The advent of Web 2.0 in libraries persuades the librarians to adopt new ways to communicate, determine, and satisfy the needs of the users. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachA 30-question questionnaire was given to 30 undergraduate medical students of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and a 10-question questionnaire was given to the librarian, to find out: the marketing and promotional strategies employed by the library; determine the awareness and satisfaction level of the users; prepare library profile, customer profile and market profile; and perform SWOT analysis. User responses were coded and processed using GNU PSPP software.FindingsFrom the library profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it can be concluded that the library has the potential to offer better services and products to its users. From the customer profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the most of its users are young male undergraduate students who use the library more on weekly basis. From the market profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the library has not invested in the marketing and has no promotion strategy or marketing strategy for its products and services. Also, the library has only one digital promotional activity. From the SWOT analysis of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the library does not use any of the social platforms to market its products and services. Most of the users are unaware of the services and products offered by the library. There are many opportunities for the library to work upon and improve the quality of products and services being offered to its users.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of the present study is its small sample size. It is very difficult to conduct surveys in health libraries because of the busy schedule of the undergraduate medical students and their reluctance to fill out lengthy questionnaires. However, this small sample size only made it possible to conduct the SWOT analysis on the basis of the users’ survey successfully. Further, the small sample size helped to take into account all the opportunities stated by the users which would not have been possible if a larger sample size was taken.Originality/valueThis study is one of a kind which provides an overview of marketing research of an academic health library of New Delhi (India) with a special focus on library profile, market profile, customer profile and SWOT analysis. It addresses the gaps in the literature by studying marketing in the context of academic health libraries in the digital environment. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Library Management Emerald Publishing

Marketing of academic health libraries 2.0: a case study

Library Management , Volume 40 (3/4): 23 – Mar 5, 2019

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References (21)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0143-5124
DOI
10.1108/lm-03-2018-0013
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The advent of Web 2.0 in libraries persuades the librarians to adopt new ways to communicate, determine, and satisfy the needs of the users. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachA 30-question questionnaire was given to 30 undergraduate medical students of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and a 10-question questionnaire was given to the librarian, to find out: the marketing and promotional strategies employed by the library; determine the awareness and satisfaction level of the users; prepare library profile, customer profile and market profile; and perform SWOT analysis. User responses were coded and processed using GNU PSPP software.FindingsFrom the library profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it can be concluded that the library has the potential to offer better services and products to its users. From the customer profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the most of its users are young male undergraduate students who use the library more on weekly basis. From the market profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the library has not invested in the marketing and has no promotion strategy or marketing strategy for its products and services. Also, the library has only one digital promotional activity. From the SWOT analysis of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the library does not use any of the social platforms to market its products and services. Most of the users are unaware of the services and products offered by the library. There are many opportunities for the library to work upon and improve the quality of products and services being offered to its users.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of the present study is its small sample size. It is very difficult to conduct surveys in health libraries because of the busy schedule of the undergraduate medical students and their reluctance to fill out lengthy questionnaires. However, this small sample size only made it possible to conduct the SWOT analysis on the basis of the users’ survey successfully. Further, the small sample size helped to take into account all the opportunities stated by the users which would not have been possible if a larger sample size was taken.Originality/valueThis study is one of a kind which provides an overview of marketing research of an academic health library of New Delhi (India) with a special focus on library profile, market profile, customer profile and SWOT analysis. It addresses the gaps in the literature by studying marketing in the context of academic health libraries in the digital environment.

Journal

Library ManagementEmerald Publishing

Published: Mar 5, 2019

Keywords: Web 2.0; SWOT analysis; Digital marketing; Health academic libraries; Products and services; Vardhman Mahavir Medical College

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