Marketing of Information Management Services
‘Marketing of Library Services in Modern ways’
Marketing of information management centers’ services is vital to keeping their users and potential users informed and educated about the resources and services that match their needs and interests. Effective marketing skills are needed to increase awareness of the information center’s value and to expand its user base.Marketing in information centers is the link between its user’s needs and its resources and services; as aninformation marketer, he/she must create that link. His/her skills will help to connect the centerwith its users, so they will know how to get information many other ways without even coming to the information center building or interacting with information provider. With constant competition from other information providers centers, information providerneeds to communicate with their users that they can meet their needs better than other providers. With the development of technology, we just need to change that stereotype. Marketing of information centers reminds users that their center is still a great choice for meeting their information needs in today’s world.
Need of Marketing in Information Centers
Libraries and now information centers are facing a time of unexpected change and challenge. Recent technological developments are creating new forms of information, new sources of information and new ways of providing information bypassing traditional institutional like libraries. There has been an increasing pressure on libraries to mobilize resources and become self-reliant. Library users are transforming into customers with rising expectations, diverse needs and wants, and choices. Now, the real challenge for library and information professionals is not to manage the collection, staff and technology but to turn these resources into services. The concept of services has also changed, from basic to value added, from staff assisted to self -service, from in-house to outreach, from free to priced, from reactive to pro-active, and from masscustomization to individualized service.
In this environment information providers are finding new ways of serving users or customers effectively and efficiently. The information centers have gradually accepted both as relevant and beneficial ways. Marketing provides an opportunity to see as to how they can offer effective and efficient services to their users or customers.
Due to blast of information at global level, the more information available in the market, it is necessary to theinformation centersto meet the needs of users. In information management framework, the users are information needed, patrons, employees, etc. As such, satisfaction of the customer is of primary concern in the marketing process and the entire ethos and shared values of the organization owe the responsibility of satisfying the customer.
PAKISTANISCENARIO
The developments taken place world over influenced the Pakistani librarianship as well. There has been a number of developments in marketing of library and information management services in the country. Many of our schools are fully aware of this area and included the course of “LIS marketing in their curricula.
Dr. Haroon Idrees &Ataur Rehman (2009) introduced a third-party theory in LIS marketing. “Now it is not only a two-way communication and dissemination system from information provider to information users rather it also involved funding agency, doners (third-party)”.
Third-party
Information providers Information Users
Information centers are the best candidates for marketing among non-profit service organizations. The important thing is to understand the needs of users and communicate in the way they can understand and satisfied. The public image of the information centers comes through experiences or loyalty with their users. of truth when users. All promotion, advertisement, promises, will be wasteful if information centers are unable to transform these experiences into pleasant ones and that too from user’s point of view. Marketing helps the staff’s expertise, further an organization’s mission, promote services by quickly and efficiently finding the right information at the right time, and add value to an organization’s products and services. Without any promotional effort, some key individuals may not be supporters or even users of the Information Centre. Therefore, information centers will look impressive and will emerge as activists’ services providers to the users. Every service activity must be performed with a conscious mind to meet users’ needs exceptionally.
