Justifying the place of the Library in the institution
Author:
Judy Powles
Spurgeon's College Library
March 2007
"People find all they want on the internet these days. Why do they need a Library?"
"Libraries cost money - let's cut the library budget - we don't need so many books, journals and staff …"
Overview of Presentation
- Why bother?
- What is marketing?
- Why is your library essential to your institution?
- Can it make money?
- Why is the internet not the answer?
- Developing an action plan
- Conclusion
Why bother?
- All departments in your institution are asking for money for THEIR needs.
- The governing body see the internet as a cheap alternative to a library.
- They don't use it so they don't want it.
- The library is an easy target for cuts - staff and books cost MONEY.
- …If this isn't your situation TODAY, don't be complacent - it could happen TOMORROW.
Remember …
Many libraries fail because:
- the Governing Body does not understand what the Library offers.
- This means that the Library (this means YOU!) has failed to communicate to the Governing Body what it offers.
What is Marketing?
- Not advertising!
- Looking at your organisation
- Seeing its needs
- Designing services to suit your users
- Communicating those services
- Refining those services as your users' needs change
Why is your library essential?
- Validation/Accreditation requirements
- Marketing possibilities
- Income generation
- Publishing explosion
- Patterns of study
- We can't rely on borrowing from/using other libraries
- We can't rely on electronic resources - the internet is not the answer
Validation/Accreditation requirements
- Essential to maintain good standards (book/journal stock + physical environment) to fulfil validation requirements.
- A poor library facility may harm validation process.
Marketing possibilities
- In a competitive recruitment market potential students may be put off by an unwelcoming library area.
- An exciting, attractive library facility will ATTRACT APPLICATIONS - the library can be the shop-front for your institution
- This means more MONEY for the institution! Income generation
- An attractive library with generous study space and good security can be marketed to EXTERNAL users.
- This will provide significant income
- And …
- Raise the profile of the institution in the wider world.
Publishing explosion
- The amount of new material published each year in Biblical studies and Theology has RISEN.
- Therefore MORE space, not less, is required.
- Large scale stock weeding is not good practice because:-
- Inter-library loan support is less reliable in the current era
Patterns of study
- More students want to sit in a library area for quiet study.
- They value a peaceful environment away from telephones and family distractions.
- Books in heavy demand often need to be consulted in the Library.
- A comfortable, welcoming environment encourages library use
Reliance on Inter-Library loans
- Not good policy to assume a library can borrow from other libraries to supplement a poor book budget.
- Most libraries are having to cut back for space/budgetary problems, even national libraries.
- Inter-Library loans are EXPENSIVE
Reliance on Other Libraries
- It is less easy for students to gain access to other institutions who themselves may have insufficient study spaces or staff to cope with visitor enquiries.
- External access can be expensive.
- Do our students pay for themselves to join other libraries or do we pay for them? - an added expense.
Reliance on Electronic Resources
- There are undoubted benefits, especially in reference material and some key texts
- But …
- You must note the following …
Significant factors
- Much theological/biblical research material is NOT available electronically
- And NEVER will be.
- Copyright is a major issue here.
Module delivery
- If our organisations still favour the use of PRINTED material in module delivery, are our students likely to become increasingly dependent on electronic resources?
Problems with suppliers/publishers
- Electronic resources can be withdrawn at any time by a supplier/publisher if not making a profit.
- A publisher may go bankrupt
- This would mean that electronic access to back issues is no longer available.
- With a hard-copy subscription a library retains all back issues even if a publisher ceases to trade.
Costs of access to electronic resources
- May escalate beyond one's budgetary resources.
- Some publishers have already introduced huge increases in subscription rates to allow a "premium rate" for access to back issues.
Selection criteria - the library shelf versus Google!
- Books added to library stock have gone through a selection/evaluation process.
- Material on the internet has not.
- For example, a Google search on "Genesis" gives 50 million+ hits. Even a search on "Genesis commentary" gives 1 million+ hits - and nothing on the first page can be recommended.
- Searching along a shelf of Genesis commentaries is much more efficient and effective.
Internet = an overrated tool
- People who already have good academic skills can use it wisely, but:-
- Less able students do not have the skills to weigh up the academic reliability of internet sites and material.
- Books/journals on a Library shelf …
- have gone through an editorial process before publication, and then -
- Have passed a selection process to be included in the Library
Handling a book
- Students learn from handling a book ….
- At a glance they can get an idea of its publication date - is it recent or not?
- Using sources on the internet, they can easily quote from something which was published in the 19th century and which may be totally out of date.
Reading speed
- It has been proved that reading speed is SIGNIFICANTLY quicker from books rather than the internet.
- "Reading online or on paper: which is faster?" by Sri H. Kurniawan and Panayiotis Zaphiris
http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/
S.Kurniawan/files/HCII_reading.pdf
Printing costs
- Printing out material from the internet is wasteful and often more expensive than buying a book containing the same material.
The digital ice-age!
- It is a recognised fact that there are significant problems with keeping the formatting of digital files up to date.
- A recent article "The Digital Ice Age" in an American journal "Popular Mechanics" (December 2006) http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4201645.html shows that the documents of our time are being recorded in digital format with no guarantee of future readability.
- As technologies change, we may find our files frozen in forgotten formats
Terrorism?
- What would happen if electronic terrorism closed the internet or shut down the electricity supply for a significant period of time?
- To assume this could not happen is burying one's head in the sand.
The printed book rules!
- The vast majority of library users, if asked, prefer the PRINTED copy.
- They do not like consulting texts on screen.
- This is the case across the age range - and includes younger students.
Developing an action plan
- Decide what the Governing Body needs to know about the Library, then …
- Identify what the Library can contribute to the organisation's purpose/mission.
- Communicate this CLEARLY
- Use positive "Can-Do" statements
- Don't MOAN and don't be negative!
Work out your Unique Selling Points (USPs)
- Emphasise:-
- The Library is great value for money
- It has great recruitment potential - the "shop-front".
- The Library contains high quality information - better than Google!
- The Library's information can be trusted - selection criteria have been used.
- It supports the institution's curriculum needs.
More USPs
- Library staff save time for both academic staff and students, and help with study skills for students.
- Library staff remove stress for both academic staff and students
- Library staff help academic staff in their research - leading to publications which raise the profile of the institution.
- The Library helps to preserve and distribute this research.
- Library users can talk to library staff in person.
- The friendly, personal touch of the information professional is all IMPORTANT.
Emphasise the risks if the Library is not maintained
- An unattractive, poorly maintained library will mean that potential students will go elsewhere, thus losing income for the institution
- External users will go elsewhere, thus losing income.
- Validation may be lost
- Students may not perform well - Standards will fall.
- Potential students will go elsewhere
More risks …
- Academic staff will not achieve their research objectives - Standards will fall.
- Potential new academic staff will go elsewhere where there is good library support.
- Research will be lost.
- Standards will fall further.
- More income will be lost …
The result of this could be …
- THE INSTITUTION CLOSES!
Action plan - final step
- PROVE that your Library is making a DIFFERENCE to the institution.
- Use verbatim comments from library users - academic staff and students - showing how they value what the Library and the Library staff offer.
- Use statistics showing usage, etc.
Conclusion
- By emphasising your Unique Selling Points and …
- Communicating effectively with your Governing Body, you can show that …
- Your Library deserves a place at the heart of your institution - fully funded and maintained.