[WEB4LIB] Re: library marketing was RE: Google Mail

[Ross Singer]

On Mon, February 14, 2005 10:06 pm, Fiona Bradley said:

> What does market share mean to libraries? Does it mean library
> systems
> competing with each other to achieve higher gate numbers?
>

Ok, "market share" might not be the right term.  What is "consumer
perception"?  When I think of books (or, increasingly, anything) I
immediately go to Amazon first.  If I'm in a strange town and
thirst for a cup of coffee, I immediately would seek a Starbucks
(this isn't entirely true, but there is some truth to this),
especially if I didn't see any other viable options nearby.

> I searched Starbucks' annual report for 2004 and didn't find any
> market
> share figures (no surprise there). Someone with access to business
> databases should be able to find this information though, if they
> feel
> the need!

Actually, someone should be able to right-mouse click on the
Starbucks' prospectus page and be presented with a menu of items
from their local library's databases that would be relevant to
looking at Starbucks' prospectus.  That's what I mean by ubiquity.


> Agreed. As bad as card catalogues were, they were pretty much the
> same
> in every library. Now, users have to learn new ways to search
> every time
> they use a new library. We are expecting too much of users.
>

This is so true.  And I believe we buy into this myth of "the
power user" who would be disappointed if we didn't provide the
format of the MARC record in our catalog.  I do think some of our
users are sophisticated, but that's no reason not to come up with
something better or more intuitive.  We're not selling out if we
do.


> Most websites tend to have a larger audience than those situated
> geographically close to the local library, so it makes sense to
> link to
> sites that are perceived to be global like Amazon.

This is because we aren't desperately coming up with ways to make
the web work for us.  We are a reactive and conservative bunch, by
and large.  Some proactive innovation could serve us well.

 Though
> certainly it
> would be nice if people started linking to National Library
> holdings,
> that would be a start. And libraries could have a great
> opportunity to
> widen their profile in the local community if they developed ways
> to
> link to catalogue items on the websites of local radio stations,
> newspapers, and other organisations.

This would definitely be a step in the right direction.

-Ross.


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