[WEB4LIB] Re: library marketing was RE: Google Mail invitations? Any takers?

[Stephen.DeGabrielle at nt.gov.au]

Free books!
No really - you can get books for free at your library - no charge at all 
!!!

Answer to A: I think this is something people really do want - and are 
getting in many libraries.
Do we really do it 'so-so'?  That hasn't been my experience.

As to B "make it easy to get" is it really harder to get your book from your local 
library than Amazon.com? 
Is gmail really trendy? or even desirable.  The invite facility is 
interesting but I am not sure what the smart people at google are learning 
from the invites process - obviously advertising to specific IT literate 
groups. (That are happy to buy online etc.)

My best guess is amazon.com as the best place to look for ideas 'selling' 
library services online.

Recommendations are something that libraries have always done - but don't 
do as well online. 
Other options include using existing networks/groups within the 
community.-  I keep thinking of the Viral-Marketing ploy used in William 
Gibsons novel 'Pattern Recognition' - where the attractive young person is 
paid to hang about in popular places and do viral marketing.
Also using our existing infrastructure to support more formalised groups 
would be good.

Some ideas; 
- We should be making recommendations/suggestions (based on past searches) 

as part of our library users login; 
- watch lists of favourite authors, subjects/topics/genres , publishers, 
periodicals and publishers.
- a 'recommend a book/service' to a friend (who may or may not be a 
library member) - that directs them to their local library for the 
equivalent service. 
- offer mini-portals/catalogues to specia-interest+/community groups as a 
way of targeting their networks.
- we have a membership management infrastructure - why not provide it to 
community groups gratis.
- maintain virtual 'special collections' for community groups. Many groups 
have their own collections/libraries that they have trouble 
maintaining/searching - yet still value highly - ask anyone who has been 
through a community theatre groups 'script collection' for instance.  (we 
wouldn't need to house the items - but we could loan a (Product)barcode 
scanner to get ISBNs and print out spine labels/card indexes at virtually 
no cost.

Not lurking for the moment, 

Stephen De Gabrielle
Northern Territory Library 
(Views contained within are my own - not my employers)

I'm sick of the Internet - I want a yabby net.

PS
I do have a gmail account - what nerd I am.





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