Marketing of Electronic Resources in IIT Libraries

Abstract

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) libraries at Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, and Roorkee have been subscribing to over 15000 e-journals, e-books, databases and other e-resources either individually or in consortia mode and spending a substantial part of their acquisition budget for over a decade now. This paper attempts to study the marketing efforts being made by these libraries to improve the awareness and increase the usage of these resources. Marketing-related data were collected through a questionnaire, personal visits, and discussions with the librarians, and the usage data were obtained from publishers. Data analysis revealed that e-resources in all IITs are being heavily used as the number of downloads have increased from 32,33,818 to 75,23,371 reflecting a growth of 132 % over a period of 9 years. The IIT libraries adopt multipronged approach and use 27 marketing techniques to promote their resources. The study also showed that there were downward fluctuations in usage in different years. It is suggested that these libraries shall regularly re-look at the marketing strategies and techniques; study their impact on the awareness and usage of the e-resources; identify and remove the bottlenecks; and make additional efforts including interacting with the users to ensure optimum utilisation of these resources.

Marketing methods for electronic resources in medical libraries: a study on the application of the analytical hierarchy process

“…Therefore, promoting, monitoring, and controlling usage is not less important than providing access. Due to the enormous annual costs incurred by academic libraries in providing access to electronic resources, it is essential to ensure their effective use [6,7]. Adequate knowledge, enough time, easy access, information literacy training, information acquisition skills, and effective marketing methods also affect the use of electronic resources [6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

“…Due to the enormous annual costs incurred by academic libraries in providing access to electronic resources, it is essential to ensure their effective use [6,7]. Adequate knowledge, enough time, easy access, information literacy training, information acquisition skills, and effective marketing methods also affect the use of electronic resources [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Using information-based marketing methods, such as providing information to users about electronic resources, can increase their usage [12,13].…”

“…In some cases, students and even faculty members and university researchers are not sufficiently informed to select the right path in searching for information from various available databases [8,10,11]. Therefore, implementing and strengthening library resource marketing programs could increase the number of visits and use of electronic resources, resulting in the achievement of new successes in providing offline and remote services to users (7,19,22,23). Successful marketing requires knowing enough about users' needs.…”

“…Also, some methods such as interpersonal communication or the advice of influential people have been positively used in academic settings. In addition, librarians' interactions with users can increase the use of electronic resources [ 7 ]. Therefore, it is necessary to use multiple marketing strategies to promote users' access to, and use of, electronic resources.…”

User Perception Towards E-resources and Services of IIT-Guwahati Library

“…IIT-Guwahati has been acquiring a large number of web-based e-resources for its users. The Library now have access to over 12000 full-text e-journals, e-books, and databases which can be accessed by the users through library homepage both on and off-the-campus 4 .…”