ANN ARBOR, Mich., November 19, 2007 - College and university librarians play a key role in academic success. Part of that mission is educating students on when to use the free Web for homework and research assignments, and when using the free web is a serious mistake. Juggling many priorities in addition to this crucial goal, staff members are hard pressed to create awareness of the library's online resources and encourage time-challenged students to give them a try. To address this, ProQuest today launches a free Library Marketing Toolkit designed for academic librarians.

"The Toolkit idea is an outgrowth of work we've done with a number of libraries and consortia to develop marketing strategies that build awareness and desire for the library's online collections," said Lynda James-Gilboe, senior vice president of marketing and customer care for ProQuest. "The warm reception for last year's marketing kit for public libraries led us to tackle one for academic libraries. Based on real issues our customers face, this kit focuses on positioning library resources versus the open Web." 

The Library Marketing Toolkit combines a wealth of "how-to" advice from Beth Dempsey, library marketing expert, speaker, and author, with library best practices and print and digital marketing tools that are easy to customize for individual libraries.  Among the program's components are:

• How-to guide on Marketing Your Library's Online Resources
• Menu of database descriptions that speak "patron" rather than library language
• Customizable promotional flier, advertisement, and postern
• Customizable press release and radio script
• A digital "commercial" that can be downloaded to the library's homepage

"Academic libraries are serving digital natives – a sophisticated and demanding market, but one that’s also discerning about information quality… and that’s where libraries have an edge,” said Dempsey. "This kit is designed to help libraries leverage their competitive strengths two ways.First, we want to help libraries identify and break down the barriers between them and students. And, second, we want to make it easier to get the word out to students on how they can save time and earn better grades by using the library.”

The Library Marketing Toolkit was recently mailed to academic libraries across the United States and is available free to any interested library.  To download the materials visit the ProQuest website at http://www.il.proquest.com/division/libraryadvocacy.shtml 

 

About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as Chadwyck-Healey™, UMI®, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.

More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.

For more information, visit www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, www.cig.com.