Marketing Your Library's Electronic Resources, 2nd Edition

Marketing Your Library's Electronic Resources, 2nd Edition. By Marie R. Kennedy and Cheryl LaGuardia. Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman, 2018. 218 p. (ISBN: 9-780-8389-1565-3).

This how-to manual for librarians provides valuable information on how libraries can use marketing to increase usage and better serve patrons. While it discusses electronic resource (e-resource) examples and issues, the true focus is on larger concepts that apply to marketing any type of library resource. It provides a valuable reference for librarians seeking to implement a marketing plan. The second edition has new examples of marketing plans from real institutions. The authors' stated goals are to "give colleagues the specific means of developing, implementing, and assessing marketing plans for e-resource collection management," and to improve awareness of the value of e-resources among library users (xvi). They succeed in providing content that will help library practitioners of all levels of experience in marketing e-resources.

The first six chapters, grouped as part 1, discuss concepts, practicalities, and assessments of marketing plans. Several of these chapters include recommended reading lists. The authors contend that essential questions must be considered before haphazard marketing is attempted and that all marketing activities should take place within the structure of a marketing plan that addresses nine...