Marketing of library services: a case study of selected university libraries in Kenya

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractRegardless of the type, libraries are under pressure to justify their existence and funding through provision of customeror market-oriented services. This requires a shift from product or service orientation to customer or need orientation. Different marketing concepts provide libraries with the tools for collecting and analysing useful data about information needs of customers, which assists in designing, developing and delivering appropriate services. This paper examines the methods used by university libraries in Kenya to market their services to different categories of users and the problems experienced therein. It concludes that, although efforts have been made to achieve this, more emphasis must be put on promotion of the already existing services and therefore on the need for university libraries in Kenya to adapt more systematic techniques in collecting data on their user needs, if they are to design and deliver services that fit user requirements.

Locational Dynamics Influencing the Information Environment of Distance Learners in Botswana

“…It is understood that the Kenya National Library Service is provided with a list of recommended reference books. Another researcher in [15] confirms the earlier report in his findings that the Faculty of Education of the University of Nairobi used part of the fees paid by the external students to buy essential books and distributed them to students. This procedure was soon discontinued as it proved unsustainable.…”

Libraries and Distance Education in Nigerian Universities: A Revisit

“…They observed that while there is agreement among faculty members in distance learning programs that access to adequate library resources is essential for the attainment of superior academic skills, there exists an ambivalent attitude among the planners of these programs towards the role of these services to the distance learning community. This has hindered library personnel in designing services for distance learning (Kavulya, 2004). Another challenge is that resources in Nigerian universities libraries are already overstretched and inadequate for the needs of the academic and research staff and the full-time students.…”

“…The findings of Kavulya (2004), in his study of distance education in Kenya, showed that students in the four universities studied had access to local library and Internet resources. Dew (2001) argued that librarians must understand who their students are and what they want in order to have a successful library program for off-campus students.…”

“…Whitmore (2001) found that the students' use of the library and ICT increased during each successive year of study. Access to adequate library services and resources is essential for the attainment of superior academic skills in postsecondary education, regardless of where students, faculty, or programs are located (Kavulya 2004). Libraries are charged with providing distance education learners with user-based library services and information assistance required for successful completion of course-work, research papers, projects, independent reading, and research.…”

The model of effective library management in Rajabhat University

“…Academician mentions that public relations help to present good images of the library to the public and enable the library to achieve the goals of its service provision. Das and Karn (2008), Kavulya (2004), Konata (2006), and Sweeney and Richard (2005) state that in development of the library, one must take into consideration the following: (1) the creating of diversified resources for service provision of the library; (2) the application of marketing principles in providing services, for example, giving rewards to service users; (3) the creation of satisfaction of service users by arranging the atmosphere, buildings and facilities, materials and equipment that attract the interest of users and also applying technology to facilitate service provision; (4) the acquisition of appropriate information resources for service in the library that have passed the screening process to ensure that they come from reliable sources; (5) the adding of value to the information to make it more relevant to the needs of service users such as transforming the information from the printed form into the electronic form; (6) the library must put emphasis on responding to the needs of service users; (7) the formulation of rules and regulations for quality service provision of the library; the library and its service users must create agreement terms that are of standard and mutually understood; (8) the creation of innovations or new strategies for service provision; and (9) the library should plan for implementation of strategies with participation of library personnel.…”