Marketing information resources and services on the web

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to address and analyse the current status of university library websites in Bangladesh. Particularly, it is focused on all universities accredited by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh. The purpose of this paper is to describe the marketing initiatives taken by university libraries to promote collection and services to their clientele. Design/methodology/approach – For this study, university library websites were examined using a checklist of criteria developed from earlier studies and present websites. A total of 57 university library websites were examined and most of the websites were visited at least two times during the assessment, which started by checking the availability of direct and non-direct links from the home page of the parent institution followed by website assessment against the checklist. The paper also draws upon the authors’ personal experiences and observations. Findings – The study identified that the websites are not fully utilized for marketing library resources and services, and that university libraries are not maximizing their promotional activities. A majority of libraries did not make any effort to provide online literacy courses, live support, copyright documents, online user surveys, networking, and so on. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to Bangladeshi university libraries and generalization to others is to be cautioned, but there are important lessons to be learned. Practical implications – This paper will be helpful to libraries planning to implement a marketing strategic plan to improve outreach to users and enhance the image of the library. Originality/value – The present study is new in Bangladesh and reveals several marketing strategies that may be useful to other academic libraries.