Marketing an established institutional repository: Marquette Libraries’ research stewardship survey

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the results of Marquette University Libraries’ survey measuring faculty knowledge and attitudes about the institution’s repository, for the purposes of creating a marketing plan for the institutional repository (IR). Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a quantitative approach through the use of a survey. Findings – Like many other endeavors to measure faculty engagement with the IR, the investigators discovered that faculty knowledge of the IR is not universal. Moreover, the perceived values and motivators for faculty use of the IR were also not surprising, with faculty viewing online dissemination of their work to be the most valuable feature offered by the IR, and furthering their own careers was the prime motivator. The importance of continual and varied methods of marketing is reaffirmed. Originality/value – Whereas many articles on faculty recruitment for IRs agree on the importance of marketing, very few suggest specific strategies. The investigators make suggestions for continual and varied marketing methods based on their findings.