Marketing information and library services: are people learning about it?

Abstract

It is argued that the increasing trend for business schools to focus on marketing tangible products to consumers makes it increasingly important for future information professionals to learn about services and business-to-business (B2B) marketing. The degree to which marketing is taught in UK library schools was investigated in a survey, conducted in Summer 2001, of the extent to which library and information services (LIS) marketing and quality management were being taught as part of the curriculum. The study was a companion to ones covering the situation in North America (France Bouthillier at McGill University) and in Brazil (Sueli Mara S.P Ferreira of Sao Paulo University). The results from all three surveys were presented at the seminar held by the IFLA Management and Marketing Section, Quebec, August 2001. In the UK survey, all Library Association/ Institute of Information Scientists accredited courses (21 undergraduate and 37 postgraduate) were mailed. Questionnaires were sent to Heads of Department in each of the 17 institutions with relevant courses, where respondents were asked whether they regularly offered classes in marketing of library and information services and the management of service quality. Out of a total of 56 potential returns, 18 questionnaires were returned by eight institutions (32 per cent response rate) with eight related to undergraduate courses (38% response rate) and ten to Master’s (27% response rate). The key results of the survey are summarized. It is concluded that there has been steady improvement in the teaching of marketing to information professionals over the years, but that the change is taking place slowly.