Here are more things you can read to learn about various aspects of marketing & promotion. I’ve broken them down by topic instead of creating a straight alphabetical list. I’ll be adding to this list as I get time to write up more citations.
Branding
- 4imprint (promo-product company). “Maintaining Your Brand.” company website. (available as podcast or PDF) Oct. 15, 2006.
- Circle, Alison and Bierman, Kerry. “The House Brand: How giving up many brands in exchange for one created a marketing plan with big impact.” Library Journal, June 15, 2009.
- Doucett, Elisabeth. Creating Your Library Brand: Communicating Your Relevance and Your Value to Patrons. Chicago: ALA, 2008.
- Keller, James A. “Branding and Marketing Your Library (PDF).” Public Libraries, v. 47, n. 5, Sept./Oct. 2008.
- Shamel, Cynthia. “Building a Brand: Got Librarian?” Searcher, v. 10, n. 7, July/August 2002.
- Stimson, Nancy F. “Library change as a branding opportunity: Connect, reflect, research, discover.” C&RL News, vol. 68, no. 11, Dec. 2007.
- Yun, Sejan. “How We Built a New Library Identity.” Marketing Library Services, v. 18, n. 2, March/April 2004.
- Branding Your Library: a set of web resources on ResourceShelf
Definitions
- “What ‘Marketing’ Really Means,” definitions of commonly confused marketing words from a post on The M Word blog
- Glossary of Marketing Definitions from IFLA
Finding Support for Marketing
- Ashcroft, Linda, 2002. “Issues in Developing, Managing and Marketing Electronic Journals Collections.” Collection Building (PDF), v. 21, n. 4. Emerald,
- Elliott, Donald S.; Holt, Glen E.; Hayden, Sterling W.; and Holt, Leslie Edmonds, 2007. Measuring Your Library’s Value: How to Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis for Your Public Library. Chicago: ALA Editions. ISBN: 978-0-8389-0923-2.
- Hart, Keith, 1999. Putting Marketing Ideas into Action. London: Library Association Publishing. 99 pgs., paperback. ISBN: 1-85604-182-4. $30. (In the US, order from Bernan Associates, Lanham, MD, 301/459-2255.)
- Huwe, Terence K., 2006. “Empower the Staff First for More Effective Outreach.” Computers in Libraries, v. 26, n. 8, September.
- Koontz, C. M., 2007. “Identifying and Utilizing Library Stakeholders.” Marketing Library Services, v. 21, n. 3, May/June.
- Siess, Judith, 2003. The Visible Librarian: Asserting Your Value with Marketing and Advocacy. Chicago: ALA Editions. ISBN: 0-8389-0848-9.
- Weinstein, Beth, 2003. “For the Best Library Marketing, Get Your Whole Staff on Board,” Marketing Library Services, v. 14, n. 1, Jan./Feb.
Quotes
Quotations about Libraries and Librarians from IFLA.
Library Quotes from Brainy Quote
Return on Investment
- Articles and Studies Related to Library Value (Return on Investment) is a great resource compiled by ALA. It includes articles, books, studies, and presentations from around the world.
- Return on Investment in Florida Public Libraries is a 2010 study commissioned by the State Library and Archives of Florida.
- Return on Investment Study of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library 2010 is the result of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute doing a joint study to estimate the value of public libraries to Mecklenburg County residents in 2010.
- Stop the Madness: The Insanity of ROI and the Need for New Qualitative Measures of Academic Library Success, by James Neal. Paper from ACRL’s 2011 conference in Philadelphia.
- Towards Demonstrating Value: Measuring the Contributions of Library Collections to University Research and Teaching Goals, by Denise Pan, Gabrielle Wiersma, and Yem Fong. Paper from ACRL’s 2011 conference in Philadelphia.
Social Media
- 4imprint (promo-product company). “The New Social Scene.” company website. (available as podcast or PDF) July 21, 2008.
- “Connecting With Students Where They Are: On Facebook” by Miller, Sarah Elizabeth and Jensen, Lauren A., Marketing Library Services, v 21, n 5, Sept/Oct 2007. p 1-3.
- Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian’s Guide by Laura Solomon. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1067-2.
- “HOW TO: Create a Facebook Engagement Policy” by Leyl Master Black. Mashable.com, Jan. 31, 2011.
- “Marketing library services through Facebook groups” by Xia, Z. D. Library Management, 30, Jan. 2009. p 469-478.
- “Measure the Results of Your Activity on Social Media Sites” by Fichter, Darlene and Wisniewski, Jeff. Marketing Library Services, v 23, n 2, March/April 2009. p 7-9.
- Teens & Social Media in School & Public Libraries: A Toolkit for Librarians & Library Workers, from YALSA, Feb. 2011.
Stock Photos
Librarians who design brochures, fliers, websites, posters, and other materials often need images to use. I discourage the use of simple clip-art in most cases. Photographs and other images are more modern and evoke more feelings in viewers. But unless you’re lucky enough to have your own photographer to send on assignment, you’re going to need to get your photos from a stock source. I’ve found a number of them and listed them here. Some are free, but most of the good shots cost a few dollars.
Many of today’s stock image sites allow you to design subscriptions where you can buy just a few images per year, or buy thousands. Bulk buys are always cheaper. If you don’t use many photos, look into joining with others in your system or county, or see if you can subscribe via your regional cooperative. You could even buy a one-month subscription, download the maximum number of pics it allows, and then store them until you need them.
Most of these sites say their photos are “royalty-free.” This does not mean that the photos are free. This copyright term means that you do not have to pay a separate royalty to the photographer every time you use the shot. This simplifies payments for the end-user and is an excellent reason to work through these stock collections (which deal with the royalties for you). Once you’ve bought a royalty-free photo from your chosen site, you can use it as often as you like.
- Dreamstime
This site offers both FREE stock photos and royalty-free photos to buy. Its “About” section very clearly spells out how to register, buy, and use the pictures. - FreePixels
There are plenty of FREE images here. And there are useful sets, including one of computer shots and another of abstract backgrounds. - Flickr
Don’t overlook everyone’s online photo albums. There are plenty of library-related photos there (some taken by your peers!) and if you see one you like, you can email the owner and ask permission to use it. Many times, they’ll allow this for free, especially for your nonprofit library. - Getty Images
This is the granddaddy of all image sites. It’s an international distributor of royalty-free stock photos, news images and footage, vintage photos, royalty-free video and even has music and archival video footage. The site has extensive info on licensing. Getty’s product’s cost money, but if you need something extremely current or really outstanding, they’ll have it. This is what the pros use. - iStockphoto
A “member-generated image and design community” that contains royalty-free photographs, vector illustrations, video footage, audio tracks, and Flash files. Join for free, then you have three options: 1) Pay per image as you go, 2) Buy “credits” in bulk and “spend” daily, or 3) Create a corporate account. Charges vary per image according to file size and complexity, and it’s cheaper to buy your credits in bulk. - Photos.com
A subscription-based service for royalty-free photos. Various subscription offers for different lengths of time and prices. Has a blog and a member forum. - Shutterstock
Massive collection of royalty-free photos. Offers different levels of subscriptions for different prices. Plenty of shots of modern libraries, including laptops, etc. The site works in various languages. - Stock.XCHNG
A FREE site of royalty-free stock photos. You can use photos and contribute your own. Site has its own blog and includes image-manipulation tutorials. An image search for “library” has fewer results than other sites, but these are free. Search gives the option of seeing more “premium results” on iStockphoto, which is fee-based. - Veer.com
This site says it has “microstock images for budgets big and small.” - List called 50+ Sites with Free Stock Photography from the Literary Spring Designs blog
- Article from Digital Image Magazine
This article from June 08 lists 25 free stock photo sites and gives a little info about each one. In the comments that follow, readers have suggested even more. (I have not checked to see if all are still valid.) - Blog Post on Fearless Future
This blog post from August 06 (by a designer) lists various sources for stock photographs. (I have not checked to see if all are still valid.)
Value of Libraries
- “College Research Tips” video from Modesto Junior College Instruction Librarian Kathleen Ennis. 3.5 minutes on how library resources allow students to do better, faster online research. Explained in language that’s perfect for college students.
- Huffington Post, special section, “Libraries in Crisis.” Links to many articles and blog posts that attempt to explain the current plight of libraries and why they still matter. 2011-2012.
- “Libraries Success by Constantly Evolving” article from The Huffington Post. By Susan H. Hildreth, Director of IMLS. Jan. 13, 2012.
- Literacy Inquiry (report). from the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education. Supports the importance of school & public libraries in increasing literacy. “The APPG recommends that to raise literacy standards, a well-rounded reading culture needs to be encouraged.” 2011. This blog post from Voices for the Library gives an overview.
- “Professional Librarians” blog post from the UK’s Voices for the Library blog. Why libraries need to be run by professionals, not just volunteers. Nov. 28, 2010.
Web Marketing Strategies
- Article from The Yahoo! Style Guide called called “Eye-Tracking: Where Do Readers Look First?” Explains how people’s eyes scan web pages, where they look most often. This is where your most important content should be.
- Research published May 2011: “No Clicks, No Problem: Using Cursor Movements to Understand and Improve Search.” Done by Microsoft & the University of Washington iSchool. Tracking where people look and place cursors on pages can help understand user behavior and thereby help design better websites. An article on the Marketingsherpa blog explains more.
- There is a long, well-organized post called “A Complete List of the Many Forms of Web Marketing for 2008” on a blog called Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang. It discusses many forms of web marketing, including using portals, SEO, email, social media, widgets, virtual worlds, and much more. In the intro, the author explains: “This document catalogs the many tools and tactics available for corporate web strategy in 2008. Even if your strategy or resource limitations restrict you from entering all spaces, awareness of the changes in our digital landscape are critical. This document is intended for decision makers roles such as CMO/VP/Director of Web and Marketing.”