To say the theme “Marketing of Libraries and Information Centres” is
a burning issue is stating the obvious. This is because Libraries and
Information Centres were seen as conservative non-profit-making organizations
with traditional values. But, this outlook seems to be changing due to the
challenge of change - social, technological, economic and political changes -
on the one hand, and the pressure of accountability and the emergence of
enterprise culture on the other.
However a lacuna exists in the transfer of information, especially
in interdisciplinary areas.As an immediate response, new services and products
were designed and developed. Ironically, however, the user felt that they were
not being served adequately and appropriately. This, perhaps, is true of many a
library and information centre in this sub-continent. Probably, by designing
and developing an appropriate marketing strategy, the situation could be
altered and improved upon. Therefore, if libraries are to “survive” or to
“thrive”, the complete spectrum of marketing approaches becomes essential.
This book has been structured to cover all aspects of Marketing. It
focuses on Marketing Concepts, Market Research & Market Segmentation,
Marketing Mix components(Product, Price, Place / Distribution), and
Communication mix, namely, Public Relations, Advertising, and Promotion. A presentation
on Marketing in Digital Environment, Customer Relationship Management and
Digital Legislation is also included. Since the current slogan on everyone’s
lips is ‘Self Sufficiency’ and / or ‘User Pays’ principle and ‘Profit-making’,
themes such as Costing, Pricing and Resource Generation have been extensively
discussed.
Dr. S.Seetharama was the former Head
& Faculty member of the Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC),
Bangalore of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Calcutta.
After completing M.Sc in Zoology, he joined in 1964 the course
leading to the Associateship in Documentation & Information Science of
DRTC. In the year 1984, he obtained the Ph.D degree from Karnatak University,
Dharwad. After working as an Information Scientist from 1964 to 1971 at the
Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences (DIPAS), New Delhi, he
joined DRTC IN 1971. He was involved in teaching the subjects - - - Information
Transfer & Dissemination, Planning & Management of Information Centres
and Systems, Information Systems & Programmes, Industrial Information
Systems and services, etc.
In 1981, he worked at Gesellschaft fur Indexing and Klassifikation
system mbh, Frankfurt as a Collaborator on the project “International
Classification & Indexing Bibliography 1950 – 1982”. In 1983, he
participated as an expert at the Third meeting of the UNISIT Working group on
Information Consolidation at Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia. He was a Consultant to
Scientific & Industrial establishments and has designed and developed Plans
for Information Systems & Services. He was the Project Leader, National
Information Transfer Centre, ISORID Programme of UNESCO. In addition, he has
been invited as Visiting Professor by various universities, and was also
involved in the preparation of course materials for the Distance Education
Programmes of IGNOU, New Dehi and various other universities.
He has vast experience in teaching and research in the field of
Library and Information Science and has several research papers and reports to
his credit. He has authored several books - Guidelines
for Planning of Libraries and Information Centres (IASLIC), Information Consolidation & Repackaging,
Guidelines to Information Consolidation Centres, Guidelines for Technical
Writing, etc.
