coral reviewed Marketing today's academic library by Brian Mathews
None
4 stars
Although this book isn't what I set out looking for (help making a marketing plan and style guide), it offers some good insights and points at some really useful resources. My library's assessment team just spent a semester reading [b:Creating the Customer-Driven Academic Library|6006393|Creating the Customer-Driven Academic Library|Jeannette A. Woodward|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1349068215s/6006393.jpg|6181482], and now I really wish we would have held off and read this, instead. This has a lot more assessment-related content and, honestly, a lot more about being customer-centric. It's also a little more balanced between library-as-place and online services.
There's a lot in here about making partnerships with students. And faculty, as well, but the student focus is what really makes the book, for me. I love the idea of creating a student advisory group for the library (which I'd never considered), as well as the general theme of coming up with ways to fit into students' lives, instead …
Although this book isn't what I set out looking for (help making a marketing plan and style guide), it offers some good insights and points at some really useful resources. My library's assessment team just spent a semester reading [b:Creating the Customer-Driven Academic Library|6006393|Creating the Customer-Driven Academic Library|Jeannette A. Woodward|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1349068215s/6006393.jpg|6181482], and now I really wish we would have held off and read this, instead. This has a lot more assessment-related content and, honestly, a lot more about being customer-centric. It's also a little more balanced between library-as-place and online services.
There's a lot in here about making partnerships with students. And faculty, as well, but the student focus is what really makes the book, for me. I love the idea of creating a student advisory group for the library (which I'd never considered), as well as the general theme of coming up with ways to fit into students' lives, instead of trying to get them to use the library on our terms (which I consider often, but still think is a minority viewpoint among librarians).
I guess I should add: I enjoy Brian Mathews' blog, so perhaps it's unsurprising that I would enjoy his book.
(One minor nitpick: The references to MySpace and discussion of "getting started with blogging" or making podcasts are a little distracting and kind of date it, a little, but those are such minor points, in the scheme of the book, that I would still recommend reading it—with the caveat that you should ignore anything mentioning a specific technology. I imagine the second edition will be more technology-agnostic.)