Investigating The Strategies Employed By Academic Libraries In Marketing Of Library And Information Services: A Comparative Study Of Selected Public And Private University Libraries In Zambia.

Abstract

Academic libraries are currently experiencing changes in the new information age, due to rapidly changing media technologies, increasing users’ preferences and expectations, competition from other information providers such as internet and dwindling library budgets. These necessitate library and information science professionals leverage on competitive marketing approaches to strategically reorient themselves and libraries as information superhighways that individuals cannot do without. This study was an investigation of the strategies employed by Academic Libraries in Marketing of Library and Information Services: A comparative study of selected Public and Private University Libraries in Zambia which included; UNZA, Evelyn Hone, Cavendish University and DMI St Eugene libraries. A total of four librarians participated in the research from the four universities respectively. The main data collection instrument was structured interviews used to elicit information from all librarians. The findings reviewed that participants were fully aware of the benefits of marketing activities in their various university libraries and were making efforts at making their users aware of their library and information services that these university libraries market to their patrons. Major challenges hamper effective marketing of library and information services. The researchers recommended that: increasing funds and man power by increasing the finances allocated to the academic libraries, employing more librarians to enhance service delivery, making student participation during orientation mandatory to make the exercise effective and finally, increasing support from management to help the functioning of the library.