3.2. The resources and facilities that are available to facilitate the marketing of
3.2.2. Services for marketing in medical libraries
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Amina and Nwanne (2015) and Upev, Akpe and Beetseh (2015) observed that librarians at various Nigerian universities provide a set of important resources and services to the entire client body comprising staff and students. The information resources offered include electronic resources and services, magazine articles, multimedia, blogs, personal experiences, expert opinions, encyclopaedias and web pages as some of the resources available for marketing in the library. In conclusion, it can be understood that the library resources or products discussed in the preceding argument show that resources or products are such physical material that conveys information in various forms in different subject areas to satisfy the needs of library users. This has been substantiated with the views of Adomaa (2021)in the 7Ps and 4Ps marketing mix when they refer to products as an item designed to meet the needs of library patrons or clients. The next section presents the services for marketing in medical libraries.
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Ransom and Wilfong (2016) stated that newsletters, awareness campaigns and workshops are all excellent ways to promote their services. The research highlighted several important services that will attract the patronage of the library and its resources by users. However, the research overlooked other useful services that enormously promote the use of resources and services primarily in medical libraries, such as the selective dissemination of information, reference and information services/help and so on.
Marketing according to Bhatt et al. (2016) is more than just developing and promoting new services and resources but also about creating awareness of existing services and resources for users. Some of these services are:
i. Selective dissemination of information (SDI):
ii. Current awareness service (CAS);
iii. Reference service;
iv. Document delivery service;
v. Information consolidation and repackaging;
vi. Translation service; and
vii. Reprographic Service and so forth.
The information services mentioned above are such essential services that will entice the library users to patronise the library and use their services. However, the scholars did not consider one critical service: the students' borrowing/loan services. This enables the medical students to use a particular resource or services at their discretion, as they do not always have time to come to the library. Instead, they spend most of their time in laboratories.
This aligns with the principles of the 4Ps and 7Ps marketing mix and the SERVQUAL theories, respectively. The 7Ps marketing mix theory (1981) demonstrated that products (information resources and services) are marketed to users for their effective use. The SERVQUAL model also suggested that there should be reliability in the services provided to ensure their usefulness and relevance to users’ needs. Billah (2015) notes that the library offers a number of services to the users such as traditional services, online services, abstracting, physical documents, catalogues, pamphlets, bibliographic services, subject bibliographies, reprographic services, lending service and CAS, SDI services. Kutu and Olajide (2018) noted that the services for
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marketing in the library consist of referral services user education, lending materials reading list, bibliographies, indexing and abstracting, quick and long queries, among others.
These services are beneficial and required by medical professionals’ mainly because some of them are needed to meet users’ needs, which are unique due to the nature of their profession.
They always require the latest findings from journals, publications and current books to enable them to manage the emerging health challenges or epidemics. Therefore, to ensure successful marketing through the utmost use of resources and services in medical libraries to occur, these services are essential and should be deployed to enable libraries to adequately provide for the information needs of medical students and medical professionals. However, Kumar's (2014) and Kopperundevi's (2013) works did not take into account other services, such as user education, reservation services, exhibitions and displays of newly acquired resources (such as books, journals, and reference sources). These are the issues addressed by Research Question One of the current studies. In other words, the resources and services available in the library.
Mandrekar and Carvalho e Rodrigues (2020) submitted that library updates, resource sharing, reference service and new arrivals are the major services provided. Mandrekar and Carvalho e Rodrigues (2020) have itemized various services employed in the library that can assist libraries in satisfying the needs of the users. If medical libraries were to apply these services, they would enormously shape how services are rendered while providing more service opportunities to medical students and professionals in meeting their requisite information needs.
Sumadevi (2014) noted that the utilization of technological tools in outlining and conveying library resources and services has continuously produced excellent outcomes in marketing or promoting the use of information resources as well as services using the internet and related facilities. These include the use of e-mail services, mobile online public access catalogue (OPAC), social media, discussion forums, electronic document delivery, the information alert services, e-question paper services and e-newspaper/web-based press clippings, among others.
The availability of the internet-based services particularly in medical libraries would ensure efficiency because users can be promptly informed via e-mails when there is a new development in the library. They can interact with the library through social media platforms as well as access to the library OPAC at any place and time.
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Ashrafi-rizi and Kazempour (2012) reported that services are provided in the medical libraries in both printed and electronic formats, for example, the printed means are the distribution list of new arrival books and other written documents, the selective dissemination of resources (SDR), the books on circulation, such as core books in different subjects and the display of books and personal relations. E-resources refer to the internet, intranet, extranet, email, tele- text, video-text and fax. The provision of these resources is a deliberate effort by medical libraries to adequately serve users as well as keep them abreast on existing and recently acquired resources for the optimum use of these resources.
Khan and Bhatti (2012) and Landis (2010) in Akindi and Al-Suqri (2013) state that social networks or media offers something other than what traditional methods for marketing library services do. It enables the client to create, associate, deliver and communicate information and helps the information centre or libraries to draw nearer toward their clients. It catches the eye of different clients. It aids in finding information and distance learning and knowledge sharing, among others, the social networks that include: Facebook, twitter, blogs etcetera. This indicates the critical role social media plays in marketing information resources and services to library users. Social media is a significant channel through which libraries can reach out to their users, especially now that it attracts wider usage among medical students and other new generation of users. In other words, medical libraries can use social media for marketing their information resources and services to help in reaching out the library patrons with pertinent information resources and services available. These are some of the issues the present study addressed.
Osinulu et al. (2018) indicated that libraries provide the circulation of library resources, information services (manual, electronic and web-based), reference services, electronic access to resources and services, user education programmes, and readers’ inquiry services.
All in all, the services above are very efficient. They would attract users of medical libraries to come to the library to use the resources immensely and get their information needs satisfied.
Mohammed (2019) and Lamba (2019) found that printing and photocopying services, lending services, reference services, internet and e-mail services, user assistant service and interlibrary services are some of the services provided by libraries. Edewor Amughoro, Osuchukwu and Egreana (2016) observed that one or the entire information services offered by the library might perhaps be promoted or marketed to the clients and these include:
62 i. Exhibitions;
ii. Bulletins;
iii. Display of new books;
iv. Production and issuance of library guides;
v. User orientation programmes;
vi. Library week outreaches and other publicity programmes.
The services highlighted by Amughoro, Osuchukwu and Egreana (2016) above, if applied, will inform the library users about what libraries have to offer and at the same time teach them how they can access and use the library and its resources effectively. Edewor et al. (2016) and Shehu (2015) further added other forms of services that can be marketed are made up of circulation, reference, referral, indexing and abstracting services, customized research and development, bibliographic information, library users’ advisory services, selective dissemination of information (SDI), information literacy services, CDROMS services, exhibition and display services and reservation services as well as television services. Findings from Edeworet al.
(2016) and Shehu (2015) indicate several forms of services rendered by libraries for marketing to users. However, the authors did not explain in detail whether these services are accessible to all users and whether they serve the purpose for which they were provided, that is, giving the desired information services to the satisfaction of users. This is because having the services is one thing and accessing them is another. Therefore, this implies that a gap exists in the literature of services for marketing and the Research Question One of the present research addressed the gap.
Aderibigbe and Farouk (2017) and Okon, Ime and Etim (2015), Amina and Nwanne (2015) and Chegwe and Anaehobi (2015) opined that information resources comprise every medium that is used to provide the needed services to users, such as the use of printed and electronic resources. These services and products also include-classroom facilities, bibliographic services, indexing and abstracting services of books and journal articles and newspapers, lending and information services, reference services and reprographic services, among others. Libraries also provide access to multimedia resources, eBooks and electronic journals, special services, indexing and abstracting features and purpose, lifelong learning, cultural and societal activities and so on. Hence, marketing, indexing and abstracting services by academic libraries will improve customer awareness about the most efficient methods of finding
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materials in the various subject areas they are working in and providing brief summaries of the subject of the resources by highlighting briefly the key concepts discussed in the documents.
In so doing, it saves the precious time of clients.
Chegwe and Anaehobi (2015) added that the rising cost of information sources has made it very difficult for librarians and clients alike to get all information they require or even related to the material of interest. Accordingly, modern techniques of current awareness services (CAS) are sending individuals’ direct notification of available information (Chegwe and Anaehobi 2015). Services are essential components of marketing and are part and parcel of promotion/communication as a construct of the 4Ps, 7Ps and 4Cs marketing mix. Without it, the marketing of information resources will be in vain. Okon and Umoh (2014) state that a relationship exists between the marketing and product or service and the nature of the service or product influences how those resources and services are patronized. Busari, et al. (2015) noted that the library could also increase information through quality, dependable, fast and appropriate professional services. According to Solomon (2011) services are the most difficult part of marketing in any organization because sometimes it is the relationship with librarians that people recall after the librarians must have forgotten which book or any library service is involved. Therefore, if the library intends to market the library as user-friendly, it should employ staff ready to help users to get their wants and not the other way round. This aligns with the SERVQUAL model maintaining that assurance entails the knowledge and the readiness of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence. The following section discussed the facilities available for marketing information resources and services in medical libraries.