Making Your Mobile Device an Art Expert: Using QR Codes to Tell the Story Behind artiFACTS in Your Library

Have you ever wondered about the stories behind the public art in your library? Every object has the potential to tell a story—the paintings, the sculpture, the furniture, and the building itself. At Musselman Library, Gettysburg College, we use QR codes as the technical means to satisfy the natural curiosity of our patrons. Historical information already available in our Special Collections and College Archives was repurposed for the mobile-friendly environment. The artiFACTS project proved to be simple, scalable, and a great opportunity for collaboration. This article will discuss how we implemented artiFACTS, including creating QR codes, marketing to campus constituencies and visitors, gathering feedback from students and faculty members, and evaluating the project’s success

Investigation on Satisfaction among Elderly Residents of Senior Homes in China from a Social Marketing Perspective

Background: An aging society is a challenge for China with over 200 million adults aged over 60.  In respond to the growing aging population, senior homes become inevitable care model for frail older adults in China.  However, current senior homes seldom consider elderly special needs in their design, construction and operation stages which induce the low level of satisfaction.  Hence, this paper introduces social marketing concept into the senior homes for improving elderly satisfaction.  By adopting social marketing, operators of senior homes provide product (including built environment, healthcare services, social activities and so on) and set price in order to achieve positive behavior of the elders (i.e., satisfaction).Methods: To achieve this, questionnaire survey was conducted with 248 elderly respondents living in senior homes over than 6 months.  Several statistical methods including descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regression modeling were used to analyze quantitative data.Results: The results identified nine social marketing variables including charge rate, built environment, daily caring services, catering services, medical treatment, cleanliness, recreation activities, library and seminar.  Current findings indicated that (1) most senior homes in China pay attention to improve living environment and healthcare services, but might ignore the importance of charge rate and social activities; (2) all social marketing variables were significantly positively related to elderly satisfaction on senior homes; and (3) charge rate, built environment, daily caring services, catering services, medical services and cleanliness exert positive impact on overall satisfaction of elderly residents.  Conclusion: Social marketing as a growing applied approach in healthcare industry is innovatively introduced to senior homes in China.  By adopting social marketing, Chinese senior homes should investigate elders’ special needs and requirements and provide appropriate living environment and caring services. Keywords: China; Elders; Satisfaction; Senior Homes; Social Marketin

Creating physical facilities and environment for marketing quality library and information services

A Library is as good as it is displayed and exposed to users. It should not be conceived as a hidden treasure or a passive collection of reading material. The physical facilities and environment consisting of location, building, layout, furniture, equipment, etc., significantly contribute in enhancing the quality of services. Physical environment not only plays an important role in marketing the services of libraries, but also affects users behaviorally as well as psychologically. Any effort to create physical facilities and environment should take into account the unique needs and ways of seeking, gathering, using and communicating information by the target users. In other words, understanding the users in terms of their characteristics, styles, idiosyncrasies, needs, opinions, priorities, preferences, evaluations, attitudes and behaviour is essential. A number of findings in the areas of user research provide clear and direct input for creating appropriate physical facilities and environment. Quality is intangible, relativistic, indivisible and having a tendency to deteriorate as far as services are concerned. QC and SQC are concepts more applicable to profit-oriented organisations with production of goods. In service institutions, quality is elusive concept and it is difficult to achieve and measure. It is only long-term total customer satisfaction which has to be considered in service institutions. Measuring satisfaction itself is nifty. It is necessary to identify the factors which customers consider important in appraising a service. However, there are certain ways to tackle the problem of quality in service institutions. Some tips to improve service quality are discussed. Before attempting to create physical environment and facilities in libraries to gear up the quality services it is necessary to identify and understand the nature and characteristics of services. The traditional goods oriented marketing is not appropriate for marketing of services. Characteristics of service organisations like intangibility (Pulpability), non—inventoriability (Perishability), variability and inseparability of production and consumption of services call for an extended marketing mix with emphasis on physical evidence, people (service personnel), process, PR and social marketing. The role of ‘Place’ and ‘Physical evidence’ in the new strategy for marketing of services is emphasised here in relation to the need for creating physical facilities and environment. General issues relating to marketing of services are also discussed. The task of creating physical facilities and environment involves broadly pre-planning activities followed by preparation of a programme, allocation and utilisation of space, selection of equipment, furnishing and moving into facility. The pre-planning activities include gathering information (including internal information) through visiting other libraries, discussing with colleagues and experts, attending seminars, exhibitions, conferences and reading literature. The proposal should incorporate general features like objectives, type, status and location of the library, nature of users and use of library, special construction features of the facility, statistics regarding existing library, and composition of planning team, resources required, the implementation schedule, etc. In addition to providing some practical tips of the whole exercise, discusses the other steps like space estimation allocation and utilisation, furnishing, lighting and sign systems for libraries. Lastly, a case study from ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) library is presented with emphasis on various practical aspects of creating physical facilities and environment

Creating physical facilities and environment for marketing quality library and information services

A Library is as good as it is displayed and exposed to users. It should not be conceived as a hidden treasure or a passive collection of reading material. The physical facilities and environment consisting of location, building, layout, furniture, equipment, etc., significantly contribute in enhancing the quality of services. Physical environment not only plays an important role in marketing the services of libraries, but also affects users behaviorally as well as psychologically. Any effort to create physical facilities and environment should take into account the unique needs and ways of seeking, gathering, using and communicating information by the target users. In other words, understanding the users in terms of their characteristics, styles, idiosyncrasies, needs, opinions, priorities, preferences, evaluations, attitudes and behaviour is essential. A number of findings in the areas of user research provide clear and direct input for creating appropriate physical facilities and environment. Quality is intangible, relativistic, indivisible and having a tendency to deteriorate as far as services are concerned. QC and SQC are concepts more applicable to profit-oriented organisations with production of goods. In service institutions, quality is elusive concept and it is difficult to achieve and measure. It is only long-term total customer satisfaction which has to be considered in service institutions. Measuring satisfaction itself is nifty. It is necessary to identify the factors which customers consider important in appraising a service. However, there are certain ways to tackle the problem of quality in service institutions. Some tips to improve service quality are discussed. Before attempting to create physical environment and facilities in libraries to gear up the quality services it is necessary to identify and understand the nature and characteristics of services. The traditional goods oriented marketing is not appropriate for marketing of services. Characteristics of service organisations like intangibility (Pulpability), non—inventoriability (Perishability), variability and inseparability of production and consumption of services call for an extended marketing mix with emphasis on physical evidence, people (service personnel), process, PR and social marketing. The role of ‘Place’ and ‘Physical evidence’ in the new strategy for marketing of services is emphasised here in relation to the need for creating physical facilities and environment. General issues relating to marketing of services are also discussed. The task of creating physical facilities and environment involves broadly pre-planning activities followed by preparation of a programme, allocation and utilisation of space, selection of equipment, furnishing and moving into facility. The pre-planning activities include gathering information (including internal information) through visiting other libraries, discussing with colleagues and experts, attending seminars, exhibitions, conferences and reading literature. The proposal should incorporate general features like objectives, type, status and location of the library, nature of users and use of library, special construction features of the facility, statistics regarding existing library, and composition of planning team, resources required, the implementation schedule, etc. In addition to providing some practical tips of the whole exercise, discusses the other steps like space estimation allocation and utilisation, furnishing, lighting and sign systems for libraries. Lastly, a case study from ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) library is presented with emphasis on various practical aspects of creating physical facilities and environment

Seeing through the Eyes of Users about Information Products and Services Practice by Allopathic Medical College Libraries in Assam

Abstract: Purpose – The concept of marketing has caught the eye of LIS professionals as it has plenty of possibilities to uplift the profession’s image ensuring the quality of services. Keeping the focus of the concept of marketing, the present paper intends to explore the users’ opinion about use and practice of marketing concept in medical college libraries in Assam with special reference to allopathic medicine. Design/methodology/approach – Firstly, a thorough literature search was done to understand the concept/areas of study like concept of marketing, how it can be practiced and how it can be beneficial for users and libraries both. In addition, in order to accomplish the objectives of study, the users’ viewpoint was collected through a precise questionnaire consisted several question keeping in mind the objectives of study, followed by personal interview and thorough discussion with users of the libraries under study. The quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to analyse the collected data and conclusion is drawn with recommendations as well. Findings – The study reveals that the users have positive attitude about the LIS products and services provided by the libraries under study. But, still the users’ face some problems in accessing their required information that must be taken-care by the library professionals. And further, the study comes out with some recommendations in order to strengthen the practice of marketing concept, so that the users’ can be made well aware about LIS products and services. Research limitations/implications – The study is confined to medical college libraries (allopathic) affiliated to Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Science (SSUHS) in Assam. The study examines the users’ opinion about the concept of marketing, however, in the drastically changing environment; the impact of the concept in library marketing has necessitated the further research. Practical implications – The paper include the implication of Marketing philosophy in the libraries in order to remain sustain which is actually in the need of the hour. In addition, marketing philosophy shall play a managerial role to create a balance between the library resources collection and its proper utilization. Originality/value – The study is unique in its own way as all the studies have been conducted on the use of marketing concept by either academic or social science libraries but the application and adoption of marketing concept by medical libraries especially in north-east India is still untouched and the present study is an effort put forward to fill this gap. Keywords: Brand management, Corporate branding, Leadership, Social change. Keywords: Marketing; LIS Products; LIS Services; Marketing Philosophy; Modern Marketing; Information Products; and Information Services Article Type: Research pape

Marketing Youth Services

published or submitted for publicatio

Information Outlook, October 2003

Volume 7, Issue 10https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2003/1009/thumbnail.jp

Special Libraries, November 1980

Volume 71, Issue 11https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1980/1009/thumbnail.jp

A comparative analysis of international education satisfaction using servqual

University education, the world over, has undergone significant transformation and reform with respect to higher education systems meeting the growing role of information and communication revolution, and the demand for knowledge, which represent the new challenges of globalisation. These challenges are seen as threats as well as opportunities for higher education systems around the world. The driving force of globalisation is competition and the international education market has become fiercely competitive with different marketing strategies being implemented by educational institutions to attract the growing number of students seeking higher education. The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between the SERVQUAL constructs proposed by Parasuraman et al (1988 &amp; 1985) and the country of origin and satisfaction among four cohorts of Asian international postgraduate students studying in Australian universities. Country of origin is recognized as an important predictor of satisfaction and choice in the international education environment. The data used in this study is derived from a mail survey conducted among international postgraduate students from China, India, Indonesia and Thailand studying in five universities in Victoria, Australia. An adapted version of the SERVQUAL instrument was used to collect the data and was designed to measure the gap between student responses on expectations and perceptions of the university as a study destination on a seven point bi-polar scale. The responses were sought on 36 statements representing aspects of the operations and services of the university under desired (ideal) expectations of choice and post-choice perceptions. Scales were developed to investigate the relationship between the SERVQUAL constructs of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles and the country of origin and were shown to be reliable. Using ANOVA and MANOVA techniques, the study found significant differences between country of origin and the SERVQUAL constructs and discusses strategic implications and opportunities for highereducational institutions<br /