Marketing of Library and Information Services in two Medical Institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assess the impact of marketing strategies in two medical institutions in Lagos State. It provides a direct test of applicability of marketing strategies that would enhance better services for the benefit of library patrons in a competitive and technologically driven environment. Data was collected from two libraries selected for this study. A total of 25 questionnaires were distributed to professionals in the two libraries. Returned questionnaires were analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The result shows that majority of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement indicating positive attitude towards marketing, while very few respondents strongly disagreed with the issue of marketing in library services. Patron survey, library website, developing new services and advertising were ranked as the highest ways of marketing libraries whereas, Mailings/Newsletters, attracting new patrons and maintaining a patron database were ranked low. The relevance of this study confirmed the nexus between marketing and library and information services. It also provides with the aim of providing actionable intelligence data to justify library services as an indispensable part of any institution which helps to maximize information services to users in a more efficient and effective manner.