Marketing of licensed e-journals in Academic Libraries

The purpose of this thesis is to examine if academic libraries market e-journals, and if so how this work is carried out. The ambition is to study what channels and methods the Libraries use, to inform their users that they have access to e-journals. The aim is also to survey if the libraries evaluate the use of the e-journals, and if so how. The objectives of the work are reached by using two main methods, document analysis and qualitative interviews. The study has been performed on three university libraries. Interviews were carried out with five librarians responsible for management of e-journal in different ways. Marketing material like web-sites, signs and brochures, have been analysed. The theory part refers to general marketing theories. Different projects are being reviewed, that give examples of how academic libraries market their information resources. The literature also discusses management of electronic library services. The survey shows that web-sites, information desks and education are mostly used to inform the users about e-journals. These are very important marketing channels for the Libraries. Libraries have different traditions of e-publishing and different experiences among researchers and students and this influences the usage and marketing. The examination reveals the attitudes of the librarians towards marketing, and what problems the Libraries have to reach all users with information about the library service. The conclusions of the thesis are that planed marketing activities for e-journals are not performed at the studied Libraries. The Libraries need to develop marketing goals and better channels for information and communication towards their users, to reach out with sufficient information about Library service and resources.Uppsatsnivå: