Free Pint No.99 - Climate Change and Information Marketing Free Pint "Helping 43,000 people use the Web for their work" http://www.freepint.com/ ISSN 1460-7239 1st November 2001 No.99 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES from Shirl Kennedy FREE PINT BAR & STUDENT BAR In Association with Factiva a Dow Jones & Reuters Company Reviewed by Simon Collery JOBS Librarian, Implementation Manager Sales Executive - Customised Products Junior Consultant/Researcher, Information Manager FREE PINT REGULARS TIPS ARTICLE "Web Sources for Climate Change and Emissions Trading" By Anne Ku BOOKSHELF "Information Marketing" Reviewed by Helen Clegg FEATURE ARTICLE "Marketing Library and Information Services" By Sheila Webber FACT, EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES CONTACT INFORMATION ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS ADOBE ACROBAT VERSION WITH NEWSLETTER FORMATTING > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = = KNOWPEOPLE The ULTIMATE online biographical resource KnowPeople takes the hard work out of finding people information by combining the latest information from the leading biography publishers and up-to-the-minute news and journal coverage. KnowPeople covers around 250,000 people from all walks of life, including business, entertainment, society, government, sport, the arts and many others. For more information, visit http://www.knowpeople.co.uk > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [pq991] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<< Free Pint is an online community of information researchers. Members receive this free newsletter every two weeks packed with tips on finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet. Joining is free at and provides access to the substantial archive of articles, book reviews, jobs, industry news & events, with answers to your research questions and networking at the Free Pint Bars. Free Pint Regulars (paid-up members) also receive a weekly current awareness newsletter, discounts and publicity. Please circulate this newsletter which is best read when printed out. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EDITORIAL As Free Pint is continuing to grow at quite a rate, with 1300 new subscribers in October, we feel a bit like a toddler with a non-stop growth spurt. We've therefore bitten the bullet and completed our move to much larger offices. We're still in West London, but the new space gives us room to expand and support the Free Pint community. Therefore, please update your address book with the following details: Free Pint Limited 4-6 Station Approach Ashford, Middlesex TW15 2QN, UK Tel: +44 (0)1784 420044 Fax: +44 (0)1784 420033 If you'd like to visit us, then there are maps and directions on the contact page at . The Adobe Acrobat version of the Free Pint newsletter, with full newsletter-style formatting, has proven extremely popular. A large number of readers have asked us if they can receive that version by email every two weeks, instead of the lengthy text edition. We think this is a great idea. Therefore, following another significant upgrade to our email servers, you can now choose which version of the newsletter you'd like to receive from us every two weeks: - The text version of the newsletter as normal. You don't need to do anything if you want to continue to receive this. - The Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version as an attachment to an email. This will be a reasonably large email at about 250KB. - A brief notification email telling you that the PDF and HTML versions are available online for you to download. To amend your subscription to one of the above, simply login to your account online at or email and we'll make the change for you. If you want to receive more than one email (e.g. the text version AND the attachment) then that's fine too. In today's Free Pint we have some smashing articles on timely themes. Following the recent proposed ratification by the EU of the Kyoto Protocol and emissions trading system, the tips article looks at Web resources relating to climate change and emissions trading. Meanwhile, the feature article and book review both follow the theme of marketing information and library services. There are some great reader tipples, and of course our run-down of the latest research requests at the Bar. We really hope you enjoy today's edition of Free Pint and will share it with your colleagues and friends. Best regards William William Hann, Founder and Managing Editor Email: Tel: +44 (0)1784 420044 Free Pint is a registered trademark of Free Pint Limited (c) 1997-2001 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** Business Information consultancy to more than double UK staff *** Esmerk Information plans to expand by increasing its global work force by 25%. Main aims are to improve existing coverage in Europe and North America whilst maintaining consistency across the globe. Now more than ever contact Esmerk to see how we can address your current awareness needs. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [es992] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> NEW: DETAILED REPORTS ON ALL UK COMPANY DIRECTORS <<< Search for any UK company director and for just 8 pounds you can access their address, nationality, birth date, and all current and past directorships of trading, dissolved and insolvent companies. Simply pay-as-you-go by invoice or credit card. No setup charges or monthly subscription. Try a free search today at > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES from Shirl Kennedy * Romenesko's Media News Weblog by media critic Jim Romenesko which chronicles "news about the news". Updated throughout the day, with links to relevant stories and commentary by Media News readers. * Magportal - Search for the full text of magazine articles freely available online or browse by subject category. Covers a wonderfully eclectic mix of publications -- everything from Advanced Manufacturing to Wired. * TV Guide Online: TV Listings One son loves sports and the other loves classic, independent and foreign films. The digital cable subscription has a zillion channels. Who can keep track of what's on when? * BoardReader - Search 732,456 online forums and message boards, or drill down through subject categories. Useful to supplement consumer-type reviews; see what others are saying before you lay your money down. * SpyOnIt - "Tell a 'spy' what to watch for on the Internet and when something changes, it reports back to you wherever you are: by email, instant message, mobile phone or PDA." Fab-oooo! Shirl Kennedy, a librarian and journalist, is Web Guide Manager for Business 2.0 . She also writes the Internet Waves column for Information Today . Tell us about your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at and email . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = = GET MORE FROM INFORMATION BY USING FACTIVA'S NEW KNOWLEDGE NETWORK This new community has resources that illustrate how various types of knowledge workers, including information professionals, can use Factiva content more effectively. Knowledge Network also provides professional development tools, information on understanding today's technology and product tips on using Dow Jones Interactive, Reuters Business Briefing and Factiva.com more effectively. Sign up for free monthly updates at > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [fa993] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> A BACKUP OF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION LIST FOR MANIPULATION <<< Free Pint's list hosting service sends you a backup of your subscriber database every week in spreadsheet format. You'll then have a local backup which you can manipulate. "We investigated and used other methods of distributing our newsletter and are relieved we are now using Free Pint. It is a stress free service." Internet Resources Newsletter > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT BAR In Association with Factiva a Dow Jones & Reuters Company Reviewed by Simon Collery Free Pint Bar ------------------------------------------- [Note: To read a posting enter the message number in place of XXXXX in the address ] It's great when you see a message going up in the Bar and then a reply goes up a very short time later. Someone looking for the publisher of a certain magazine got the answer in less than fifteen minutes (13397). A request for the source of a quotation was answered in a few hours (13391). And the required contact details for a specific company were supplied by someone who had direct dealings with it (13416). Similarly, the responses to a question about suspect offers have been pretty useful (13554). It's good to be reminded how many scams there are going round. And there was some sage advice for people working in non-profits who want to improve their information management function (13427). There are so many sites and services on the Web that it is wise to ask the opinion of others before making a choice about which one to use. Unfortunately, no Free Pinter appears to have an opinion on either the UK Fantastic ISP (13411) or the research site, 1jump (13507). But if you have heard of either of these, do get in touch. I looked briefly at 1jump and didn't feel a great urge to return. The overwhelming majority of postings in the last couple of weeks have been about Web resources. Subjects range from library usage statistics (13473), aerospace libraries (13447) and consumer law journals (13410) to European press releases (13606), UK motorway traffic flow figures (13499), the Egyptian king, Horemheb (13444) and latitude and longitude co-ordinates (13539). We are still waiting to hear about resources for the pharmaceutical industry (13581), planning competitions (13563) and free Web hosting for non-profit sites (13451). Researchers have been looking at requests that have been made to falsify results (13429), archive longevity (13457), guidelines for establishing an archive (13400), information about solicitors qualified to practice in Ireland and the UK (13551), total quality management (13501) and support groups for technical information centre employees (13517). Ecommerce has been on the agenda too. There were questions about ecommerce newsletters (13396), using the Internet as a business tool (13401), UK ebilling statistics (13572), UK greeting card publishers (13450) and established ways of measuring ecommerce conversion rates (13601). Financial matters were on the minds of some with postings about software for calculating bank interest charges (13627), blue chip companies' expenditure on capital projects (13556), historical foreign exchange rate data (13602) and numbers of people investing in the Swedish, German and Japanese stock markets (13513). Among the industries covered were energy (13493), rail transport (13460), specialist dietary food (13622), UK paint manufacturing (13386) and sports (13438). There were a few job related postings about secretarial sites (13515), agencies that specialize in finding work for people over sixty (13510) and work permits in Holland (13448). As usual there have been quite a few technical questions about slow PC performance (13486, 13533), ASPs (13527), error messages on startup (13508), writing Excel formulae (13494), moving from Mac to Windows (13536), OLE links (13530), page numbering in PowerPoint (13471), putting postcode data on Web sites (13521), using SharePoint (13621) and the advantages of XML for intranets (13578). And finally, there were miscellaneous postings about domain names (13452), identity theft (13564), glycol detection (13616), iodine (13618), Victorian gardening (13415) and a TV series called "Sunset Song" (13612). And I reviewed an invisible Web search tool (13480) and a tool for finding phrases and phrase information (13588). Free Pint Student Bar ------------------------------------------------------- [Note: To read a posting enter the message number in place of XXXX in the address ] Students have been researching graphical user interfaces (1941), historic GDP figures (1903), universal aspects of Web design (1910), Internet technologies used for business information services (1914), prison libraries and careers centres (1919) and landfill sites (1920). They've also been looking into sports resources that could be used in a virtual library (1928), the influence of national culture in ERP implementation (1934) and the effects of Internet bookshops on the book industry as a whole (1938). Other postings have been about the graduate job market (1908), cataloguing video clips (1921), choosing MBA fields (1923), UK colleges with courses in networks and distributed systems (1915) and why some universities' courses don't appear in a list of business studies course rankings (1916). Simon Collery, Content Developer If you have a tricky research question or can help other Free Pinters then do post a message at the Bar or the Student Bar . To have the latest Bar postings sent to you every other day, log in to your account online or send a blank email to . For the Student Bar Digest contact . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Mediocre hosting days are over! http://www.globalgold.co.uk If you've bought your hosting or domains from a 3rd rate company and would now like them transferred to one of Europe's top 3 hosting players for service, reliability and fair pricing, call 01992 303090 NOW or even simpler, click below and transfer to us TODAY: > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [gg994] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE UK COMPANIES YOU DEAL WITH? <<< Free Pint's gateway allows you to search for any UK company and view basic details for free. Detailed reports and financials are also available on a pay-as-you-go basis. Why not try a free search today: > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT JOBS Free Pint Jobs has details of many information-related vacancies. Whether you're searching for a new job or have a position to fill then you should be using Free Pint Jobs. Here are some of the latest featured jobs: Junior Consultant/Researcher Experienced information science graduate for Junior Consultant/Researcher role in London SW3. Recruiter: Solon Consultants Sales Executive - Customised Products Take firm into new market areas, develop business with vendors, publishers and in industry. Can be based anywhere in UK, travel to US. Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited Information Manager Managing Senior Researchers, developing strategy, high level promotion of services and advanced in-depth research. Recruiter: Glen Recruitment Implementation Manager One year contract to project manage implementation of new corporate computer system for leading medical charity. Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited Librarian With 4+ years experience to combine traditional library skills and Business/Finance Information Research. Recruiter: Glen Recruitment [The above jobs are paid listings] Candidates: It is free to search Free Pint Jobs and you can set up a profile to be notified weekly by email of relevant new vacancies. Advertisers: List your vacancies and receive significant publicity. Recruitment agencies can also automatically upload all their jobs. Find out more today at > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> ADVERTISE WITH FREE PINT FOR A LOW MONTHLY FEE <<< An annual advertising account with Free Pint is a low cost way to promote your information-related products and services to the largest community of information users globally. For one million exposures to the Free Pint community, visit: > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT REGULARS [Note: This section is primarily aimed at Regulars, paid-up members of the Free Pint community. Regulars receive the weekly "Pub Crawl" current awareness newsletter, discounts and publicity. The Pub Crawl archive is available at ] Watch out in the post as you'll shortly be receiving some goodies. This will include your "referral voucher code" which you should tell your colleagues to use when signing up as a Regular. If they enter the code then they'll receive a bonus free month at the end of their subscription, and so will you! Since our announcement of academic/non-profit pricing for the Pub Crawl Redistribution License, a number of business and management schools have snapped up the account. Therefore, do contact us if you'd like to find out the price to redistribute the Pub Crawl to all the people in your department, give them access to the entire archive and even have it delivered directly to them by email. William Hann, Managing Editor [If you are not currently a Free Pint Regular and would like to find out more about the benefits of membership, then please visit the Regular homepage at . Regular membership is just 60 pounds per year (US$85, AUS$169 or 97 Euros).] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> FANCY A FREE PINT BEER MAT ON YOUR DESK? <<< Would you like some of the newly designed Free Pint beer mats? They look great on your desk or to share with colleagues. When running information workshops they make super freebies. Send your postal address and the number you require to > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = TIPS ARTICLE "Web Sources for Climate Change and Emissions Trading" By Anne Ku The subject of "climate change", also known as "global warming", conjures up images of radical weather movement and stirs up controversies that reflect both scientific and political uncertainties. For the most part, the international community agrees with the existence of global warming and its far-reaching impacts. However, the world is divided on effective ways to prevent or slow down its occurrence and effects. An important message from a new book by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change entitled “Climate Change: Science, Strategies, & Solutions” says that the climate is changing and will continue to change as a result of increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Despite the many uncertainties, the effects are profound. Kyoto Protocol -------------- The Kyoto Protocol is the main treaty that addresses the mandatory reduction of all six greenhouse gases. One way is through market- based mechanisms, such as emissions trading (explained later in this article). The full text of the Kyoto Protocol is located on the web site of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) . On a historical note, the UNFCCC, which preceded the Kyoto Protocol (drafted in 1997), came into force in March 1994 but only required voluntary reductions. See for clarification. To date, the Protocol has not been ratified. However, on 23 October 2001 the European Union adopted a major package of initiatives to combat climate change, comprising of a proposal for the EC to ratify the Kyoto Protocol; a draft Directive on greenhouse gas emissions trading within the EU; and a Communication setting out further measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. See European Union Online for more information. In May 2001, I set out to write an article on carbon emissions trading at a time when the future of the Kyoto Protocol was not at all certain. The lack of resolution at the COP6 meeting in The Hague in November 2000 coupled with the subsequent US pull-out from the Protocol cast a dark shadow over the treaty's future. Rather than presenting the opposing views, I focussed the 8-page feature on what companies were doing about global warming, in spite of the great scientific and political uncertainties. Under most uncertain circumstances, people would gather more information or wait and see. In this case, the leading energy companies were actively taking action to measure (inventorise), reduce, and control carbon emissions. Web Search Strategy ------------------- Precisely because of the complexity of this subject, the Web provides a haven for the inquiring mind. When I began my research into this area, I first consulted industry experts who pointed me to several good links. However, even without their help, the non-expert can use search engines like AlltheWeb to search for keywords such as "climate change" and "global warming." The results will keep you very busy indeed. In general, the best place to start on the Web is a good search engine or a good portal. Use a search engine if you know what you're looking for, such as the tremendous amount of jargon in the Kyoto Protocol. Use a portal to make sense of the volume of information scattered all over the Web. Portals and Dedicated Sites --------------------------- Portals are point-of-entry sites that lead you to many places. Powered by WorldNews.com , the portal Pollution.com contains a wealth of up-to-date news and information in categories related to the environment and environmental concerns. In the middle part of the screen, the headlines are linked to international news sources where you can get the entire story. Along the left and right-hand sides are links to web sites. This set- up is useful as a directory. From here you can get to organisations most concerned about the environment. Under the Environment heading is a link to Global Warming which is a portal to topics specific to global warming. Calling itself "the premier climate change portal", Climate Ark breaks down the subject of climate change into an introduction, observations, and potential impacts. The sections are very readable and the news links impressive - but it's hardly a portal, in the usual sense of the word. Several entities have bothered to create very informative and educational sites to help newcomers climb up the steep learning curve. Among the newer ones are CO2E.com and Green Energy . Calling itself the "Global Hub for Carbon Commerce," CO2E.com has an extensive FAQ of climate change which can be downloaded as a PDF file or viewed online via links to the questions. The novice can start here with comprehensible answers to questions such as "What is the Kyoto Protocol" and "What is the science behind climate change". Another new commercial site, Greenergy (in German and English) also has educational sections on climate change basics which can be reached by clicking on "Carbon Advisory." News and Newspapers ------------------- Online newspapers and broadcast stations carry some of the easier-to- digest pieces on climate change. The latest news about climate change and policy proposals will give you a better sense of current priorities. Top newspapers have online presence with invaluable searchable archives. The New York Times displays headlines and abstracts, but only articles less than a week old are free to view for those that have registered. It has a very good coverage of the latest dialogue on climate change, both on the science and the politics (Kyoto Protocol). The archive at Financial Times is searchable and entirely free. So are the BBC , CNN , and other TV channels. The Washington Post at goes one step further, allowing you to specify the time period of your search. The popular American newspaper USA Today at gives more educational articles with longer shelf lives, all free of course. The monthly publication Environmental Finance has a selection of feature articles on the impact of environmental issues on the financial sector, especially on emissions trading. The non-profit Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change publishes the weekly CO2 Science Magazine whose abstracts are contained at . The International Institute for Sustainable Development has very useful links for policy makers, including daily coverage of the meetings under UNFCCC. Company Sites ------------- Web sites of large energy companies that are proactive in doing something about their carbon emissions are worth a visit. Among these are BP whose search engine takes you to a variety of documents on climate change, policy, emissions trading, and what they're doing about it. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group is another global energy company active in this pursuit - click on "Environmental Issues and Performance" from its home page, and you will see a number of related topics. In addition to educational pieces, it also includes negative feedback from its customers under "Environmental Viewpoints". Think tanks, consultancies, academic institutions, and government sites are probably the best places to hunt for extensive articles on the subject. Think tanks include Competitive Enterprise Institute , Tellus Institute , Stockholm Environment Institute , and Royal Institute of International Affairs . The US Environmental Protection Agency has extensive information on the environment, including global warming. ICF Consulting's contains useful information for corporations, including tools for carbon risk management. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has good links at . Non-government lobby and interest groups such as World Wildlife Fund and Green Peace also contain information on climate change, a subject close to their hearts. Emissions Trading ----------------- The term "emissions trading" originated with the trading of sulphur dioxide permits in the US in the early 1990's. Experience of "cap and trade" has shown that market-based mechanisms for controlling and reducing the amount of pollutants work because the true value is determined by supply and demand, and markets can allocate the permits more efficiently than command and control methods such as taxation. As such, there is a growing body of professional traders (SO2 and then NOx) who are fluent with emissions trading. For more information, read the case studies at the Emissions Trading Education Initiative . The site belongs to the International Emissions Marketing association which is a US-based trade association for "traders, brokers and utilities, all seeking to buy, sell and trade their emission allowances, credits, offsets, emissions reduction credits, and more for SO2, NOx and other regulated emissions." Several initiatives for carbon emissions trading are in the works, including the previously mentioned CO2E.com and Greenergy. Chicago- based Environmental Financial Products LLC is largely responsible for the genesis of the Chicago Climate Exchange now in the design phase, with almost forty companies involved (including Ford, DuPont, Cinergy, International Paper etc.). Envifi.com also contains links to excellent published work by its staff specialists. Final Word ---------- As carbon risk management and carbon accounting become standard practice for companies, tools like Bonneville Environmental Foundation's web-based CO2 calculator will become more prevalent on the Web. Until then, the Web remains an essential repository of articles, news, and feedback fuelling the ongoing debate on climate change. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A passionate believer in the 3 R's (Re-duce, Re-use, and Re-cycle – in that order of priority), Anne Ku writes for Global Energy Business, a bi-monthly energy publication of Platts, a McGraw-Hill company. Her article entitled "Volunteering to fight global warming" can be found at . Interested readers may also like to visit for related articles and links. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * "Environment" articles and resources in the Free Pint Portal * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Post a message to the author, Anne Ku, or suggest further resources, at the Free Pint Bar * Access the entire archive of Free Pint articles and issues > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> BECOMING A FREE PINT REGULAR REALLY DOES HELP <<< Do sign up as a "Free Pint Regular". Not only will you be getting unique current awareness content every week, your support ensures the continued development of new services from Free Pint. Sign up today from only a pound a week: > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT BOOKSHELF "Information Marketing" Written by Jennifer Rowley Reviewed by Helen Clegg In today's challenging business environment, companies and organizations that have a adopted a marketing orientation are more likely to survive than those that have not. In the library and information marketplace, there are few organizations that understand the benefits of strategic marketing and practice it. Jennifer Rowley's book, "Information Marketing" fills a much-needed gap in the literature, explaining marketing within the context of organizations operating in the information marketplace. The book is divided into ten chapters and covers all the classic marketing concepts, from the marketing mix, products, customers and customer relationships, branding and corporate identity, to marketing communications, pricing policies, collecting marketing data, marketing strategy and planning. The aims of chapters are clearly stated at the beginning of each one and the author makes excellent use of figures to illustrate the marketing theory being discussed. Where appropriate, these figures put the theory in an information context, which is one real advantage of this book. For example, in the section on core, actual and augmented products, the author provides a useful figure listing the services/products offered by Bath University Library and in Chapter Three, which looks at customers, one of the figures outlines some characteristics for segmenting users of information. The practical nature of the book is further underlined by the inclusion of reflection points in all the main sections. These are very useful and give the reader an opportunity to think through the material and apply the ideas presented to their own information environment. For example, in Chapter Nine, which reviews the collection of marketing data, the reflection point asks readers how a school library might use focus groups not only to encourage the use of the service, but also to better understand why the service is not being used as much as it could be. Another reflection point, which follows a discussion on the promotional mix, aims to get readers to rewrite a number of objectives in terms that apply to a library seeking to promote its services to users. Readers who want to delve further into marketing theory will find the references and further reading lists at the end of each chapter useful. Although the book is aimed at a very wide audience, from information studies students to professionals working in varied organizations that make up the information industry, this does not make it any less readable. Indeed, the book is suitable for anyone who needs to understand more about information marketing or brush up on the subject and it would be a worthy addition to every reference shelf. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Helen Clegg is Market Analyst with RR Donnelley & Sons Company Europe, in Amsterdam. She holds an M.Sc. in Library and Information Studies and has worked for a number of organizations in Europe including Bain & Company, BNFL plc and AT Kearney Ltd. Helen can be contacted at . She writes here in a personal capacity. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf * Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com * "Information Marketing" ISBN 0566082225 published by Ashgate Publishing and written by Jennifer Rowley. * Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the Free Pint Bookshelf at * Read about other Internet marketing books on the Free Pint Bookshelf To propose an information-related book for review, send details to . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO FILL YOUR INFORMATION VACANCY? <<< For a fraction of the cost of using an agency, listing your vacancy with Free Pint Jobs gets it significant publicity: * Entry in our fully searchable database * Matching against 300+ stored user profiles * Inclusion in the Free Pint Newsletter List your vacancy today at > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FEATURE ARTICLE "Marketing Library and Information Services" By Sheila Webber "'National Library Week is a great time to remind people about the value of a free library card,' says Mrs. Bush, a former librarian. 'Libraries are community treasure chests, loaded with a wealth of information available to everyone, equally, and the key to that treasure chest is a library card.'" See The First Lady of the USA, launching the American Library Association's 2001 campaign . Having an ex-librarian as spouse of your country's Top Person is serendipity. However, making sure that she says what you want, when you want, in front of the right people, could be counted as good marketing. Increasingly, librarians have become aware that marketing is not just about selling, and have become more interested in using marketing to provide better services. This article pinpoints a few general marketing resources and then describes resources specific to library and information sectors. The emphasis is on free stuff. Marketing in General -------------------- General marketing sites can be useful in terms of learning about principles and practice, trends (especially as concerns Internet marketing) and picking up ideas. The only warning is that some sites (*particularly* Internet marketing ones) are heavily into jargon. This is an area where there is volatility as regards "free or fee". For example, some useful academic sites which used to be freely accessible have become password protected, and Centaur's MAD site (Marketing Week & Precision Marketing) now only offers free access to current stories. People can get good money for writing books about marketing, so such books don't tend to be lying about free on the web. If you want to learn about marketing from scratch, I think it's worth investing in a good, recent textbook e.g. anything by Philip Kotler, or Sally Dibb et al.'s "Marketing: concepts and strategies" 4th European ed., published by Houghton Mifflin in 2000. There are various portals relevant to marketing. For example the University of Texas' Advertising World has links divided into numerous categories . The UK's Social Science Information Gateway of annotated links (SOSIG) has a marketing section . Some sites focus particularly on e-marketing. Wilson Internet's Web Marketing and E-commerce site is an excellent resource, with short practical articles and lots of links to other articles and sites. Tenagra (an ancient (in Internet terms) e- marketing consultancy) has a site with annotated links to Internet Publicity Resources which originally accompanied a book by Steve O'Keefe, "Publicity on the Internet" (published by John Wiley). As an example of a newsletter- type site, Clickz has regular columns on topics such as B2B (Business to Business), email marketing and Content Development. There is also a crude search facility for the archives. Some long established marketing magazines have good websites, the most obvious being Advertising Age which has a special section focusing on Internet advertising issues. Incidentally, at time of writing it headlined with stories related to the tragedy in the USA, e.g. a German magazine hastily withdrawing an unfortunate humorous advert referring to Bin Laden. You have to register to get access to everything, but it is free, and there is a sizeable, searchable archive. For the UK, apart from MAD, mentioned at the start of this article, Marketing magazine has a site with some free articles as does its stablemate, Revolution (a magazine on new media marketing). Some sites focus on specific aspects of marketing. Weinreich Communications' Social Marketing site includes some explanatory texts and a set of links to social marketing resources. Since so many libraries are not-for-profit, social marketing may provide you with a useful approach. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is another topical subject relevant to libraries and the CIO CRM portal gives some background and specialist articles. As mentioned earlier, to get to grips with some of these sites, it's a good idea to learn Internet-marketingspeak. Online glossaries can help. Ad Resources' glossary of Internet advertising terms is concise, defining terms like CPM, interstitial and B2B . Marketing Terms.com has a bigger glossary and fuller definitions, though some of the subdivisions it uses presuppose a certain amount of knowledge to guess what on earth they could contain (e.g. "creative specifications"). Target Marketing magazine's direct marketing glossary is good (Q: what are nixies? A: Pieces of mail returned as "undeliverable as addressed".) I cannot resist including msdbm's Database and Internet Marketing Glossary which introduced me to the term "Autosexing" (not a method for determining the gender of newborn kittens, but "A computer process for finding the sex and appending titles (Mr. Ms.) to a file of names"). Information & Library Service Marketing (ILSM) ---------------------------------------------- You can find some "how to" advice, practical material (e.g. bookmarks for librarians to print out and give to customers), and case studies on this topic. I might as well mention at this point my own library and information marketing site which has some brief texts about marketing and links to all the sites mentioned here, plus extra ones. If you can speak German, Professor Hobohm, at Potsdam Fachhochschule, has put together a virtual textbook on library management and marketing linking to appropriate texts. The US newsletter Marketing Library Services generally has one article from each issue available free, e.g. "Using Rock, Hip-Hop, and Rap to Attract Teens" (a case study from Seattle Public Library) in the July/Aug 2001 issue. A newish (priced) journal on marketing libraries is The Shy Librarian . Marketing Treasures is an occasional newsletter from a library marketing consultant, and her site features library clip art (for sale). Clip art is also a feature of the Library Media and PR site , produced by a design consultant (Stephanie Stokes Design), which has a lot of useful free information and downloads. ILSM: Groups and campaigns -------------------------- There is a list of material (books, campaigns, a few websites) relevant to reader development on the (UK) National Literacy Trust website , including background on some initiatives like BOOX (aimed at raising teenagers' interest in reading: see also ). The UK Library Association's Publicity and Public Relations Group has a page with details of its conference and information about membership and publications. The main UK Library Association site does not seem to feature their National Library Week material (some of which, like media guidelines, would have been useful after the event), or perhaps I've just never ever been able to find it. The *American* Library Association (ALA) provides a contrast, with a good amount of useful material. For example, the library advocate's handbook gives advice about how to put forward the case for your library, and the Promotional Events < http://www.ala.org/events/promoevents/> page has links to information and supporting material for events such as Teen Read Week (October 14-20 "Making reading a hobbit"). There is also a shop selling posters, bookmarks and so forth, and a press kits page . A recent ALA focus is the @yourlibrary campaign in which they have invested a lot of money. You can download logos, artwork for adverts, quotes about libraries etc., some in Spanish as well as English. Significantly, part of the campaign is a site aimed at the public , which is there to "drive traffic" to libraries and back up local library efforts. The ALA has enabled IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) to take on and develop the @yourlibrary logo for use in the newly launched Campaign for the World's Libraries . At the August 2001 IFLA conference (where the launch took place) there were examples of the internationalised logo, but the IFLA site just has the press release at the moment. IFLA itself has a Management and Marketing section with representation from around the world. Possibly most useful is the Glossary of Marketing Definitions , and you can also download the Section's newsletters and find out about events. There are always some talks at the main IFLA conference about marketing, with case studies about particular sectors or countries (there are links to examples, on my site). The US Special Libraries Association now has much of its material available to Members Only, so if you want to look at their "Value of the information center" portal or "Marketing the Special Library" bibliography, you need to join the SLA. It also does not have that much about International Special Librarians Day, which it promotes. For the academic sector, The Association of Research Libraries has a 21-page guide to media relations ("Sometimes your library will need media coverage because your Dean demanded it…") Outside the US, The Australian Library and Information Association also organises a Library and Information Week ("Information matters - and so do we!") and their site includes material that could be generally useful e.g. advice on writing media releases and ideas for activities and publicity. You may need to click on the Library and Information Week sites for previous years to discover the material (depending on how close it is to the current year's Week). ILSM: Free Guides from Sponsors ------------------------------- Some commercial organisations are so big hearted that they create material specially to help librarians market themselves. Possibly not 100% altruistic, as if libraries wither and die, so does part of these companies' market. However, the material is still useful, and in some cases quite substantial. The Gale Group website has sections on Marketing support and Free marketing resources for libraries . The former is a short series of leaflets which can be downloaded covering topics such as media relations guidelines, a template for a press release, and advice on using direct mail. "Free Stuff" includes materials like a newsletter template (useful) and bookmarks that can be used as part of a promotional campaign. Apparently you can "encourage individuality in teens and promote library usage with these cool, hip bookmarks ". Didn't people stop saying "hip" in the 1970s? And I believe "cool" is not as cool as it was. Or perhaps it's retro chic. The Dow Jones InfoPro Resource Center has a "Marketing the information center" section with a few short MS Word documents with tips, notably: Finding Time and Money for Marketing; Marketing Ideas and Techniques; and Sample Marketing Plan. LEXIS-NEXIS hosts a 30-page publication with some workbook elements which you can download for free, "Marketing tips for information professionals: a practical workbook" . Finally, 3M is a sponsor of the ALA's @yourlibrary campaign. They organised a webcast of a workshop "What's new @yourlibrary: How to Market @your Library Creating Your Five-Year Campaign", and a lot of the material can be downloaded from . It includes a manual in pdf format to help you draw up a five year marketing plan for your library. Finding Articles and Case Studies --------------------------------- As well as the usual search engines and priced databases (e.g. Library and Information Science Abstracts and Gale's Trade and Industry database), there are two relevant aggregators of *free* magazine articles: FindArticles and MagPortal . Although the search options could be better, both of them have partial coverage of information publications like "Searcher" and "Information Today", as well as business and marketing magazines. They are therefore worth trying if you are trying to track down articles on a specific aspect of marketing, or case-study articles on particular types of library. I think FindArticles is particularly useful: it is a venture of Gale Group and Looksmart. It has some controlled vocabulary terms including "libraries marketing", and there's a decent Help section. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sheila Webber is a lecturer in the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, UK. She is a member of the IFLA Management and Marketing standing committee. She has recently relocated and updated her sites on Information literacy (now at ) and Marketing of information (now at < http://dis.shef.ac.uk/sheila/marketing/>). > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * "Information & Libraries" articles and links in the Free Pint Portal * Post a message to the author, Sheila Webber, or suggest further resources, at the Free Pint Bar * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Access the entire archive of Free Pint content > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> FREE PINT FACT <<< The number FIVE seems to be cropping up quite a lot with Free Pint recently. The Web and email servers have just been upgraded with five times as much storage as before. Meanwhile, the new Free Pint offices are five times larger than the old ones. This calculation excludes our kitchen and toilets, which we no longer have to share with other companies. We also now have plenty of additional storage room. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FORTHCOMING EVENTS I'm pleased to see that a number of events in the information world are forging ahead, after so many have been cancelled or postponed. Stateside there are some heavy-weight offerings in the coming week or two. California plays host to "Internet Librarian" from Information Today in Pasadena, and "EContent 2001" from Online Inc in Santa Clara. Across in Florida there is the "3rd Annual Digital Reference Conference" organized by The Virtual Reference Desk. Details of these and many other conferences and exhibitions in the information industry can be found on the Free Pint Events page . 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