New Articles on Marketing and Impact of Law Libraries

The November 2007 issue of AALL Spectrum, a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, contains 2 articles that are related to marketing:

• Public Relations: Selling Law Librarianship: "Times they are a changin’—don’t you feel the pressure from your side of the desk in a law library? Many times librarians are unsure of what service it is that they provide, and, once they understand what that is, they wonder if they will provide the service adequately. The thought of selling yourself has, unfortunately, been tagged with a negative meaning. However, in relation to the current environment, it is a necessity. How do you begin to build a set of skills that will arm you to become more effective in today’s business conditions? The following criteria will help that process."
• Perspective: What is Your Impact on Society: "The consumer is king. Today consumers have more options than ever before to access information. This access to information in turn gives them more power when making their decisions, whether it’s deciding where to shop for groceries or which physician to see. Even though libraries generally reside in the not-for-profit sector, they must address the consumer-driven world or risk a perceived lack of value or effectiveness (...) Law schools, law firms, and public entities, such as county or municipal governments, often see libraries as overhead in terms of cost or space and divert those resources to other purposes. This is where the social audit can have an impact (...) The social audit is a concept that can be used to evaluate library effectiveness based on qualitative standards and criteria. It is a method to look at outcomes from a social perspective and the impact an organization has on society, rather than through inputs such as the number of circulated items, dollars spent, and other resources. For too long, quantitative measurements have been used to evaluate libraries. As collection formats change and technology changes the way patrons use libraries, it is clear new ways of looking at library effectiveness need to be adopted. A social audit is one method that all types of libraries can use."