Carpenter Knight Netherton

LIS 690 Marketing Plan

Behavior: Faculty Members Database Avoidance
Research
Survey to be distributed to faculty members.
1. Number, in order of preference, which resources you utilize when searching for academic
information (1 = most often consulted, 6 = least often consulted):
_ Colleagues
_ Databases
_ Library Catalogues
_ Personally Owned Books
_ Professional Acquaintances
_ Search Engines
2. If there are other resources you frequently utilize, please list them:
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. How often do you utilize databases?
a. Every time I need academic information
b. Whenever I have time to spare
c. Rarely
d. Never
4. How often do you recommend databases to your students?
a. Every time I assign a research project
b. Only for specific assignments
c. Rarely
d. Never
5. How often do your students use database materials in their ILAs (Information Literacy
Assignments)?
Carpenter Knight Netherton
a. Always
b. Usually
c. Rarely
d. Never
6. Do you feel that students prefer Google/Wikipedia over databases? Why or why not?
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
7. What do you feel are the differences between search engines and databases?
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
8. What do you think could be done to improve database usage?
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Based on previous research and former conversations with faculty members, survey results would likely
show:
Faculty rely on personally owned materials and personal and professional contacts more than
materials they search for,
Faculty members rarely utilize databases for their own purposes,
Students utilize databases even less frequently,
Search engines are seen as being faster, more efficient, and more convenient,
Databases are thought of as clunky, require an unnecessary log-in, and are slow.
Previous Research
Dewald, N. (2005). What do they tell their students? Business faculty acceptance of the web and library
databases for student research. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(3), 209-215.
Retrieved April 29, 2014, from the Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts
database.
This study found that faculty members were suggesting web resources to their students more
often than they encouraged or required using subscription databases.
Dibble, M., & Frank, I. (2003). Partnerships with faculty enhance information literacy. Florida Libraries,
46(2), 17-19. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from the Library, Information Science & Technology
Abstracts database.
This study shows that working with faculty members to encourage student use of subscription
databases can increase the effectiveness of information literacy instruction. Remote methods are
proven to be useful in reaching this population.
Carpenter Knight Netherton
Palmer, J., & Sandler, M. (2003). What do faculty want? Library Journal, 128(1), 26-29. Retrieved April
29, 2014, from the Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database.
The message conveyed by faculty respondents that the ability to roam so many databases, with
just a few clicks of the mouse, caused some to worry that they spent too much time searching the
web and not enough getting something written (27).
Marketing Strategy
Continually remind faculty about databases, and use key phrases such as: New, Cutting Edge, and More
Opportunities. Phrases such as these will give the impression that databases the library offers contain the
latest and greatest information. This will also hit on a common marketing strategy of targeting natural
desires to have the latest and greatest. Utilize opportunities to explain the poor quality of search engines
compared to databases, especially as it relates to the lack of control over the search.
Proposed Persuasive Message
Database searching is as quick and easy as search engines, but gives users the opportunity to have better
control over their results and gain access to new cutting edge information. If faculty lead by example
and encourage students to use databases to find information, an improvement in student research
capabilities will be noted.


Carpenter Knight Netherton
Marketing Strategy: The 4 Ps

Product

Providing an adjustment in faculty information behavior that will increase the ease with which the user
searches while also improving the relevance of information found. In the hierarchy of academia, there is
a natural transfer of information imparted by faculty (high) to students (low) that extends beyond mere
instruction. Information is inherently gathered by students from the instructor, not always actively or
intentionally. Because instructors are a student's primary source of information regarding coursework,
students are likely to look to the instructor, or provided documents and literature, before trying to search
for information on their own. Faculty can increase the quality of student work as well as the quality of
their own research by utilizing and promoting these databases.

Price

There is an initial cost of time and effort in learning to how to use databases for searching. Training in
database searching can be achieved through a simple session, presentation, or video(s) that demonstrates
the advantages of utilizing databases, and explains ways for faculty to encourage students to use them. In
the long run, using databases can save time and effort by providing better results than a search engine.

Place

In utilizing the hierarchy of the college system, we will attempt to gain the perspective and influence of
the professionals and faculty in high level positions to accept and help promote the use of databases. This
demographic is likely to be easier to convince than the student demographic. By convincing the faculty to
support databases, we will send a positive message to students, and help decrease avoidance. To help
reach the professionals and faculty, handouts, training sessions in nearby locations, and videos with
specific database examples will be utilized. This will allow us to reach our demographic in a multi-media
format.

Persuasion

The persuasive message we will promote presents positive views in favor of databases by proving
demonstrations of database superiority to search engines through the methods explained above, and
creating incentives and rewards for faculty and students to use databases.