Out-of-the-Box Library Marketing: Examining Third-Party Materials that Promote Electronic Resources

Abstract

With so many online resources at our fingertips, balancing the brand identity of libraries and third-party resource providers has long been a concern. Existing research addresses the impact of promotional materials branded by third-party resource providers with little customizable space for libraries to add their brands. This article complements past research by reviewing the effectiveness of physical and digital marketing materials created by library resource providers to help libraries market their electronic content. We assess the contents of these marketing toolkits and survey librarians at academic, public, medical, law, and other types of libraries about how they use these promotional items, asking them to comment on their design and to express how well these materials link resources such as databases to the library.