   
Newsletter of the IFLA Section on Management and Marketing
May 1997,
no. 1
Fellow Round Table (now Section) members:
Clearly the most satisfying event of the year for most of
us in the Round Table was the letter from Ralph Manning,
Chair of Division VI Management and Technology that began:
"Dear Colleagues
I have the pleasure to inform you that the IFLA
Professional Board has approved the transformation of the
Round Table on Management to the Section on Management
and Marketing..."
For those of us who have been involved with the section for
some years it was a very welcome affirmation of the hard
work and level of activity of the Round Table over the last
half decade or so.
In our proposal for the change of status, we were able to
say, and to justify that "The Round Table's activities now
rival or exceed those of many sections." Needless to say,
we couldn't have said that without the hard work of many
people. One person in particular whose efforts I would like
to mention, partly because he has retired and his name is
no longer so visible as an officer of the Section, is David
Clements who was a very capable and hard working
Secretary/Treasurer for several years and whose
accomplishment it principally was that the Round Table was
put on a firm organizational basis, now so ably maintained
and extended by his successor Pat Layzell Ward. The
'transformation' was also an affirmation of confidence in
the importance of marketing and in the work of Rejean
Savard, Marielle de Miribel, and Christine Tovote to
organize sessions concerning marketing and to make that
importance of marketing more visible within IFLA. And to
all the others who suggested topics or gave papers or
organized sessions, almost too numerous to mention (and if
I tried, I'm sure that I would overlook someone who should
be mentioned), our gratitude as well.
Now the challenge before us is to extend and expand that
momentum and make the section hum. Please help in carrying
us forward. As a Round Table, we got a small but
predictable sum from IFLA. Now as a section, our support is
a direct function of our membership. Two things will drive
that membership, our success in marketing and making our
section visible, and of course the quality and the extent
of our activities, sessions, newsletters, projects,
articles in the IFLA Journal, etc. Please help with both.
Talk up the Section with your friends and colleagues, and
come up with ideas for sessions and projects, and take part
in our activities. Again, thanks so much for the progress
we have made!
Mike Koenig, Chairperson
Mike -our thanks to you, for leadership and motivation.
Patricia.
The change brings a number of implications. The first
concerns the status of membership of the new section. Round
Tables are less formal than Sections and so a mailing list
has developed. Now we have to work to convert that interest
into membership by encouraging, persuading, and cajoling
institutional and personal members of IFLA to add the Section
of Management and Marketing on their annual return. If you
are in doubt about the procedure please contact the person
responsible for paying the dues of your institution, or
Daphne Vlot, the membership officer at IFLA Headquarters
(fax: +31-70-3834827).
If you, or your institution, is a member of the Section, then
you will be eligible to stand as a member of the Standing
Committee of the Section. Members who have difficulty
attending IFLA conferences can become a Corresponding Member
of the Committee.
At the annual conference the Section organises an Open
Meeting at which formal papers are presented, and workshops.
Karen Muller of the American Library Association has
organised workshops on management themes, and Christina,
Marielle and Rejean have organised workshops on marketing. An
annual review of the general literature on management has
been prepared and quickly published in the IFLA
Journal, recent reviews have been prepared by Luis
Herrera and colleagues in Argentina.
The Section has an Executive until a Standing Committee can
be elected. IFLA has suggested that the current officers
remain in post - Mike Koenig and Pat Layzell Ward, and that
Rejean Savard and Christina Tovote join to make an Executive
of four in the transitional period. A suggestion has emerged
from the recent PB meeting that the Section on Statistics
join with our Section, and the place of the RT on Women's
Issues has also been raised. These suggestions will be
discussed in Copenhagen.
A meeting of the Standing Committee (currently the executive)
will be scheduled during Saturday 30 August - time as yet
unknown. Please feel free to attend, for all SC meetings are
open to observers.
-
Michael Koenig (USA)
-
User perceptions of the effect of the outsourcing of
U.S. Government libraries: findings and conclusions of the
research project
-
Hilkka Orava (Finland)
-
Marketing is an attitude of mind
-
Greta Renborg (Sweden)
-
Marketing library services: how it all began
There will also be an exchange of ideas about the future
of the new Section. If you will not be able to travel to
Copenhagen please send your thoughts to the Secretary so that
they can be fed into the discussion.
The workshop originally announced as 'Managing change' is
now: Advancing the Librarian's Role in the New
Information Economy
Half day workshop: scheduled for Thursday but check final
programme at registration.
Organiser: Karen Muller of the American Library Association
You will need to pre-register in Copenhagen. The usual
practice is to put lists for signing-up in the IFLA
Headquarters area. There may be a limit to the number of
participants, so go along and register as soon as you arrive.
Karen's workshops are always very popular.
Goal: to provide participants with an understanding of the
challenges to be overcome in order to change the public's
mind about the ability of librarians to manage information
and technology.
-
Ruud Bruyns (Netherlands)
-
The challenges of managing in the new information
economy
-
Maria Seissl (Austria)
-
Martin Kreinz (Austria)
-
How are librarians perceived: the Austrian
experience
-
Neil Greeve (Australia)
-
School leaver attitudes towards librarianship
-
J. Linda Williams (USA)
-
Advocacy: LISAN - Libraries on the Information
Network Superhighway Advocacy Network.
-
Video:
-
Kids Connect
-
Speaker to be announced
-
Building skills for the new age.
Adapting Marketing to Libraries and Information Centers
in a Changing and World-Wide Environment
Full day workshop expected to be scheduled for Thursday but
check final programme at registration.
Organisers: Rejean Savard and Christina Tovote. Joint with
Public Libraries Section
Another popular workshop, and you will have to sign up for it
- see above.
Goals: to develop a better knowledge of what marketing is
among the participants; to explore new applications of
marketing among IFLA members and raise a positive attitude
towards marketing among librarians.
-
Yves Courrier, Unesco Moderator
Rejean Savard (Canada)
Jens Thorhauge (Denmark)
-
How librarians perceive marketing
-
Sissel Nielsen/Christina Tovote (Norway/Sweden)
Marielle de Miribel (France)
Virginia Walsh (Australia)
-
How librarians apply marketing
-
Yawo Assigbley (Togo)
Audrienne Glosiene (Lithuania)
Yuanqing Du (China)
-
How to adapt marketing to particular contexts:
Africa, former Eastern Bloc countries and China
-
Bo Harder Weymann (Denmark)
-
The future of marketing in libraries: trend
researching
-
Conclusion.
Visas
Check carefully with your travel agent to see if you will
need a visa. We have been warned that some delegates stopping
en route may need a visa...
Getting about in Copenhagen
the public transport system is good, but the conference
centre is not in the middle of the city. Shuttle buses will
only be provided free for those booking their hotel through
the conference office. Arrangements may be made for others on
payment of a fee.
Cost of living
Copenhagen is a beautiful, friendly city, but the cost of
living can be higher than in other capital cities.
The current scope note reads:
The Section on Management and Marketing has an enabling role
for the study of management and marketing issues within
library services and systems. It collaborates with other IFLA
Sections in applying management and marketing theory and
practice to specific types of services and operations
throughout the world. A particular concern is to identify
emerging theories and practices which may impinge on
libraries, and to ensure that managers are made aware of
these developments in order to anticipate change, and promote
best practice. The Section works with educators and trainers
to promote the inclusion of management and marketing studies
in the curricula, especially in developing countries. Its
activities bring together practitioners, educators and
researchers in the fields of management and marketing to
exchange ideas, knowledge and experience.
If you have suggestions about amendments to the scope note or
additions to the range of activities, please send them to the
Secretary by 30 June.
IFLA makes available modest sums for projects. Sums of up to
NLG 750 are agreed by the Divisional Board, and larger
requests are vetted by the Divisional Board before sending
them to the Professional Board. Examples of activities that
might be funded include surveys such as the one that Mike
will be reporting in Copenhagen, and covering some of the
overheads for workshops such as that on marketing. Preparing
publications, organising short courses etc are other
possibilities. The sums generally cover visible costs such as
postage etc. If you have ideas about a project please get in
touch with the Secretary so that it can be put to the
Executive in Copenhagen.
Yes folks we need to fix the programme for 1998. It was
decided in Beijing that the theme would be 'Quality issues'.
Would anyone like to offer a paper on this theme? Offers to
the Secretary please.
I would appreciate receiving mail at home where IFLA work is
done: Patricia Layzell Ward,Haulfryn,Cae
Eithin,Penrhyndeudraeth,Gwynedd LL48 6EL,Wales, U.K.
Phone/fax + 44 1766 770434 e-mail
layzellward@celtic.co.uk
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