ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries J u ly /A u g u s t 1 9 9 7 / 4 9 3 M a rk e tin g lib ra ry instruction to adults By P atricia W eaver Saint Joseph’s p ersonal approach to attracting students O ffering library instruction not connected to a particular course can be like having a party to w hich nobody comes. Potenti tendees often sign up for classes w ith the best of intentions; but as time passes, the classes seem to lose priority am ong the myriad of re­ sponsibilities and commitments that adult stu­ dents must deal with on a daily basis. Five years ago, the Francis A. Drexel Library at Saint Jo sep h ’s University (SJU) decided to offer two Electronic Database Sessions at the beginning of each semester for incoming MBA students in order to introduce them to the wide variety o f electronic resources available in their subject area. Knowing that my potential audi­ ence consisted mainly o f adults with hectic schedules, I decided to approach the task from the perspective o f profit-conscious service or­ ganizations by: 1) advertising using a personal approach that places tangible value on the ser­ vice being offered, 2) offering the service at convenient days and times, and 3) using good follow-up techniques to ensure that our “cus­ tomers” followed through. A personal approach The U niversity’s A dm inistrative C om puting Department helped me merge a form letter with student nam e and address files so that a per­ sonalized letter could be created on university letterhead for each new MBA student. In the letter, I informed students that since research plays a large role in their education at SJU, our library offers special instruction sessions to ac­ quaint them with the kinds o f electronic re­ sources relevant to their studies and to help take some of the mystery out of database search­ ing. Each letter was individually signed, which gave me the opportunity to be sure that the com puter printed an appropriate greeting fol­ al laotw­ ing the address. Convenience stressed Sessions w ere offered on nights w h en the larg­ est num ber of students w ould be on campus. The 50-minute classes were scheduled one hour before most MBA classes began—or ten min­ utes after early evening classes ended—so that students didn’t n eed to m ake a special trip to campus. In addition, the letter stated that I would remain in the library after each session to answ er questions o r help students begin using the equipment. A flyer/reservation form that could be mailed or faxed to the library was enclosed with every letter. In addition, the reference desk telephone num ber and my e-mail address w ere listed in the letter so that students could m ake reserva­ tions in the m anner most convenient to them. (Most tended to call in o r fax their responses.) The flyer was designed to contain relevant in­ formation from the letter that could be posted on a bulletin board or refrigerator to serve as a reminder. It also stated that space was limited for each class. Follow-up: The critical step One w eek before the session, postcards were sent to all registrants informing them that space had been reserved for them on the day and time shown on the card. O ur Registrar’s Office P a tricia Weaver, fo r m e r ly a c tin g h e a d o f reference a n d b u sin e ss re ference lib ra r ia n a t S a in t Joseph 's University, is h e a d lib ra r ia n o f W o o d la n d L ib ra ry a t P e n n State U niversity’s A b in g to n College; e-m ail: p x w 2 1 @S p s u .e d u %e2%80%b9Spsu.edu 4 9 4 /C & R L N ew s prints mailing labels, so the cards did not have to be addressed by hand; but the task could be accomplished by a work study student. Results The efforts outlined above resulted in full at­ tendance at every class. The few people w ho w ere kept from attending at the last minute always called to apologize, and those calls of­ ten resulted in appointm ents to pick up an information packet or receive a quick dem on­ stration at another time. In addition, people w ho w ere unable to attend the sessions on the scheduled dates often called for informa­ tion or a personal appointment. Some saved my letter and called months later to ask about attending a session or to talk to me w hen they had special research needs. (Web cont. fro m page 488) to review the section entitled “Bulletins” which consists of very current information related to the library: system related messages (“OVID will be dow n . . .”), blurbs for new or featured library activities or events (“The library will host a reception in the History o f Medicine . . .”), and the like. It was felt that every department might have notices to contribute or suggestions to make in this vein. Everyone was requested to check their des­ ignated section at least every two w eeks with some exceptions. Some areas such as the in­ troductory text and the library’s mission state­ ment do not change often and do not need to be constantly monitored. Everyone is, of course, welcome to look and comment on all sections of the page, but they will only be held account­ able for their assigned areas. Keeping it current But som eone still has to make the changes to the documents after the reviewers find prob­ lems or needed updates. For this purpose, we organized a committee o f staff members who expressed an interest in working directly on the Web page. The chair of this committee func­ tions as Webmaster, arbiter hypertextum, and is the coordinator for all editing changes to the page. For the time being, the associate director for technical services and systems acts as chair but this position will eventually be assumed by another staff member. Each person is trained in html if needed, given an html editor, and assigned certain sections of the page as their While this might seem like a lot of work, it is important to remember that once the system is set up, only minor changes need to be made each semester. Return on investment has been excellent in terms of establishing contact with students, good public relations, and quality ser­ vice to students. The system can be used to increase attendance at any kind o f training or instructional sessions for graduate students and professional programs held on campus. (Simi­ lar sessions w ere offered to new graduate arts and sciences students during the fall 1996 se­ mester with equally good results.) Most impor­ tant, the success of the classes helped convince administration that library instruction should be required for all new business majors. Such in­ struction was instituted at both undergraduate and graduate levels in fall 1996. ■ normal editing responsibility. Some basic UNIX command instruction is also usually necessary. Each committee member has an individual account on the library UNIX server with his or her ow n subdirectory for library html pages as well as access to the administrative account. As the Web page reviewers find pages that need updating or as new material is added, this in­ formation is passed on to the committee which distributes it to the appropriate member. The files are then edited or created on the m ember’s PC and then uploaded via ftp to the mem ber’s individual library directory. For security rea­ sons, no one can log on as administrator. In order to get the files to the library’s Web direc­ tory, members must first log on in a telnet ses­ sion using their individual logins, change to administrator, and then copy the files from their home directories. The process looks cumber­ some on paper but actually flows smoothly in practice, especially with a Windows ftp pro­ gram. All committee members try to keep an updated set of all library pages in their own UNIX directories and on their PCs. Files can be ftped directly from the library directory to their personal computers without having to have ad­ ministrative rights. These procedures allow the library to per­ form the necessary m aintenance to keep its homepage fresh and current without becoming an undue burden on any one person. They also provide the added bonus of having the staff feel more involved in the Web page on a personal level, since most are participating in some way in its development and maintenance. ■