The Usage Of Modern Technologies In Promoting Of Public Libraries

Marketing is a significant phenomenon in the promotion but has also triggered a lot of assessment in the way how effective is a public library is presently in utilizing its promotional tools. Obviously, our library needs to examine how users access and view our collection. As one might expect, the internet has not been our only challenge, but the emerging new technologies, that the library must cope with, to remain applicable to the users need for research purposes. Because of space constrained, this analysis examines the immediate and innovative ways that are top priority over our current promotional methods and outreach that is urgently required. The potent contention tends to highlight and build a case for the innovative tools to reach every user.

Ranganathan pointed out “library as an institution that is active in a constantly changing environment, and according that, the institute should change and adapt itself with spirit of time so it can serve best those who need it”. As Public library is experiencing a change from the print period to the digital world. This could end up being epic in the life of collections and how our library has moved away from current promotional methods to capture users and potential users by embracing social media and deep innovative strategies to achieve our intended target audience and we need to seize this moment.

The National library need take advantage of the social media, for instance, and we need to utilize the moment to be more effective and reach our patrons. Several of these methods are freely available and could reach users on latest gadgets such as the smartphones or iPad in a split second and patrons do not have to visit the library. Vasilios and Rowleyhighlight the “key promotion tools mentioned were library websites, library Facebook page information literacy sessions, in-person instruction and e-mails”.

Presently, these are the methods that National library Guyana used to make users and potential users aware of our collection. The library’s collection must be visible and accessible to users and remote users, so any marketing strategy must be used to target our audience. On the Library’s website one can find a listing of our special collections such as the Newspapers collection which is dated back to the 1960’s, the National Library Guyana is the only institution in the country which has this collection dated back that long. Our Library needs to move in the realm of the emerging new technologies.

Meanwhile Koha database is new to the National Library patrons’ information literacy sessions are offered to the users. Training sessions are conducted on how to use search the database and literature searching. Information Literacy training are done by librarian in secondary schools to equips students with knowledge and skills to identify, retrieve, evaluate, and ethically use and communicate information from various information resources offer by the National Library.

The evidence is clear that the training sessions works when looking at students usage of the database but it must be noted that this same promotional method did not work well with older researchers. It can be noted that this promotional method of information literacy is cost effective since it is usually done during working hours and schools make arrangement for students involved in these training. Students learn that these are for different databases give them the most reliable and trustworthy information for their assignments and school-based assessment (SBA).

This sessions are carried out by the five branches of the National Library training on computers in navigating such as using author, title and examining what subject area to access our collection. This promotional method continues captures students to ‘know our library collection’.

Reference librarians offer one on one training for individuals as to finding and locating information. Juvenile and Adult Lending librarians do several displays on the new arrival of books, journals to inform users of new have been added to it collections. Making the invisible collection visible emails are sent institutions and patrons. The standpoint of this library is the collection, special collections of important Guyanese writers: A. J. Seymour and Ian McDonald, Bound Newspapers collection and Caribbeana collections must be accessible to all and have remote access. The time has come that our methods have outlived its current effective one. We need to reach the user everywhere and they expect our collections to be present, they need to know what we have. Our collection needs to grab our user attention. The library must be first preference for the epistemic belief that the best and reliable information is retrieved for scholarly work by researchers and publishers.