FLICC Meeting Announcement 9707

                           Getting the Word Out:
               Marketing Your Library's Information Services

This year FLICC is focusing on helping federal libraries to market the
value of information services to their agencies and to promote the role of
the professional librarian. The objective is not to protect libraries per
se, but to improve the way our agencies acquire, interpret and apply
information. Recognizing that simply having a worthwhile
product--information--is not enough, librarians are looking for way to
create demand for our services. The basics for marketing the library,
information resources, and the expertise of the librarian seem simple:

    Get out of the library and talk to current and potential customers;
   Find out what they need, deliver it, and take credit for the library's
                           accomplishments; and,
 Help management demonstrate agency performance that's on task, on time and
                               under budget.

Our keynote speaker, Steven Abram, Director, Corporate and News
Information, Micromedia Limited, will give us a grounding in marketing
fundamentals and techniques for advocating library services within an
organization. Next, a panel of federal librarians will discuss the key
political factors that affect both your ability to deliver quality services
and the way your services are perceived. These include: securing the
library s position in the agency, building intra-agency alliances,
promoting your services to end-users, and developing the persona of the
librarian.

At noon, we will divide into teams and, over a box lunch, discuss marketing
and advocacy with colleagues from similar library settings. Because
advocacy techniques work differently under different organizational
pressures, the teams will be arranged by the library s size and mission,
rather than by subject area.

You will sign up to share your experiences with one of the following
teams:

National Libraries (NL)--which have a public and government service
mission, and whose size, staffing, resources and breadth of programs
present unique issues; Academic Libraries (AL)--which design
collectionsand services to support faculty and students; Administrative
Centers (AC)--which coordinate agency libraries and represent them to
management, but do not themselves operate a library; Headquarters or
Central Libraries (HQ)--which manage the agency s primary library
collection and information services and support the agency s other
libraries;  Regional or Branch Libraries (RB)--which serve local agency
staff and rely on parent or sister libraries for additional resources and
support; One-person Libraries (OP)--which fulfill their user s needs with
a staff of only one.

The teams will report back to the full group after lunch. We will compile
their observations and suggestions into a handout for participants. After
the event, the team report and other marketing tips will be published in a
special Library Advocacy section of the FLICC web site.

After the team reporting session, Annette Gohlke, former Librarian of the
Air Force, will discuss ways to quantify both the benefits of
library/information services and the costs of marginalizing libraries.

Finally, we will consider how database vendors are adapting to an end-user
driven information market. Herb White, the distinguished professor and
commentator, will moderate a panel of vendors who will discuss marketing
approaches that range from designing consumer-oriented systems that anyone
can use to maintaining a staff of experts who ll actually do the user s
online research for him. What lessons do the vendors marketing strategies
hold for libraries?

          Date:          Tuesday, December 10, 1996

          Time:          9:00 a.m.--4 p.m. (Registration begins
                         at 8:30 a.m.)
                         Mumford Room, 6th floor
                         Madison Building
          Place:         Library of Congress
                         101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington,
                         DC
          Metro:         Capitol South (Orange and Blue lines)
          Sponsors:      FLICC Education Advocacy/Working Group
                         $125 (includes refreshments, box lunch
                         and handouts). Interpreting services
          Registration:  (American Sign Language) will be
                         provided if requested five (5) business
                         days in advance of the event.

          Information:   To get a Registration Form, call FLICC
                         (202) 707-4800; TTY (202)707-4995.
                         Please notify FLICC if you are unable to
          Cancellations: attend in order to allow those on the
                         waiting list an opportunity to register.