1. Distribution and Pricing of Library and Information Services Dr Anthony Olden Thames Valley University, London NMPLIS Summer School, July 2010

2. 2  Distribution is an aspect of marketing. Three other areas will first be considered for a wider picture: The distribution of film over the last century The distribution of university-level teaching and learning The distribution of journals by academic publishers

3. 3 The distribution of film over the last century  Film was distributed to audiences who paid money to go to cinemas, or those who turned up to screenings of news programmes by mobile film units in the colonies during World War II.  Then films started to be shown on television, but one had to watch them at the time they were screened, in the same way that you had to go to the cinema at the time the film was showing.

4. 4  By the 1980s films were available as videos which could be bought or rented, and viewed using a video cassette recorder at any time convenient.  Now the video has been replaced by the DVD.  It is also possible now to download films from suppliers and pay for them by credit card.  But despite all these technological developments some people still go to the cinema. Why?

5. 5 The distribution of university-level teaching and learning  The traditional approach was to move to where the university was located for full- time education. This ruled out university education for many.  Part-time education became possible for those who lived within travelling distance if they could get time off from work or if classes were provided in the evenings (Birkbeck College, London), or at weekends.

6. 6  This still excluded many, for whom open or distance education became a lifeline. The Open University in the UK has been functioning for forty years.

7. 7 Institutions such as Aberystwyth University, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, and the University of Northumbria at Newcastle now offer popular Library and Information Studies programmes in distance as well as in traditional face-to-face mode. Aberystwyth and RGU suffer from a degree of geographic isolation, and distance education has overcome this problem and allowed them to reach wide audiences. The University of Illinois is a successful United States example.

8. 8 The distribution of journals by academic publishers  Publishers of academic journals distribute them in electronic as well as print format, and many libraries have cut back on their subscriptions to the print version.  Will academic journals in print format cease appearing?

9. 9 The distribution of library and information services  Public libraries have fixed service points, often a central library and branch libraries. Traditionally users came to the service point to access the library.  Some come to where the users are via mobile libraries and/or a housebound service.

10. 10  Public libraries in the UK now provide their users with electronic access from home or office to many important reference sources such as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography via the library website. This is a relatively new service that still has to be marketed—few people know about it.

11. 11  University libraries offer students and lecturers access to journals in electronic format from home or office. Some academics and researchers in the sciences rarely visit the library any more—instead they sit in their offices and access the content that the library makes available electronically.

12. 12  How can library and information services distribute their services more effectively?  How can they reach the larger market that needs them?  How can national public library services in developing countries such as Tanzania reach people? How many years will it take the service to extend beyond the urban areas? This has been an issue since the establishment of the Tanzania Library Service nearly years ago.

13. 13 Pricing  With certain exceptions, such as charging for the loan of DVDs, library services are provided free at point of contact, although obviously we all pay for them through our taxes.  On the other hand the commercial world—including the publishing world, which is vital to libraries—is acutely conscious of pricing.

14. 14 Pricing objectives  According to Andreasen and Kotler (2008, p. 238), “the first thing an organization must decide in developing a price or pricing policy is the objectives that it wants to achieve”. Possible objectives include Surplus maximization Cost recovery Market size maximization Social equity Market disincentivization

15. 15 Surplus maximization  A fund-raising dinner for an nationally- known political candidate in the United States might charge tens of thousands of dollars for two tickets.  The charge has nothing to do with the cost of the meal—it’s an opportunity for the wealthy and the well-connected to demonstrate their political allegiance, to network, and to be photographed with the candidate.

16. 16 Cost recovery  As Andreasen and Kotler point out (2008, p. 240), “many nonprofit organizations seek a price that would help them recover a ‘reasonable’ part of their costs”.

17. 17 Market size maximization  Public libraries wish to reach out to as many people as possible.  But offering services or products for free is not always the best way to reach the most people Because some equate “free” with low quality Because some retailers won’t stock free products without an incentive—Andreasen and Kotler instance the distribution of condoms in India as an example of this.

18. 18 Social equity  Public libraries are often instanced as an example of this, but they are not a perfect example because Although they often provide free access to IT facilities to the less well-off such as refugees and asylum-seekers… they also provide free recreational reading to middle-class readers who are in effect being subsidised by less well-off taxpayers who make no use of libraries at all.

19. 19 Market disincentivization  Transport provides good examples The congestion charge is a disincentive to drive into Central London The high cost of a travel card or a rail ticket early on a weekday is a disincentive for all but regular commuters

20. 20 Pricing strategies  Andreasen and Kotler instance Cost-oriented pricing  What it costs to produce something, plus a mark-up Value-based pricing  What someone is prepared to pay for something in demand Competition-oriented pricing  The Times, the Guardian and the Independent are all around the same price

21. 21 Reference  Alan R. Andreasen and Philip Kotler, Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations 7 th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008)