To Russia with Love -- of Marketing
Channel: SJSU School of Information
Date: 2014-02-28

Abstract:
SJSU SLIS instructor, Dr. Christine Koontz, will discuss how her participation in an international library association led to her working with the Russia State Library, helping them develop a marketing strategy to reach library users in that country. As the former Soviet republic transitions to a more democratic way-of-life, state agencies are learning how to promote their resources and services. Dr. Koontz's presentation will provide insight as to how this is impacting the library world in Russia.

Biography:
Dr. Christine Koontz is a full-time faculty member with the School of Library & Information Studies, part of the College of Communication & Information, at Florida State University (FSU). In the fall, she was recognized at FSU as one of the 2013 recipients of their Transformation through Teaching Award.

Koontz is also a part-time faculty member at the San José State University School of Library and Information Science, where she teaches marketing of library and information services.

In addition, as director of GeoLib, she manages and develops the U.S. Public Library Geographic Database.

Koontz pioneered the critical need to understand the spatial customer markets of individual libraries. In a decade of research projects, she collected data that describes diverse populations and how they use a single library, with a goal to optimize collection development and service delivery at a single library.

Koontz's research is the basis of the U.S. Public Library Geographic Database. The database includes relevant U.S. census data and library use data from 16,000 communities.

Koontz serves on committees of state, national, and international library and information organizations and has won numerous awards for her research.