Identifying existing data sources within a community which can be exploited in order to effectively segment a public library's geographic catchment

Abstract

Purpose - To provide a procedure for identifying organisations then contacting them and extracting information in regards to market segmentation research they have undertaken, which will directly benefit the public library. Design/methodology/approach - Describes the process of identifying viable organisations and groups to contact within a variety of different sectors in the community. Analysis will be conducted using grounded theory. Findings - Organisations operating within the Upper Hutt region do not take part in a highly detailed fragmented segmentation process, instead they segment target groups using demographic variables. Through using the documented methodology, it was discovered that the organisations most willing to share their market research data, were those organisations that fell into the 'community services' sector. Possible reasons for this have been commentated on and include the level of engagement the library currently undertakes with the community services sector, and the concept of 'community', and both parties believing they belong to the same one. Originality/value - This paper describes a process that can be successfully undertaken by other public libraries in order to discover insights about the community they serve.