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5 Quick Questions
1. How do you build support for your library?
Our main source of revenue is the University budget in which we guaranteed financial provisions to maintain our collections, automation, collections’ maintenance and staff training. We also belong to the Integrated System of Libraries within the University of São Paulo - SIBi/USP, made up of thirty-nine libraries, a supervisory counsel and a technical department, that coordinates system-wide activities for all libraries in the USP System.
2. Do you participate in any consortia?
Yes, we have participated in two; the ProBe Consortium (1999-2001) and today we are very much involved in the CRUESP/Libraries Consortium, which brings together the library systems of the three universities of the State of São Paulo.
3. Does this help build advocacy for the libraries?
Yes, in consortia we work as partners. In addition to other activities, we are able to negotiate prices and conditions with our suppliers and achieve better deals on journals and electronic databases for the Universities of the São Paulo State University community as a whole. The actions of the CRUESP/Libraries Consortium are based on three principles: sharing, cooperation and rationalization. We are also currently partners of the CAPES Journal Portal.
4. What factors do you consider most important in building support for your library among your researchers?
We consider the quality of products and services we offer our researchers as particularly important. Electronic journals greatly facilitate research. They are easily accessible from any university computer terminal available in the libraries. We now offer 24/7 access to our researchers. Some are comfortable accessing the system and fulfilling their research needs; others are not and as librarians we are constantly engaged in training our researchers to enable them to move to the digital environment.
We also build support by addressing issues important to our communities. One of the System’s biggest concerns is the question of electronic data archiving. We intend to follow up with publishers to obtain ownership rights for all data backfiles we have thus far gathered. This is also one of the main concerns expressed within Brazilian academic communities.
Billboard/outdoor poster displayed at all SIBi/USP
campuses as part of a publicity campaign
promoting the availability of online information.
5. Are you undertaking any specific marketing activities to build support/awareness?
To encourage researchers to visit the library and use the electronic resources available, SIBi/USP is stepping up awareness campaigns and advertising on billboards and posters in libraries, academic departments and research institutes, and student union and faculty clubs. Our intention is that this be more than just a propaganda campaign - that it be the start of continuous integrated actions, building upon already existing training projects developed by our team of librarians, university marketing staff, and library users interested in training. 
Contributed by Valeria Ayres Garcia, Account Development Manager Elsevier, São Paulo, Brazil
