Product Management A New Skill for Reference Librarians

rhe broad range of offerings and the intense competition characteristic of today's mar ketplace present interesting chal lenges to the creators and providers of goods and services. Hammer and Champy said of service sector com merce, "consumers expect and demand more, because they know they can get more."1 The rapid advances in computing and tele communications, coupled with the far-reaching changes in work patterns in our society, have created a demand for services not only more rich in con tent but also more flexible in delivery. Retail customers, for example, expect to get their goods quickly and at their convenience. Generally, convenience is defined as being able to place orders for goods at any hour, on any day, using the desktop or telephone, and having the products delivered by overnight express to almost any loca tion. The success in this environment of firms such as Land's End, Mac Warehouse, and Amazon.com has fostered a heightened level of expec tation among consumers. This expectation generates pres sure on service-sector organizations (such as banks, information services, and libraries) to act with equal speed and flexibility. These organizations have reacted in many innovative ways, none more important than emphasizing customer support. An important aspect of customer sup port often involves product man agement. Product management could prove to be a new competen cy for academic reference librari ans/information specialists in the future, especially if they plan to be central to a university's priorities.