True to their marketing theme, Kennedy and LaGuardia introduce key concepts with analogies to everyday life and popular culture. In chapter 1, they compare marketing without a plan to shopping without a list, with a reminder that the first part of making a list is taking stock of what you have. This strategy helps to illustrate and reinforce ideas in a user-friendly style. The how-to of e-resource marketing is outlined in chapter 2 with the design of a nine-step plan. Chapter 3, “Implement Your Marketing Plan,” shifts the focus to actual practice. I found the title somewhat misleading; this chapter is essentially a literature review, organized within the context of the authors’ nine-step framework. In a recent article, Kennedy asserts that there is not yet a strong-enough body of literature to identify a clear “path for success in marketing electronic resources.”1 For quick reference, the authors distill information into figures and tables, including a visual outline of the planning process in figure 2.1 and a summary of three key studies in table 3.2 that resulted in “actionable knowledge” (65). A useful sidebar of professional journals and databases encourages readers to stay current with marketing research.

The authors provide tips in chapter 4 on putting the plan into writing. They highlight what they feel are the strongest components of the examples offered in part 2—a move toward suggesting best practices. This chapter might have been better placed as an introduction to part 2 to segue to the written reports, which vary from short and to-the-point to more detailed and comprehensive. I found three of the four plans to be helpful as potential models. Example 3 has a broader scope and perhaps is not as useful to those looking specifically for an e-resource marketing plan.

Knowing that real-world constraints will likely alter the course of any plan, Kennedy and LaGuardia address the need for constant assessment and revision in chapters 5 and 6. Documenting outcomes helps to improve future endeavors, not only for individual libraries, but for the profession as a whole. The authors allay the fears of math-phobic librarians by providing sample questions, feedback forms, and an assessment rubric. Also included are appropriate discussions about the role of a well-designed library website and ethical considerations regarding marketing style.

Kennedy and LaGuardia offer a flexible, step-by-step approach to e-resource marketing that is neatly laid out in the table of contents and searchable via a comprehensive index. The variety of presentation techniques— narrative text, sidebars, figures and tables, and “Web Extras”—makes this a multilayered resource appropriate for a wide range of learning styles, institutional environments, and levels of marketing experience. If the authors’ emphasis on planning and assessment is heeded by librarians, perhaps a future edition of this guide will be able to cite a richer literature that includes evidence-based best practices.