1. Convenience product
A consumer good and/or service (such as soap, candy bar, and shoe shine) that is bought frequently, often on impulse, with little time effort spent on the buying process. A convenience product usually is low-priced and is widely available. For a public library this type of material might be newspapers or magazines, or perhaps a quick selection of other materials with little browsing or research. These materials or services are usually located within facility for easy and quick access.
2. Culture
The set of learned values, norms, and behaviors that are shared by a society and are designed to increase the probability of the society's survival. These include shared superstitions, myths, folkways, mores and behavior patterns that are rewarded or punished. For libraries, the understanding of different cultures, as new immigrant groups move into the market area is extremely important to take into consideration, in order to provide the needed materials and services
3. Decision support system (DSS)
A decision support system (marketing definition) is a systematic collection of data, techniques and supporting software and hardware by which an organization gathers and interprets relevant information from business and the environment and turns it into a basis for making management decisions. A DSS differs from a management information system in that it is designed to answer precise questions and what/if questions. An example would be, 'What affect on system library use will there be if Branch X is closed?'
4. Descriptive research
A research design in which the major emphasis is on determining the frequency with which something occurs. For example, how often users access the Internet in a given month.
5. Economic environment
Part of the macroenvironment encompassing wealth, income, productivity, inflation, credit, employment, etc. which affect the agency/library's markets and opportunities