Market segmentation Process of dividing the market into smaller groups that share one or more characteristics.

Market share The proportion of the total market that is using a particular organisation's product.

Marketing information system System for collecting and exploiting information on existing and potential clients.

Marketing mix Usually refers to McCarthy's '4 P's': Promotion, Place, Price and Product. Other words beginning with P (eg People and Process) are sometimes also included.

Mission The central goal(s) of an organisation.

Place The way in which a product or service is distributed, or where it is located (eg, are searches delivered to people's mailboxes, or do users have to fetch them).

Positioning Deciding where your product fits in, and how it should be perceived, in relation to its competitors.

ProcessThe process by which the client obtains the product (eg what they have to do to register as a borrower, or order a search).

Product In marketing jargon, means both products and services (so that an SDI service, or journal circulation, are 'products').

Product differentiation What makes your product different from those of your competitors (eg you supply better quality, or more timely, searches).

Target market A group of people for whom you create and maintain a specific marketing mix (eg the product will be tailored to their needs, priced in a way that group finds attractive).

ESOMAR (European Society for Opinion and Market Research) has a searchable Glossary of market research terms