Dreaming, Designing, & Using Mobile Library Platforms

Notes from the 2009 Internet Librarian Conference

Tom Ipri
Jason Griffey
R. Toby Greenwalt
Jason A. Clark
Matt Benzing
Michael P Sauers
Christa Burns

Mike & Christa – phone or lab top questions

Tom – mobile sights are not desktop-light
Let’s not make crappy mobile sights out of our crappy websites.
Should you have a mobile site? What is your population, is this the time you need to have a mobile site
What should be on the site?
Mobile web is mobile, text based; people aren’t there to just browse & browse they are looking for something specific
Remember there are many different types of phone, not everyone has an iphone
Web test is brief mobile site should be uber brief
Simple navigation
Even good connections can be slow
Essential information

Mobile usability mobile webs of 2009 is = to desktop web of 1998
Desk top success rate 80%
Movie success 64% – success increased when used a site designed for mobile browsing, better phones preformed better

Jason Clark
Mobile apps for libraries
Native app vs mobile apps
Native apps – install on phone or devise, access to hardware, speakers, camera etc
Distributed through a controlled site
Mobile apps – built with standard technology, no need to download to your device, available at URL
Respect url provide short url
Know your devices – screen size how navigation works
White space is your friend, touch screen fat fingers
Economy of language = less words are better,
Lifeonterra.com/m

Toby Greenwalt – Skokie public library
Delicious.com/tgreenwalt/handheld
Been working on it this since 2007, Noticed change in how people were interacting with their phones, patrons wanted text msg notification
Shoutbomb
Goals for lsta grant
Export key library services
Provide access to core library info
Meet mobile usability standards
Opac access
Patron account info
Capitalize on popularity of sms
Explore option of sms as reference platform
Shoutbomb granted tunnel access thru millennium
Holds, overdues & courtesy reports generated daily
Process automated using TLC script
Files sent to shoutbomb sung sftp
Report resolved against list of opt in patrons

Organizational buy in
Staff training up front & on going, aware of devices & practice with multiple devices
Marketing must be built in

Marketing & promotion
Newsletter
Signage
Website moo cards
Brochure
Lobby card
Blog posts
Facebook advertising
Twitter

Work to create a mobile friendly atmosphere – get rid of those no cell phone signs

Next steps
A month after sign up send them a survey using survey monkey asking about what they like, what they would like different
Responses included having more than one account tied to a number
Locate and item using txt – how do you do that with a phone?

Jason Griffey
Mobile is the future
Either will convince us or scare us about what is coming
Predications are really hard, especially when they are about the future – yogi bearra
Griffey reserves the right to be completely wrong
3G – 4G has 2 big protocols WiMax & LTE
4G gives us ridiculous speeds, 100 mb a second, like walking around with an either net cord on your pocket
LTE – up to 300 mb, speed we don’t even know to do with right now

Libraries have content and services

We like to take pre-existing content and shoe horn it into new forms/formats without looking if ewe need to reevaluate

Augmented reality – brand new kind of media, combines all extras on phone, gps, camera etc to give you more information about your environment, hold up phone, & it knows where you’re at & what you’re looking at & then provides you more information

How do libraries collect and deal with augmented realities collections?

Excited about opportunities provided by our archives

Has interesting privacy implications, instead of seeing historical information you re seeing crime stats or home prices or who lives in the home.

Honeywell kitchen computer $10,000 in 1969 came with 2 week classes, the very best idea they had for a computer in 1969 was a recipe machine, sometimes worried we’re treating cell phones the same way

If I’d asked them what they wanted they would have said a faster horse – Henry Ford
Let’s not give them a faster horse

If you’re not reading Clay Shirky you should be – Tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technogically boring’

Jason’s book – Mobile Technology and Libraries

Questions
Cost analysis of what it costs the library to develop a mobile app
Jason Clark – no not yet

Are we concerned about geolocation information being shared automatically?
Griffey – get over it, privacy is dead
Clark – should be transparent about it, that you’re gathering it, people find the data they are getting about local stuff valuable and people think having info is more valuable that the fear of the big brother aspect of it

Management buy-in for this stuff?
Toby – show customer need,
beg for forgiveness don’t ask for permission

Do you see netbooks affecting the future of these mobile
Toby – As 4G become more prevalent, ppl will do more computer on their regular phone
Griffey – If you could attach a small blue tooth keyboard he wouldn’t carry around a computer

Griffey – the future is here it’s just not evenly distributed