Tag Archives: mobile web services

Handheld Librarian V Conference This Week (July 27-28)

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Stephen Francoeur

We have a site registration to attend on the online Handheld Librarian V conference, which will be this week on Wednesday, July 27, and Thursday, July 28. Any library staff are encouraged to feel free to drop by room 320a starting at 11 am on those days to sit in on the presentations.

Here is a description from the conference organizers about the two-day event:

Day One of the Handheld Librarian V Conference, July 27, 2011, features professional development presentations for librarians by librarians. Presenters share their experiences and insights on topics addressing themes such as eBooks, location-based social networking, lending devices, reference and mobile technologies impacting society. Christina Warren of Mashable will share her insights in fast changing world of digital technologies.

Day Two of the HHLV will feature a FREE Virtual Expo of live presentations by companies and organizations providing mobile products and services for libraries. Visitors will be able to stop by virtual booths from companies such as Boopsie, Innovative Interfaces Inc, Tutor.com, Novare, Bibliofiche and Evanced, and visit in real-time in an informal setting with representatives from each company. Participants will meet Peter Booth Wiley, Chairman of the Board of John Wiley & Sons, as he shares his forward-looking thoughts regarding the evolving world of book publishing.

A detailed program for the event is also available.

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Tech Sharecase, 8 October 2010

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Stephen Francoeur

Attendees
Arthur Downing, Stephen Francoeur, Ellen Kaufman, Mike Waldman, Kevin Wolff

Barcode Scan Apps for Phones
We talked about a blog post from Boing Boing detailing how one used book dealer uses barcode scanning app on his phone to identify profitable items in thrift shops.

Copyright and Course Reserves
There was some discussion about recent decisions in the course reserves case at Georgia State in which three publishers alleged that the library had infringed copyright. We looked at the blog posts on the LibraryLaw Blog and the ARL Policy Notes blog about the case.

E-textbooks
We went over the business model that Flat World Knowledge offers in its e-textbook service. Relatedly, in future meetings of the Tech Sharecase, we hope to have more discussion of online learning objects that might supplement or replace altogether textbooks in certain classes.

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Library Services for Mobile Development

Posted on October 26, 2009 by Stephen Francoeur

At the LITA Forum 2009, Joan K. Lippincott from the Coalition for Networked Information, gave a nice keynote address on mobile web development for libraries, which you can listen to online (or go here to download the MP3). As I listened to it this morning on the subway, it made me wonder about two things:

  1. Does our library web site convey to our users in one central space all the “mobile services” that we offer? Should we? What would we list there?
  2. What should our vision of mobile web services look like? It’s likely that in the coming years we’ll want to provide a considerable amount of services and resources in a way that is optimized for mobile deveices. Which services and resources should we focus on first?
  • The library web site. What does our library web site look like in a browser on mobile devices? Should we develop a slimmed down web site for the mobile web? Develop an app that people can download to their phones that offers key services and resources?
  • Access to the catalog? Does it help that our users can use the mobile version of WorldCat.org to access our holdings info? Is that good enough? Can our Aleph 500 implementation be optimized for display on phones, etc.? As I was typing this post, a student showed me his phone with a list of call numbers he’d found in the catalog and typed into the notepad feature of his cell phone. Wouldn’t it have been nice if the catalog had a link next to the call number that would allow searchers to have the call number sent to their phones as a text message?
  • Access to licensed resources? Which databases can be searched via mobile devices? Does Bearcat Search work on a mobile device?
  • Access to Digital Media Library content? Will our videos play on their devices?
  • Instructional tutorials?
  • Ask a librarian? If we launch a text message reference service, this would provide an important connection to the population of students who rely on their phones as their main communication tool.
  • Blackboard? Since we offer credit courses, what do our course sites in Blackboard look like on a smartphone?
  • Interlibrary loan? Will it work on their devices? Does it display properly?
  • Serials Solutions A-Z journal list and SFX. These are key tools to connect our users to licensed content.
  • Online exhibits?
  • Library borrower’s accounts in Aleph 500?
  • Docutek course reserve system and the materials we’ve added as PDFs?

Lippincott, Joan K. “Mobile Technologies, Mobile Users: Will Libraries Mobilize?” LITA Forum 2009, Salt Lake City. 2 October 2009. Address. Web.

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