MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES: ISSUES FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

Elsevier Digital Libraries Symposium ALA Midwinter 2011

Brian E. C. SchottlaenderThe Audrey Geisel University Librarian

UC SAN DIEGO

The mission of the UCSD Libraries is to be leaders in

providing and promoting information resources and services to

the UCSD community when, where, and how

users want them.||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 2

WHY GO MOBILE?

• According to the Pew Research Center’s “Mobile Access 2010” (July 2010):– “40% of adults use the Internet,

email or instant messaging on a mobile phone (up from the 32% of Americans who did this in 2009).”

– 65% of 18-29 year olds access the Internet on their mobile device

– 43% of 30-49 year olds access the Internet on their mobile device

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 3

WHY GO MOBILE?

• In a 2010 Library Journal survey, respondents from almost 500 academic and public libraries cited the following reasons for their reticence about going mobile:– Priorities– Budget– Perception– Skills

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 4

PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO ENTRY FOR LIBRARIES

• Provide a simple, clutter-free interface.

• Don’t  try to “mobilize” all our library services.

• Don’t recreate the wheel.• Adopt a “rapid and modular”

approach to mobile site development.  

• Don’t develop for a specific device, but also don’t bog down developing for every device. 

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 5

OUR THOUGHTS GOING IN

6

UCSD LIBRARIES MOBILE

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08

7

UCSD LIBRARIES HOME PAGE

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08

8

UCSD LIBRARIES MOBILE

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 9

UC RIVERSIDE’S MOBILE WCL

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 10

BYU’S MOBILE FLOOR PLAN

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 11

OREGON STATE’S PC AVAILABILITY …

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 12

… AND THEIR MOBILE COFFEE LINE

QUESTIONS?

• Priorities: This is largely an administrative issue, and speaks to Perception as well. The thought here is that users are not demanding mobile services, so it’s not a library priority. However, if we wait until user frustration is high enough to reach everyone’s ears, then we’ve probably missed our opportunity already.

•  • Budget: In dire budget scenarios, the prevailing attitude is often to “hold the line” with

existing services. At the same time however, mobile device usage continues to skyrocket in spite and independent of library budget woes. So it could be argued that going mobile isn’t just a luxury for libraries with extra money, but rather a priority for all libraries.

Of course, going mobile costs money to establish and maintain. But the cost of doing so is going down significantly as in-house development tools improve, and as more vendors offer off-the-shelf services. [Brian- I could provide lots of examples of these if you want]

• Perception: The belief here is that either mobile internet usage is more of a fad than a fundamental shift, or that our existing services are already adequate for users. I think the assumption (and a false one) is that because traditional library services (walk-in, email, telephone, and website) are successful, they will remain so, and users will not seek us out via mobile.

• Skills: The concern here is a perceived lack of staff technology skills to develop and maintain a mobile presence. UCSD Libraries are fortunate to have robust in-house tech talent, but many libraries do not. For this concern, I would note that the number of 3rd party and off-the-shelf options is expanding rapidly. While you may not get the level of control you want, it’s really no different than outsourcing OPACs or ebo

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 14

Why these concerns are not as large a barrier as imagined

• Provide a simple, clutter-free interface.• Don’t  try to “mobilize” all our library services. Instead develop the

ones likely to be most useful to a mobile user.• Don’t recreate the wheel: look at what popular and successful

mobile services are being offered by other libraries, and develop those first.

• Adopt a “rapid and modular” approach to mobile site development. That is, roll out the services with the largest user benefit first, then add new services as they are developed.  This approach differs from that typically used in full-size library Web site, in which every component is created first (and often slowly at that), then rolled out in one big package. 

• Don’t develop for a specific device, but also don’t bog yourself down developing for every device.  For example, the rage used to be to develop just iPhone apps.  Now Android-based phones are coming on strong in the market, but these devices cannot take advantage of iPhone-oriented apps. Conversely, if you try to create a site that works well for every flavor of Smartphone, you’ll never get the site finished.  Our mobile site works is optimized for iPhones and Droids, because those are what the vast majority of our patrons use.

•  

||| BECS ||| EDLS 2011.01.08 15

OUR THOUGHTS GOING IN