About the Book
Just as Andrew Carnegie’s support changed the landscape of public libraries in America, Apple’s launch of the iPhone on June 29, 2007 forever altered how people expected to interact with services. Libraries, like every other kind of organization, must now make their services—not just their catalogs—available on an array of mobile devices.
Mobile Library Servicesprovides 11 proven ways to reach out to mobile users and increase your library’s relevance to their day-to-day lives. Librarians detail how they created mobile apps to how they went mobile on a shoestring budget. Written by public, academic, and special librarians, these 11 best practices offer models for libraries of every type and size.
Table of Contents:
• Introduction by Scott La Counte, Author of Going Mobile: Developing Apps for Your Library Using Basic HTML Programming
• “A Student-Library Collaboration to Create CULite: An iPhone App for the Cornell University Library” by Matthew Connolly and Tony Cosgrave, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY
• “Launching a Mobile Initiative: Outreach Strategies” by Alexandra W. Gomes, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, George Washington University, Washington, DC
• “Oregon State University Libraries Go Mobile” by Laurie Bridges, Hannah Gascho Rempel, and Evviva Weinraub, The Valley Library, Oregon State University, Corvallis
• “Making the Library Mobile on a Shoestring Budget” by Helen Bischoff, Michele Ruth, and Ben Rawlins, Georgetown College Library, Kentucky
• “The Orange County Library System: The OCLS Shake It! App” by Cassandra Shivers, Orange County Library System, Orlando, FL
• “The NCSU Libraries’ Mobile Scavenger Hunt” by Anne Burke, Adrienne Lai, and Adam Rogers, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh
• “Responsive Web Design for Libraries: Beyond the Myth of the Mobile Web” by Matthew Reidsma, Grand Valley State University Libraries, Allendale, MI
• “Using iPads to Revitalize Traditional Library Tours” by Amanda Binder, Sarah Sagmoen, Natalie Tagge and Nancy Weichert, Brookens Library, University of Illinois, Springfield
• “Going Mobile at Illinois” by Joshua Bishoff, University of Illinois Libraries, Urbana
• “The Gimme Engine: A True Story of Innovation, Creativity and Fun” by Aimee Fifarek and Ann Porter, Scottsdale Public Library, Scottsdale, AZ
• “Building the Montana State University Library Mobile Web App with the jQuery Mobile Framework” by Jason A. Clark, Montana State University Library, Bozeman
About the Author :
Charles Harmon is an Executive Editor for the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. His background includes work in special, public, and school libraries.
Michael Messina is a reference librarian at the State University of New York’s Maritime College. He has also worked as a researcher at The Brooklyn Academy of Music Archives. The former publisher of Applause Theatre & Cinema Books/Limelight Editions, he is a coeditor of Acts of War: Iraq and Afghanistan in Seven Plays (Northwestern University Press).
Review :
This volume contains 11 chapters contributed by 23 practicing librarians in public and academic settings. Offering examples from around the U.S., the contributors discuss specific applications for mobile-library services as well as activities such as scavenger hunts and library tours. Whether readers work in a public or academic library looking to go mobile, or they are seeking ideas for specific apps to create or implement, they will find that this book covers the topic in a user-friendly and approachable manner, with examples drawn from experience. Each chapter includes references, and there is an index. This book will inspire and support the integration of mobile technologies on all scales into academic and public libraries.
Each chapter provides good overview information on the project discussed, ranging from its rationale, through resourcing and onto creation and then promotion, use and evaluation. The projects included cover a wide range of options and a variety of library types and needs. They are detailed without being overwhelming and provide more than enough information to understand the nature of the project and its conclusion. All the papers have been written by people directly involved in each project. Helpful supporting information in the form of screen shots, flow charts and more helps to give a clear picture of what was done.
Presenting 11 case studies from academic and public libraries in the United States, this volume will inspire and encourage other libraries who are seeking to enter, or expand, the world of mobile library services. Whether looking for a full-service mobile app, or to offer select services in a mobile format, this book will help all looking to serve the ever-growing population using smartphones and tablets to access the Internet. Including examples, steps, success, and stumbling blocks, these case studies authored by those involved in the project offer real-world expertise in a down-to-earth manner for anyone seeking to learn more. Whether looking at apps, a scavenger hunt, Web design, or the use of iPads for library tours, this book will help those in any type of library, on any budget, to expand their reach.
