Tag Archives: apps

Library mobile apps – what features do they have?

Myself and one of my colleagues at Birmingham City University are interested in finding out what functionality is currently being offered by libraries through mobile apps. If your library has a mobile app, please complete our very short survey to share with us what your mobile app includes. We’ll be sharing the aggregated results on the blog afterwards.

The survey is available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/libmobapps

Mlibs event – lightning talks

In addition to the more in-depth breakout sessions at the mobile technologies in libraries: information sharing event, we also had a series of lightning talks. Each presenter had 5 minutes to give a very brief overview of a topic they wanted to talk about – anything went as long as it fitted into the broad topic of mobile technologies in libraries.

Below are the relevant links to resources for each of the sessions:

Helga Perry (UHCW NHS Trust) gave a demonstration of how to help users register for access to ScienceDirect mobile apps for libraries with institutional access (it’s not as easy as it sounds!) – guidance sheets available to give an overview for librarians and setup guides to share with users
Alison McNab (De Montford University) gave a brief overview of the findings of a facilitated discussion she held with Ruth Jenkins at the UKSG conference on the barriers and challenges to accessing subscription e-content on mobile devices
Matt Borg gave a presentation on how Sheffield Hallam University have utilised technologies to mobilise their library gateway and their plans for future development (including the oh-so-catchy acronym CASMLGWAUIFCiUIAWIWDIA)
Tim Fletcher (University of Birkbeck) discussed how the results of a mobile web survey with students has encouraged them to investigate mobile options for accessing library information and in particular by using the BookMyne app from SirsiDynix, and what their future plans are
Peter Kargbo (Manchester Metropolitan University and College of Law Manchester) shared with us some of the useful mobile apps for law students, as well as some fun ones to use during information literacy sessions
Sarah Barker (Yale College) gave a presentation on the ways they are using iPads in and around the library and some of the practicalities of this (e.g. adding wireless passwords so users don’t need to). Sarah also created a bundle of all the apps they have on the iPads: http://krunchd.com/ycapps
Gary Green (Surrey County Council) took a different approach of talking about some of the projects Surrey libraries are currently involved in and asked for ideas about how mobile technologies could be utilised
Adam Watson gave a presentation on the research they have done into their students’ needs at Leeds Metropolitan University and the options they have investigated for delivering library resources and services via mobile devices

What is m-libraries?

So now we’ve handled what we mean by mobile, now it’s time to consider the concept of m-libraries*. In a nutshell:

Mobile devices + libraries = m-libraries

You may have heard of the successful m-libraries and Handheld Librarian conferences, or read some of their conference proceedings or related blog posts. The scope for m-libraries is vast – basically any initiative that enables the use of mobile devices in libraries could be included under this umbrella. This could include (though is not limited to):

Accessing library content via mobile devices (e.g. e-books, e-journals, special collections)
Using SMS to support enquiries or provide information to users
Developing a mobile interface for a library website or library catalogue
Using QR codes around the library to link to electronic content accessible by mobile devices
Staff using mobile devices within the library to support roving enquiries
Developing a dedicated mobile app to provide library content to users
Utilising augmented reality within the library (e.g. special collections) using cameras on mobile devices
Using mobile devices to interact with the library (e.g. renewing books, checking in on location services, doing tasks via mobile devices for points/rewards)

As the m-library support project is JISC-funded, our primary focus is academic libraries in UK, though we are also interested in innovative projects further afield which we could learn from (e.g. in different types of libraries or in academic libraries outside the UK).

We’ll be sharing relevant information and links we find on the blog as well as gathering case studies to develop a web presence to share these examples. If you have any examples you think might be relevant for us to examine as part of the project, please submit an example via our form.

[gform form=’https://docs.google.com/a/joeyanne.co.uk/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dDNaQzg0anhJQUpLQlgwVGMxS1BwY3c6MQ#gid=0′ confirm=’https://mlibraries.jiscinvolve.org/submit-an-example/thanks/’ class=” legal=’off’ br=’on’]

*The project’s official title is the mobile library support project but owing to the existing mobile library concept (i.e. library on wheels!) we chose to adopt the m-library name.

Mobile Technologies in Libraries

Supporting Libraries in the use and development of mobile technologies

Tag Archives: apps

Library mobile apps – what features do they have?

Mlibs event – lightning talks

What is m-libraries?