Mobile Library Projects at North Carolina State University

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Mobile Library Projects at North Carolina State
University
Tito SierraNCSU LibrariesCNI 2009 Fall Task
Force MeetingDecember 15, 2009
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Outline

• Background
• Mobile Library Projects at NCSU
• NCSU Libraries Mobile
• The WolfWalk Project
• Issues to Consider When Developing Mobile Services

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Background
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Questions for the Audience

• How many of you work at an organization with a
  mobile presence?

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Questions for the Audience

• How many of you work at an organization with a
  mobile presence?
• How many of you dont have a mobile presence, but
  are planning one?

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Questions for the Audience

• How many of you work at an organization with a
  mobile presence?
• How many of you dont have a mobile presence, but
  are planning one?
• How many of you are curious about mobile, but
  arent sure if its right for your organization?

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Why Go Mobile?
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Why Go Mobile?
Source Mary Meeker, Economy Internet
Trends, Web 2.0 Summit, October 20, 2009
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Why Go Mobile?

• Mobile devices provide new opportunities for
  enhancing the user experience with library
  services and library digital collections

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Libraries and the Mobile Web

• How should libraries approach the
• mobile web space?

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Mobile Library Projectsat NCSU
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NCSU Libraries Mobile
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Project Overview

• A suite of library services
• Optimized to three tiers of mobile devices
• Based on MIT Mobile Web source
• Launched November 2009

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MobiLIB at NCSU (2007)
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NC State Mobile Web (2009)
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NC State Mobile Web (2009)
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NCSU Libraries Mobile (2009)

• Locations Hours
• Computer Availability
• Catalog Search
• Ask Us
• Webcams
• News Events

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Guiding Principles

• Dont reproduce the library websitedistill it to
  what people would actually use in a mobile
  context

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Guiding Principles

• Save the time of the library user

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NCSU Libraries Mobile Demo

• http//m.lib.ncsu.edu

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Locations Hours
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Computer Availability
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Catalog Search
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Ask Us
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Webcams
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News Events
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Usage Analysis

• Preliminary usage analysis based on first eight
  weeks of transaction logs

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Pageviews by Service
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Pageviews by Platform
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Project Team

• David Woodbury, NCSU Libraries Fellow
• Jason Casden, Digital Library Initiatives
• Markus Wust, Digital Scholarship Publishing
  Center

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The WolfWalk Project
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WolfWalk Project Overview

• A historical guide to NCSU campus landmarks
• Images sourced from University Archives
• In development, scheduled to go live January 2010

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WolfWalk Concept

• Increase the visibility and accessibility of
  university archives by integrating this content
  in a self-directed, location-aware walking tour
  for mobile devices

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Todd Kosmerick (University Archivist) and Adam
Berenbak, NCSU Special Collections Research Center
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Markus Wust, Content Lead for the WolfWalk Project
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Jason Casden, Lead Developer for the WolfWalk
Project
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WolfWalk Content
First freshman class posing in front of Holladay
Hall (1890), NCSU University Archives Photo
Collection
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WolfWalk Content
View of card catalog in D.H. Hill Library (1972),
NCSU University Archives Photo Collection
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WolfWalk Demo

• (Early alpha preview)

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Project Team

• Tito Sierra, Digital Library Initiatives
• Jason Casden, Digital Library Initiatives
• Markus Wust, Digital Scholarship and Publishing
  Center
• Brian Dietz, Special Collections Research Center
• Todd Kosmerick, Special Collections Research
  Center
• Steven Morris, Digital Library Initiatives
• Joseph Ryan, Digital Library Initiatives

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Issues to Consider When Developing Mobile Services
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Basic Questions

• What value does the mobile aspect of the
  project add to the user experience with a library
  service or collection?
• What incentives do users have to access this
  content on a mobile device, rather than via
  existing channels?

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Mobile User Experience

• Designing for mobile is about more than designing
  for a small screen device
• Designing an effective mobile user experience
  requires a greater understanding of the user
  context
• Lack of prevalent models makes this work both
  challenging and exciting

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Native Apps vs Mobile Web Apps

• Do you build a platform specific native app
  (e.g., iPhone App, Android App), or a mobile
  website that works across a range of devices?
• What are the tradeoffs of each approach for your
  project?

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When to Make a Native App

• Charging for it
• Creating a game
• Using specific locations
• Using cameras
• Using accelerometers
• Accessing the filesystems
• Offline users

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The Case for Mobile Web Apps

• I believe that unless your application meets one
  of these native application criteria, you should
  not create a native application, but should
  instead focus on building a mobile web
  application.
• Brian Fling, Mobile Design and Development

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Shifting Landscape

• Mobile technology is changing rapidly, making it
  difficult to plan for whats next
• New standards and technology are unevenly
  distributed across platforms
• New interaction models emerging
• Location-Based Services
• Augmented Reality

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Location-Based Services
Source Mary Meeker, Economy Internet
Trends, Web 2.0 Summit, October 20, 2009
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Augmented Reality
Source Layar.eu
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Experimentation

• If you plan to work in the mobile space, be
  prepared to take risks and experiment
• Dont overplanbe open to new ideas and
  opportunities

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Thanks!

• Tito Sierra
• Associate Head for Digital Library Development
• NCSU Libraries
• tito_sierra_at_ncsu.edu

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More Information

• NCSU Libraries Mobile
• http//m.lib.ncsu.edu
• The WolfWalk Project
• http//www.lib.ncsu.edu/dli/projects/wolfwalk