Whys and Hows of various mobile applications in libraries.

1. Library in their Pocket
Using Technology to Meet Patrons Halfway
Presented by:
Sarah Glassmeyer, JD MLS
Director of Content Development
Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI)
sarah@cali.org

2. Agenda
• What is mobile tech?
– Considerations
• WordPress Basics
– Plugins/Widgets
– Themes
• QR Codes
• eBooks, eReaders, ePatrons?

3. Notes
• Not a CALI sales pitch
• Arthur C. Clarke magic
• Glassmeyer Theory of Library Tech
– Cheap
– Easy
– Patrons will actually use it
• Stuff they’re already using
• Stuff they *should* be using

4. Mobile Tech

5. The Stats Slide
• One mobile device for ever person on
earth by 2015
• More people use phones to go online
than PCs by 2013
• 71% expect mobile site to work as fast
as desktop
• 23% of adults have cursed at their
phone when the mobile site doesn’t
work
Source: http://www.howtogomo.com

6. Mobile Considerations
• Size
• Operating system
– Be system agnostic
– Flash
• Play to their strengths
– Cameras
– Pre-made apps
– Ubiquitous-ness
– Easy

7. To App or Not to App?
• Short answer: Nope.
• The case against apps:
– Lots of development time/money
– Extra step to access
– Not system agnostic
– Rarely an advantage use wise
– Maintenance of changes

8. App Alternatives
• Mobile friendly sites
• QR Codes
• eBooks

9. Mobile Friendly sites
• Keep it quick
• Simple navigation
• Thumb friendly
• Visibility
• Mobile redirect (if possible – link okay)
• Not sure?
http://www.howtogomo.com/

10. Mobile Test Example

11. Mobile Test, 2

12. Mobile Test, 3

13. Q. What if your site is NOT
mobile friendly?
A. Make one.

14. Wordpress
• Blogging platform
• Hosted or Self hosted
– Wordpress.com
– Wordpress.org
– MU (your institution or
CALI classcaster
• Open Source
• Plugins

15. Plugins/Widgets
• ~19,000 Plugins
• http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
• Uses
– Add functionality with press of button
– change look
– change entire site
(Themes also do some of the above but are
more appearance based.)

16. Wordpress Uses
• Library Website
• Research Guide(LibGuides)
• Course webpage (TWEN/Blackboard)
• Other type of website
• Blog
• Podcast Host
All of these will be mobile friendly!

17. Wordpress in Action!

18. Wordpress, 2

19. Wordpress Basic Start

20. Dashboard

21. Themes

22. Plugins
Only for self-hosted or Wordpress MU wordpress sites. Otherwise use widgets.

23. Widgets
Functionality as well as page layout

24. Adding Content

25. Ta-da!

26. Make it Mobile!

27. Mobile Site

28. PART THREE
Q. We know what mobile means and how
to make a mobile friendly website. How do
we get it from the web onto their device?
A. QR Codes

29. QR Codes
• Quick Response Code
• Free to make, Free to decipher
• Bar code on steroids
– URL
– App in app store
– Contact information
– Phone number

30. QR Codes, 2
1. What do you want QR code to point
to?
2. Create QR Code
3. Release into wild
4. Patrons scan them

31. Creating QR Codes

32. Creating QR Codes, 2

33. Suggested Uses
Library Tours
Research guides
Put on book dummy
and link to electronic
version
Business cards, office
doors, library doors

34. Suggested Uses, 2
Patron Surveys

35. PART FOUR
eBooks, eReaders, e-cetera

36. eBooks
• Why eBooks?
– Easier to read on mobile than PDF or Word
• What are eBooks?
– 2 Standards – ePub and .mobi(Kindle)
– Mini-website
• What about iBooks?
– Forget it. Just another app.

37. How to Make eBooks
• Full instruction (with pictures!) on my website:
http://sarahglassmeyer.com/?p=951 (Making
eBooks for Fun and No Profit)
– Free software
• Open Office Writer to ePub extension
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/en/project/Writer2ePub
• Calibre http://calibre-ebook.com/
• SIGIL http://code.google.com/p/sigil/
– Word -> Open Office Doc -> Save as ePub ->Edit in SIGIL -
>transform to .mobi in Calibre
• Alternatively, wordpress plugins
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tags/epub

38. Suggested Uses
• Anything you put on website in word or
PDF
• Anything in the public domain
– Statutory supplements
• Law reviews/in House publication

39. Thank you!
Questions?

40. Image Credits
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamhook/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/3gstore/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrianblack/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/edans/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshb/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/azmichelle/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/frostwire/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/clonedmilkmen/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyanna/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/foobarbaz/