Presented at WebWise 2012, March 1, 2012.

1. Where Am I? How Did I Get Here?
WolfWalk: A Location-Aware Mobile
Interface to Campus History
Jason Casden
North Carolina State University Libraries
WebWise 2012
March 1, 2012

2. Todd Kosmerick and Adam Berenbak, NCSU Libraries

4. Motivation
• Use mobile technology to place historical
images in a more relevant context
• Experiment with geolocation as a
component of library services
• Enhance access to archival collections
• Build capacity for mobile development

5. WolfWalk
Make it easy for the NC State
campus community to learn
about the history of campus
while on campus.

6. Outline
1. Project overview
2. Development options
3. Usage data discussion
4. Some additional considerations

7. WolfWalk Project Overview
• A historical guide
to NCSU campus
landmarks
• Images sourced
from University
Archives
• Mobile web version
available March
2010; iPhone app
available July 2010

8. WolfWalk 1.1
• Released June 10, 2011
• 3 flavors
– Web App
– iPhone/iPod Touch
– iPad
• 100+ sites
• 1000+ images
http://m.lib.ncsu.edu/wolfwalk

19. Native Apps vs. The Web

20. WolfWalk
• Mobile web app
– jQuery Mobile
– PHP
• Native iOS app
– Objective-C
– Cocoa Touch

21. Our mobile web app has the
same features as our iOS app

22. …but our native iOS app sees
2.8x-5x* more use**
* depending on the inclusion of iPads
** This number was 7x six months ago

23. Multi-platform frameworks
• Mulberry
• PhoneGap
• Appcelerator Titanium
• Sencha

24. Mobile Historical
• mobilehistorical.org
• iOS, Android, and web
• Omeka-based
• Center for Public History &
Digital Humanities at
Cleveland State University

25. Interesting usage data

26. Native app popularity

27. Usage by version

28. Map popularity

29. Percent usage by navigation

30. User demographics (?)

31. Top image request paths

32. Parents?

33. Current and recent students?

34. Grandparents?

35. Daily trends

36. Historical State

37. WolfWalk

38. Practical Considerations
How robust is the wireless connection on
your campus?

39. Practical Considerations
How do you deliver high-quality media
(images/audio/video) without
compromising the user experience?

40. Practical Considerations
Does your metadata need to be modified
for the mobile context?

41. Photograph from the NCSU Libraries University Archives Photograph Collection (c. 1910)

42. Historical State
Title: President D. H. Hill and staff, North Carolina College of Agriculture and
Mechanic Arts.
Subjects: College presidents; Hill, D. H. (Daniel Harvey), 1859-1924; North
Carolina State University; People; Teachers
Site: [D. H. Hill Library (Raleigh, N.C.)]
Description: [D. H. Hill Library is named for Daniel Harvey Hill (1859-1924), an English
professor at North Carolina State University and one of the college’s first five
faculty members. He was president of the University from 1908-1916. The Library
was built in four stages, the east wing first in 1953, the Erdahl-Cloyd Student Union
or west wing second in 1954, the old book stack tower third in 1971, and the new
book stack tower fourth in 1990. In 2007, a major renovation of the east wing of
the library was completed. D. H. Hill Library is the main library of the NCSU
Libraries system, which is composed of five library facilities.]

43. WolfWalk
Title: D.H. Hill (with pocket watch) and NC State staff
Site: DH Hill Library
Description: After the first library, located in Brooks Hall, became too small,
a new D.H. Hill Library was built in 1953. It was expanded in 1954 and
towers were added in 1972 (Bookstack North) and 1990 (Bookstack South).
Its namesake, D.H. Hill, was appointed professor of English and
bookkeeping in 1889 and became one of the university's first five faculty
members. He selected most of the library's books and served as the
university's vice president from 1905 to 1908 and president from 1908 to
1916.

44. WolfWalk Credits
• The project team
– Tito Sierra
– Jason Casden
– Cory Lown
– Steven Morris
– Markus Wust
– Brian Dietz
– Joseph Ryan
– Todd Kosmerick

45. Thanks!
Jason Casden
jason_casden@ncsu.edu
@cazzerson
m.lib.ncsu.edu/wolfwalk
Slides: go.ncsu.edu/wolfwalk-webwise2012