Libraries and Mobile Web

On the move with the mobile webLibraries and mobile technologies
Shanna Caines, Mary Chu, Darlene Davis, Charlie Terng

Mobile Web: An Introduction

What does it mean?
-WWW accessed through a mobile device (cell phone, iPod touch, blackberry etc.)
Who is using it?
Japan among early adopters
Gen Y (18-27) and Gen X (28-41)
English speaking Hispanics and African Americans are also among leading users.
People of all income levels
What is it used for?
Interactive, stay constantly connected
Texting (SMS), email, instant messaging
Downloading ring tones, games.
Searching for information (weather, news, maps)– location aware

Mobile Devices: The Evolution

Mobile Devices

Mobile Phone Devices
are becoming increasingly amorphous… (convergence)
range from smartphones to PDAs, to camera phones, with a lot of overlap.
Carriers
Hundreds of carriers but in the U.S. Sprint Nextel, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and Alltel are the big 5.
Operating Systems
between 30 & 40 mobile operating systems available. (Symbian, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Linux OS, Palm OS, etc

Challenges of the Mobile Web
GRRR…

Lack of Uniformity
So many providers, functions, operating systems
Where’s the browser?
Can be difficult to locate on some phones
Tough to navigate
Costs and Speeds
Carriers typically charge you for this access
Connection speeds can be slow.

815T PB Transformer Cell Phone (Japan)

What can we do with the Mobile Web?
Mobile Web Applications

TIVO’S MOBILE WEBSITE

Mobile Newspapers:
The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/home-page
The Los Angeles Times
http://mobile.latimes.com
Audiobooks:
http://www.audible.com
http://www.audiobooks.com
Shopping:
http://www.amazon.com
http:///www.eBay.com
Entertainment:
Games
http://www.websudoku.com
Video
http://www.youtube.com

What does this have to do with libraries?

Wisconsin’s South Central Library System

http://libonline.scls.lib.wi.us/mainPageNew.htm

Seattle’s Public Library’s Central Branch

http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=branch_central_computers&branchID=1

NYPL’s Mobile Site

Mobile Web Apps Tour

E-MAIL

Web-Based E-mail Services
Push E-mail Functionality
Messages delivered directly to phone
Functionality is built in to most smartphones and PDAs.
Users can install push mail applications:
Emoze (www.emoze.com)
Funambol (open source) (www.funambol.com)
Browser-based
Users must visit client in order to retrieve messages
Examples:
Yahoo! Mail Mobile
Gmail
Windows Live Hotmail

TEXT-MESSAGING

42% of U.S. adults send and receive text messages (2007 study)
Enables participation in other activities:
Vote for Reality TV characters (American Idol)
Sign up for news alerts (Weather Channel, ESPN)
Text search terms to Yahoo! or Google
Send MapQuest directions to your phone
Group text:
Bluepulse, Joopz, Mozes, Broadtexter

MUSIC & RADIO

Verizon V CAST
Sprint Radio (streaming) and Sprint Digital Lounge (download)
Alltel Radio and XM Satellite Radio application
AT&T offers many different mobile music apps: XM Satellite Radio, MobiRadio, Napster Mobile, and eMusic Mobile
Free:
International radio stations www.tuned.mobi (formerly Radio4PDA)
Mundu Radio Application
Pandora Radio advertises

‘On the Go’ subscription service

Most cell providers offer a way to stream or download music

MUSIC & RADIO (Cont.)
OverDrive media services provide music, audiobook and video files to subscribing libraries. Featured Public Library list includes: Los Angeles, Toronto, District of Columbia, Seattle, and Greater Phoenix

E-BOOKS

Hardware: Amazon Kindle & Sony E-reader
Free reader software downloads for mobile devices (Mobipocket and Plucker)
E-book formats:
Mobipocket
Adobe PDF
Microsoft Reader for Pocket PC
Content available via OverDrive media service subscribers, Mobipocket, FictionWise and Ebooks.
Free content available via Project Gutenberg and Daily Lit

AUDIO BOOKS

Market leader by far is Audible.com
iTunes is closest competitor
LibriVox offers free audiobooks in the public domain
Our friend, OverDrive media service enables patrons to download audiobooks from public and special libraries
OCLC NetLibrary also provides a service to libraries in making eBooks and audiobooks available for download to patrons

Widgets
offering quick access to content without having to open a browser

Yahoo! Mobile: calendar, search, Flickr
Nokia WidSets: Sudoku, eBay, Twitter, Flickr
Over 4,000 to choose from
Community development
Plusmo: sports, entertainment, news
Over 20,000 to choose from includes apps for iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia

District of Columbia Public Library iPhone App

NEWS

60 million people read an online newspaper in July 2007
Virtually every major news organization has a mobile website

MORE MOBILE WEB APPLICATIONS

Moblogging: blogging straight from your cell phone
All major news readers have mobile websites
This means reading all of your RSS feeds while you’re out and about
Many take-out restaurants will now let you text in your order
Microblogging sites, Twitter and Jaiku, also have mobile sites

Library Mobile Initiatives
An increasing number of libraries are offering
mobile services

INNOVATIVE INTERFACES: AirPAC

AirPAC is a portable version of an OPAC
AirPAC offers
A visual design just right for the iPhone
Integrates library locations with built-in Google Maps™ software
Catalog search with RightResult™ Relevance-ranking technology
Access to online resources and electronic journals

MOBILE COLLECTIONS

Digital media collections are increasing in libraries
OverDrive digital media service has partnered with several libraries to offer audiobook collections, e-books, video, and music files to library patrons
New York public library is one of their users

MOBILE DATABASES

Academic software and Scholarly databases have created mobile functions
Endnote
Factiva
Westlaw legal research database
National Library of Medicine’s “PubMed”

MORE LIBRARY MOBILE APPLICATIONS

Self-service audio tours for handheld devices
Text messages are being used to provide user alerts
Text messaging, IM, and e-mail is increasingly used in reference departments to communicate with patrons
Mobile Library Circulation
PocketCirc enables librarians to access the Unicorn Library Management System on a PDA

How to Create a Mobile Experience