1. It’s Time to Look
at Your Library’s
Mobile Website
Again!
Bohyun Kim
Digital Access Librarian/ Florida
International University Medical Library
@bohyunkim (Twitter)
http://www.slideshare.net/bohyunkim
http://bohyunkim.net
American Library Association Annual
Conference, Anaheim, CA. 2012.

2. Before we start
 This presentation has been adapted from a small
part of my presentation that I gave at Amigos
2012 Online Conference. June 8, 2012. Access by
Touch: Delivering Library Services Through Mobile
Technologies.
 You can view the slides for the full presentation I
have given at Amigos 2012 Online conference
here:
http://www.slideshare.net/bohyunkim/the-mobile-
web-and-the-mobile-websites-of-libraries-how-
they-changed-for-the-last-few-years

3. A few years ago vs. Now
Source:
http://www.libsuccess.org/index.
php?title=M-Libraries
http://www.slideshare.net/bohyu
nkim/planning-for-your-librarys-
first-mobile-website
http://www.bohyunkim.net/blog/
archives/705
http://journal.code4lib.org/article
s/2055

4. Mobile computing changed
“big time” in the last few years.
Photo from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/4313864280/lightbox/

5. Mobile Internet 
Source: Luke Wroblewski, Mobile First (2011) p.8.

6. Wireless data tsunami
 “Over the past five years, AT&T’s wireless
data traffic has grown 20,000%.”
 “The nation’s second largest wireless
carrier’s data traffic has at least doubled
every year since 2007.”
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/14/atts-wireless-data-
traffic-doubles-every-year-but-throttling-is-not-the-solution/

7. Capable mobile device
+ Faster network

8. Desktop Internet 
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-02-15/tech/29983706_1_tablet-
market-pcs-smartphones

9. Smartphones
= The most common
Web access devices now
“ Home usage of personal computers in 2010 was down 20% from
2008 in the United States. The culprit? Smartphones and tablets
gobbling up our time online (http://bkaprt.com/mf/5).
“ In November 2010, visitors to web-based email sites declined 6%,
but visitors accessing email with their mobile devices grew by
36% (http://bkaprt.com/mf/6).
“ Traffic to mobile websites in 2010 grew 600% after tripling
between 2009 and 2010 (http://bkaprt.com/mf/7).
Source: Luke Wroblewski, Mobile First (2011) p.8.

10. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/120590/

11. How are those mobile sites
now?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhgould/5554807256/lightbox/

12. 2010  2012

13. 2010  2012
http://sherman.library.nova.edu/m/

14. 2010  2012
http://medlib.fu.edu/m

15. 2010  2012
http://m.harvard.edu/libraries/

17. 2010  2012
https://www.lib.umn.edu/mobile/

18. 2010  2012
http://m.library.oregonstate.edu/

19. 2010  2012
http://m.lib.ncsu.edu/

20. General trend
: More stuff in the mobile site
 The library mobile sites are now showing more information
beyond library hours, location, and contact us.
 While this type of basic information appeared as primary
tasks before, now search and research, library resource
use is appearing to be more of primary tasks on a library
mobile website. `(e.g. Libguides, Books, Articles, Course
Reserves, Databases, etc.)
 A search box is starting to appear on a mobile website
homepage.
 Additional features are being added to the mobile site
such as an library account transaction (e.g. item renewal)
and course reserves.
 Study room reservation, computer availability information
are offered in some mobile sites.

21. Looking back at some of the
tips 2 years ago …
 Environmental scan - OK
 Target audience - YES
 Primary tasks & user needs /expectations
 Marketing
 No longer true
 Mobile devices’ constraints and slow networks
 Focus on users’ information needs on the go
 A companion site with less features and content

22. Which is faster and more convenient?

23. Always on, always with you
Are our assumptions
about mobile user
behavior accurate?

24. 84%
80%
74%
69%
64%
62%
47%
Source:
http://blog.compete.com/2010/03/12/smartphone-owners-a-ready-and-willing-audience/

25. User Behavior on the Mobile
 Motivation: Micro-task, Bored, Local
Source: Josh Clark, Tapworthy (2010) Ch. 2.
 Edit/Create (urgent change/micro-tasking) : I need to get some-thing
done now that can’t wait.
 Lookup/Find (urgent info, local) : I need an answer to some-thing now
- frequently related to my current location in the world.
 Explore/Play (bored, local) : I have some time to kill and just want a
few idle time distractions.
 Check In/Status (repeat/micro-tasking): Something important to me
keeps changing or updating and I want to stay on top of it.
Source: Luke Wroblewski, Mobile First (2011) p.50.

26. Don’t dumb things down
on the mobile
“There are, of course, differences based on mobile and
desktop usage patterns; but the core value of a web
service remains the same across both formats and beyond.
In fact, you’ll quickly find your customers will expect to do
just about everything (within reason) on mobile. Especially
those who primarily (or only) use their mobiles to get online.
So don’t dumb things down on mobile—focus on what
really matters most anywhere people can access your
website.
Source: Luke Wroblewski, Mobile First (2011) p.22.

27. Do-It-Yourself on Mobile
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marielamuse/7341089880/

28. Towards a full-feature
library mobile website
 DIY Mindset of today’s library users
 Let them serve themselves on the mobile device!
 “You’re pretty good at helping me, thanks,
but I’d really prefer to do more things by myself
— and by the way, you don’t make that very easy
for me.”
- Matthews, Brian. 2011. “Helping patrons help themselves,” Chronicle of
Higher Education Blog Network.
http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian/2011/10/13/are-we-
in-the-diy-era-helping-patrons-help-themselves/

29. > People look at
their smartphones
Are we ready? an average of 150
times a day. That’s
approximately
once every six
minutes during
waking hours.
> Mobile internet is
the only internet
for 25% of U.S.
users.
Jay Ramirez, “Five Reasons Marketers Should Think Mobile First. 2012.
http://www.moroch.com/blog/2012/03/five-reasons-marketers-should-think-mobile-first/

30. References
 Aaron Tay, “What are mobile friendly library sites
offering? A survey.” Musings about Librarianship,
2010.http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2010
/04/comparison-of-40-mobile-library-sites.html
 “M-Libraries.” LibSuccess Wiki, 2012.
http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=M-Libraries
 Josh Clark, Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps.
O’Reilly, 2010.
 Luke Wroblewski, Mobile First. A Book Apart, 2011.
 Jay Ramirez, “Five Reasons Marketers Should Think Mobile
First. 2012. http://www.moroch.com/blog/2012/03/five-
reasons-marketers-should-think-mobile-first/
 See other references on slides.