This document summarizes a presentation on teaching and learning with mobile technology. It discusses how mobile device ownership is increasing and how this impacts libraries and their users. The presentation covers how to access electronic library resources on mobile devices, deal with issues like connectivity, file formats, and digital rights management. It also provides examples of new ways people can search for information using mobile technologies like voice search, visual search and augmented reality. The conclusion is that mobile technology is fundamentally changing how users interact with information and libraries must help patrons navigate these changes through workshops and information literacy instruction.

1. LOEX of the West 2012
Everybody’s surfin’ now:
Teaching and learning with
mobile technology
Robin Canuel, McGill University Library
Chad Crichton, University of Toronto Libraries
Maria Savova, Claremont Colleges Library

2. By the end of this presentation
1) Have a greater appreciation of the value of
mobile technology in a library context
2) Learn how mobile technology can impact the
ways librarians and library clients interact with
library resources and services
3) Be familiar with some of the challenges
libraries and library clients face when using
electronic content on mobile devices
4) Learn ways to integrate mobile technology
into your information literacy instruction
workshops
5) Be familiar with some new ways of searching
for information using mobile devices

3. E-reader and Tablet Ownership
in USA
Pew Research Center:
• Tablet and e-book reader ownership
nearly doubled from 10% to 19%
between mid-December 2011 and
early January 2012
• The number of Americans owning at
least one of these digital reading
devices jumped from 18% to 29% in
the same period
(Rainie, 2012)

4. iPod 62%
Smartphone 55%
iPad 8%
Dahlstrom, Eden, Tom de Boor, Peter Grunwald, and Martha Vockley, with a foreword by Diana Oblinger. The ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information
Technology, 2011 (Research Report). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, October 2011, available from: http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

5. http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/images/results.aspx?qu=college%20phone&ctt=1#ai:MP90044224
ECAR Recommendations
Integrate technology into courses
Professional development for instructors
Leverage technologies that students value
Nail the basics
ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERS1103/ERS1103W.pdf

6. Mobile Technology for Loan
• E-reader loan
• iPad loan pilot project

7. Mobile Learning
“Any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed,
predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes
advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies.”
O’Malley, C., Vavoula, G., Glew, J. P., Taylor, J., Sharples, M., & Lefrere, P. (2003)
“...meeting learning objectives in ways that transcend geographical
limitations and pursuing the use of technologies that best facilitate this
aim.”
Savova & Garsia (2012)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/images/results.aspx?qu=cell%20phones#ai:MP900422734|mt:2|

8. Developing a Mobile Technology
Workshop
• Connectivity
• Accessing e-Content
• E-Formats
• Digital Rights Management (DRM)
• Managing Content
• New Ways of Searching for Information

9. The McGill Library Workshop
McGill Library from the palm of your hand
• Students (part of library orientation program)
• Librarians
• Faculty
• Library Science masters students
• Information and Library Technologies
students
• Health care professionals

10. Connectivity
• Internet capable
2G/3G/4G data plans vs. Wi-Fi only
Smartphones Tablets iPod Touch Some e-readers
• Not Internet capable
Sony Reader Kobo B&N Nook Cybook iLiad Libre

11. Connectivity
• Institutional Wireless Network
• Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• EZ Proxy

12. McGill e-Library
• 831,708 eBooks
• 1,000,000 eTheses
• 752 eAudiobooks
• 76,008 eJournals
• 873 databases
• 2,119 eNewspapers
• 11,014 eRecorded music
• 1,969 eScores
• 1,006 eVideos

13. E-Content Questions
• Downloadable or online only?
• Compatible with which operating systems?
• Compatible with mobile devices? Which ones?
• What electronic format?
• What is the quality of the reading experience on
a small screen?
• What are the DRM limitations?

14. Accessing Content
View online
Direct download – view offline Download and transfer – view offline

15. Accessing Library Electronic
Content Directly on a Mobile Device
• Through the
mobile or full
library web sites
• Using library
apps: EBSCO,
ScienceDirect,
Springer, etc.

16. Apps vs. Web sites

17. Using Library Electronic Content
Offline
Challenges:
• Shortcomings of current catalogues
 Can it be downloaded?
 Availability of e-content
• Electronic formats
• DRM

18. • SCREENSHOT

19. Electronic Formats – Online Only
vs. Downloadable
VS.

20. PDF on a Small Screen

21. What Does “Reflowable” Text Mean?

22. Reflowable e-Book Formats
EPUB – format standard for
digital publishing
Compatible with almost every device
but the Amazon Kindle
AZW Kindle Format
Compatible with the Amazon Kindle
(device and reading apps)
MobiPocket Reader Format -
universal eBook Reader for
PDAs
Compatible with most smartphones and
some e-readers

23. Converting PDFs into e-Reader
Friendly Formats
Application on Science Direct Free ebook management
software

24. DRM - Digital Rights Management
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/images/results.aspx?qu=lock&origin=FX010132103#ai:MP900433153|

25. DRM is Controversial
Protection against copyright
infringement and digital piracy
Restricts the owner rights of a
buyer of legally purchased e-book
Creates additional technological
challenges to borrowing of e-
books

26. Ways in Which DRM Restricts
User Access
• Number of simultaneous users
• Duration of access
• Printing and copying capabilities
• Number of views
• Extent of content
• Type and number of devices allowed to
display the work

27. DRM-free vs. Free

28. Managing Electronic Content on
Apple devices
• E-book reading apps
(BlueFire Reader,
iBooks, Stanza)
• PDF apps (PDF-notes,
PDFReader,
PerfectReader,
BlueFire Reader)
• Vendor-specific apps
(OverDrive Media
Console, iBooks,
Kindle, Kobo)

29. • SCREENSHOT

31. Android File Structure

32. Management of online content in
the cloud

33. New Ways of Searching for
Information
• Voice Search
• Visual Search
• Context-specific search results
• Barcode & QR Codes Scanning
• Augmented Reality

35. Other Audio Apps

36. Academic Applications

37. Google Goggles

39. Image Search
Photo credit: Klaus Fiedler

40. Location Aware Search Results

42. QR Codes
• Links to electronic resources
• Instructional videos
• Useful websites for further
information
• Contact details
• Storing information for future
reference

43. Augmented Reality
Video

44. Augmented Reality
Video

45. Conclusions
• In the future, we’ll all simply be moving from screen to
screen to screen in our ever more constant digital
interactions
• Technological advances are fundamentally changing the
way that library users interact with digital information
• Librarians must leverage their role as teachers in order to
help ensure their continued relevance given these
advancements
• Workshops such as those held at McGill will soon no
longer be seen as covering a specialized topic, but will
simply be a typical component of traditional information
literacy instruction

46. http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/classroom-tablet-600.jpg
http://www.widencollective.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/thank-you-screen.jpg
THANK
YOU!