BlackBerry smartphones allow users to access communications, information, and applications through their mobile operating system and app store, BlackBerry App World. Research in Motion developed the BlackBerry and its proprietary BlackBerry OS. While BlackBerry once dominated the US smartphone market, its global market share has declined in recent years as Android and iOS have grown. BlackBerry App World provides access to over 10,000 apps, though its catalog remains smaller than those of Android and iOS.

1. E LIBRARY MOBILE
'B' Is for
'BlackBerr
BlackBerry smartphones allow mobile users to access communic,
and information wirelessly, including e-mail ... data, instant
messaging, phone, internet and intranet access [services], MtV
[multimedia messaging services] and SMS [short message servi
and organizer. [The latest models of] BlackBerry smartphones in(
camera and video recording, media player, and social networking
features, among others.
-http://na.blackberry.com/eng/ataglance/blackberryfuncl
BlackBerry smartphones are designed and manufactured by
Research In Motion (RIM), founded in 1984 and headquartered
in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. RIM launched the first BlackBerry
in 1999 [http://www.rim.com/company]; current models
include the Bold, Curve, and Storm series, as well as the Torch
and Tour [http:/ /na.blackberry.comleng/devices].
According to a mid-September 2010 comScore press release,
"RIM remained the leading mobile smartphone platform in the
U.S. with 39.3 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers,"
despite losing a market share ofnearly 2% to smartphones using
the Android operating system. Based on its review,comScore esti-
mates that 53.4 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones
during the 3 months ending July 2010, an increase of more than
10% from the corresponding April 2010 period [http: /I/www.com
score.com/Press-Events/Press Releases/2010I9/comScore Rep
ortsJuly.2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber Market_Share].
For the second quarter of 2010, RIM reported that its Black-
Berry smartphone shipments grew to 12.1 million units, an
increase of45% over the same quarter in 2009. In addition, its sub-
scriber account base grew to 50 million, an increase ofnearly 56%
over the 2009 period. As of June 30, 2010, RIM had shipped
approximately 115 million units lhttp://www.rim.com/investors/
documents/pdf/pressrelease/2011/Q2_press-release.pdfI .
Gerald McKiernan
Associate Professor/Science and Technology Librarian
Iowa State University Library
Operating System
"BlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system,
developed by Research In Motion forits BlackBerry line of smart-
phone[s] ..... The operating system provides multitasking and
supports specialized input devices that have been adopted by
RIM for use in its handhelds, particularly the trackwheel, track-
ball, and most recently, the trackpad and touchscreen ...
IT]hird-party developers can write software using the available
BlackBerry API (application programming interface) classes ...
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry-OS].
Market Share
According to an Aug. 12, 2010, Gartner, Inc. press release that
profiled its recently released report, "Competitive Landscape:
Mobile Devices, Worldwide, 2Q1O," RIM's worldwide market
share for mobile device sales to end users reached 11.2 million
units in the second quarter of 2010, an increase of more than
25% from the 2009 period - 3.4% (2Q10) vs. 2.7% (2Q09). For
the period, RIM ranked fourth behind Nokia, Samsung, and LG,
other prominent smartphone manufacturers. Overall, mobile
device sales to end users totalled 325.6 million units in the sec-
ond quarter of 2010, a 13.8 % increase from the same 2009 quar-
ter [http: //www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=14210131.
50 SEARCHER a The Magazine lor Database Proless,onals

2. PPARY MOBILE
In a September 2010 press release for another report, "Fore-
cast: Mobile Communications Devices by Open Operating Sys-
tem, 2007-2014," Gartner, Inc. predicts that while the total sales
to end users for RIM operating systems would increase over the
next few years from 46,922,900 (2010) to 62,198,200 (2011) to
102,579,500 (2014), its corresponding market share would sig-
nificantly decrease for the same periods from 17.5 % (2010) to
15% (2011) to 11.7 (2014). By 2014, Gartner predicts that the
worldwide mobile operating system (OS) market will be domi-
nated by Symbian [Nokia] and Android, which it estimates will
collectively account for nearly60% (59.8%) ofall mobile OS sales.
According to Gartner, a major factor contributing to the decrease
in RIM OS and other operating system sales is the increase of
platforms using open source code, most notablythe Android OS
[http://www.gartner.com/resld= 1428830]. While RIM develops
and releases updated versions ofits operating system to support
its devices, it is the individual carriers that decide if and when a
version is released to their respective subscribers.
BlackBerry Apps
BlackBerry users seeking apps for their devices can turn to
BlackBerry App World [http://na.blackberry.com/eng/serv-
ices/appworld], an application distribution service. Formally
launched onApril 1,2009, with 1,000 apps,BlackBerryApp World
doubled its catalog in early July that same year [http://bit.ly/
aoiFwj]; by early September 2010, the total had increased to
Blackerry Pearl Flip 82 N
(courtesyBlackBerry)
www.infotoday.com/searcher
more than 10,000 [http://bit.ly/aluQOl]. While some may con-
sider the increase impressive, as of mid-September 2010, the
total is significantly less than the number of apps offered for
Android OS platforms (101,831) [http://www.androlib.com/
appstatsfreepaid.aspx] and forApple handheld devices (262,732)
[http://148apps.biz/app-store-metrics].
In mid-August 2010 BlackBerryApp World 2.0 was launched,
providing not only enhanced access to its inventory but also
offering a single sign-in account system (BlackBerry ID) that can
be used for both the BlackBerry client and the BlackBerry App
World desktop storefront [http://na.blackberry.com/eng/serv
ices/ appworld/download.jsp].
"The BlackBerry AppWorld storefront allows... [one] to search
for and download items for ... [one's] BlackBerry device ... [and]
browse featured and top downloaded items, such as games,
social networking applications, and productivity applications.
[The user] ... can [also] view items by category and searchby key-
word" [http://bit.ly/bxkdwJ]. The website also allows the user to
review Top Free, Top Paid, and Newest Applications.
'Featured' BlackBerry Apps
In mid-September 2010, the "Featured"apps includedYellow
Pages Business, National Geographic Birds PrimeTheme, Twit-
ter, LinkedIn, LearnFrench, Pinball Deluxe, Shopper, HP ePrint,
BlackBerry Messenger, and TCM-Turner Classic Movies, as well
as ones for TheNew York Timesand the Weather Channel, among
others [http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore].
Categories
Users can also browse BlackBerry App World by broad cate-
gories: Business, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Games,
Health &Wellness, IM &Social Networking, Maps &Navigation,
Music &Audio, News, Photo &Video, Productivity, Reference &
eBooks, Shopping, Sports &Recreation, and Test Center. As of
mid-September 2010, the categories with more than 500 appli-
cations included Themes (2,378), Reference & eBooks (1,720),
Games (1,548), Utilities (732), and Music &Audio (511).
Other broad categories with a significant number of apps
included Entertainment (469), Productivity (396), Business
(363), News (319), Health &Wellness (350), Sports &Recreation
(293), Travel (286), and Maps & Navigation (250). Interestingly,
there were several dozen apps categorized in the IM & Social
Networking (165) category, but no more than the several dozen
in the Education category (164). One should keep in mind, how-
ever, that while not formally categorized as educational, an app
may serve as such for some uses and users.
December 2010 51

3. MOBILE
Subcategories
In selecting a category, a user can Refine By Subcategory, e.g.,
Themes: Abstract (821), Holiday (187), Movies &TV (106), Nature
(459), People (273), Sports Themes (291), Technology (187)
Transportation (56). (The number adjacent to each subcategory
is the number of apps so labeled).
From within the Refine By Subcategory page, the user can
display Free, Paid, or Free or Paid apps, and choose to sort and
display these by Popular (default), Name, Vendor, Price, Rating,
or Date. Results can be displayed in groups of 25 (default), 50,
or 100 by clicking on a drop-down menu [http:/ /appworld.black
berry.com/webstorel.
Free and Paid Apps
In mid-September 2010, the most popular free BlackBerryApp
World apps included BlackBerry Messenger, Pandora, Poynt, Face-
book, Twitter,WeatherEye, Windows Live Messenger, Daily Horo-
scope, Bible, and Dictionary and Thesaurus - Dictionarycom; the
top Paid apps included Doodle Jump, BeBuzz - LED Colors and
Audible Reminders, Chat for Facebook, ESPN Fantasy Football
2010, Mobile Bartender, Period Calendar Deluxe, Player For
YouTube Pro, Movela Netflix Queue Manager; Calorie Tracker by
LIVESTRONG, and BatteryBooster - Power Optimizer.
For any app entry, the user can review additional informa-
tion by clicking its associated "Details" hotlink, which includes
a link to Reviews of the app, ifavailable. A hotlink is also avail-
able for the developer, which allows the user to easily browse all
the apps provided by a particular developer. A rating icon is also
displayed on a five-star scale, ifan app has been rated, as is price,
if the app is not labeled as free.
Upon selecting an app, a full description is provided along
with its version, release date, file size, support links, and icons for
various sharing services and sites (e.g., Facebook, TWitter, Digg).
In addition to screenshots, the Supported Devices, Supported
Countries, Supported Carriers are noted, as are a selection of the
most recent reviews and the associated star-ranking, if available.
Users can also free-text search for any app of interest from
any BlackBerry App World search page. As with iPhone and
O BlackBerry
App World,.
Android apps, a variety of websites have been established to
assist users in assessing BlackBerry apps and devices. Among
these are BerryReview.com, BlackBerry Apps [http://www.black-
berryapps.com], and CrackBerry.com; other useful sites include
101 Best BlackBerry Apps [http: / /10 lbestblackberryapps.com],
Best Free Blackberry Applications [http://www.bestfreeblack-
berryapps.com] and Free BlackberryApplications [http://www.
squidoo.com/blackberryapps].
As with iPhone and Android apps, an increasing number of
BlackBerry apps are being developed to facilitate access, collec-
tion, and use of data and information.
Books
As noted, there were more than 1,700 reference and ebooks
apps in BlackBerry AppWorld as ofmid-September 2010. Its sub-
categories and the associated number of associated apps
include Dictionaries (309), Law (eight), Medical (28) References
(86), Religion (89), Textbooks (11) , and eBooks (1,189).
While the Medical category had fewer apps then many would
expect, the titles offer access to substantive content through such
vendors as Skyscape, Inc. [http://appworld.blackberry.com/web-
store/vendor/489l and Unbound Medicine, Inc. [http://app
world.blackberry.com/webstore/vendor/545].
In addition to mobile versions of standard medical refer-
ence works such as the Merck Manual Suite plus Davis's Drug
Guide, Red Book for Mobile and Web, and Taber's Medical Dic-
tionary for Mobile and Web, Unbound Medicine also offers
apps for such specialized resources as Anesthesia Central,
Nursing Central, and Medicine Central, " ... an integrated
mobile and web reference built specifically for physicians, stu-
dents, residents, and nurse practitioners." In addition, [its]
"MEDLINE Journals feature delivers citations and abstracts
from medical journals ... with links to full text as provided by
the journal publisher" [http://appworld.blackberry.com/web
store/content/59391.
Skyscape not only offers its version of similar standard refer-
ence sources (e.g., Merck ManualMerck ManualofDiagnosis
andTherapy,mobilePDR, Taber's Medical Dictionary for Mobile
and Web), but equally specialized content such as the ACP PIER
Database - Diabetes, HIV Guide (Johns Hopkins POC-IT Cen-
ter), and Wills Eye Manual.
BlackBerry apps are also available for accessing more com-
prehensive ebook collections, most notably one for accessing
free and paid titles originally made available for the Amazons
Kindle ebook reader [http://amzn.to/4Y6EWs]. As of mid-Sep-
tember 2010, the app is reported to work effectively on several
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4. MOBILE
BlackBerry Bold, Curve, Storm, andTour models, yet is only cur-
rently available to U.S. users [http://bit.ly/9y3vTX].
The Kindle for Blackberry app includes such features as the
ability to access purchased Kindle titles, synchronizing the last
page read between one's BlackBerry and one's Kindle Reader,
and accessing the full Kindle library of 620,000 books with free
book samples. While access to Kindle newspapers, magazines,
and blogs are available from the Kindle iPhone app, they were
not as yet accessible via the BlackBerry Kindle application.
BlackBerry apps have also been developed to access such
extensive media content as that offered by audible.com [http:/ /
bit.lylbtPOuQ], Borders [http://bit.ly/9C3GEE], Mobipocket
[http://bit.ly/91GbK1], and OverDrive [http://bit.ly/bN8xCz].
Practice and Research
As documented by many medical library websites, the wide
variety ofservices and devices that provide convenient access to
medical data and information sources indicate that physicians
and medical librarians have been among the most active in
adopting and promoting portable and mobile-devices within
their respective professions. The directory ofMobile Computing
Resources [http://library.uchc.edu/pdal provided by the Lyman
Maynard Stowe Library at the University of Connecticut Health
Center is among the most comprehensive with regard to med-
ical databases, and other resources available using such devices.
Its list not only includes resources accessible using Black-
Berry apps, but applications available for other platforms as well.
These include the following:
DynaMed
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed
"DynaMed is a clinical reference tool created by physicians for
physicians and other health care professionals for use primarily
at the 'point-of-care'. With clinically-organized summaries for
more than 3,000 topics, DynaMed is the only evidence-based ref-
erence shown to answer most clinical questions during practice.
"DynaMed is updated daily and monitors the content of over
500 medical journals and systematic evidence review databases
directly and indirectly byusing many journal review services. Each
publication is reviewed cover-to-cover, and each article is evalu-
ated forclinical relevance and scientific validity.The newevidence
is then integrated with existing content, and overall conclusions
are changed as appropriate representing a synthesis of the best
available evidence. Through this process of systematic literature
surveillance, the best available evidence determines the content
ofDynaMed" [http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php].
ePocrates
http://www.epocrates.com
"Epocrates, Inc. develops clinical information and decision
support tools that enable healthcare professionals to find answers
more quickly and confidently at the point of care ... The com-
pany's trusted clinical content is developed by physicians and
pharmacists andis continuously updated to keep users informed
and up to date" [http://www.epocrates.com/company].
Epocrates for BlackBerry
[http://www.epocrates.com/products/blackberry]
Epocrates Essentials Deluxe "is a complete clinical practice suite
that provides reliable clinical information to ... [the user] at the
point ofcare..." [http://www.epocrates.com/products /deluxe].
Epocrates Essentials is a "premium drug and disease refer-
ence [that] provides reliable clinical information ... at the point
ofcare" [http: //www.epocrates.com/products/essentials]. Free
Epocrates Rx Pro provides "premiumdrug and formulary ref-
erence that [integrates with Epocrates] continually updated drug
information with premium prescribing features" [http: /I/www.
epocrates.com/products/rxpro].
Epocrates Rxoffers a "drug guide, formulary information and
drug interaction checker, which also includes continual free
updates and medical news" [http://www.epocrates.com/prod
ucts/rx]. Free
JAMAevidence Mobile
http://www.jamaevidence.com/index
"The JAMAevidence mobile view features a portion of the
site's content optimized for the unique size and speed con-
straints of mobile browsers." To that end, the following content
is available in this view: Quick Reference pocket cards from
Users'Guides to the MedicalLiteratureand "Make the Diagno-
sis" sections from The RationalClinicalExamination.
Natural Standard
http://www.naturalstandard.com
"Natural Standard was founded by clinicians and researchers
to provide high quality, evidence-based information about
complementary and alternative therapies including herbs,
supplements, complementary practices, diets exercise and
nutrition. Natural Standard provides ... trustworthy, up-to-
date, consolidated information on effectiveness, side effects,
interactions, dosing, pregnancy, breastfeeding, historic back-
ground, practitioner accreditation, theory, and safety
[http://bit.ly/aMW8FD]. *
December 2010 53www.infotoday.com/searcher

5. THE APP IN THE HAYSTACK
The App in the Haystack continued rompage i9
4 Making
4the Decision
These decisions are not life-threatening and the sun will
come up tomorrow no matter what you choose. It is OK to like
an app and it is OK to not like a different app. When software
was purchased in the 20th century, it was meant to be for a long
time calculated in multiple years. Apps have a shelf life for as
long as you need them, after which you can discard them with-
out threat of significant capital losses. Depreciation expense
recapture is not the issue. Of course, individuals have a differ-
ent set of rules than the enterprise.
As you go through the decision process:
"* Invest the time to personalize and select the settings and
apps which fit with what you want to do.
"* New apps and new updates will be available continu-
ously; frequently check with the app stores, service
providers, and friends.
5 Report
n Card
So, how is it working for you? You made choices, you started
to use or ignore. What you like, you keep. What you do not like,
trash. The in between of not sure will linger around until your
eventual decision. You may be surprised of the suggestion to
"trash." In 2010, it is OK to walk out of a movie, stop reading the
book, leave food on your plate, and get rid of apps that had
potential but do not map to your likes.
Your willingness to recycle is a way of getting rid of the clut-
ter on your device. Sometimes, every storage area needs to be
cleaned out. The good news is that this can make room for a new
jacket, sweater, shirt, shoes or a new app, more music, another
video, etc. This is always done over some time period that
demonstrates the evolution of how you want to use the device
and available apps at that time. This is a time for change with-
out a lot of additional cost.
Another important consideration is the frequent updates that
apps developers provide. Understand that these updates are
optional; you do not have to download and install them. I
strongly recommend that you do the update as it maintains
compatibility with all ofthe features ofyour smartphone device.
Most of the time, updates do not have any added cost.
To complete this report card section, allow me to suggest
a few apps that have survived the test of time within my
storehouse. I particularly like the following apps (alphabet-
ical sequence):
"* All Things Digital
"* Email access
"* Google Maps
"* Hootsuite
"* Netflix
"* NYTimes
"* pageonce
"* Pandora
"* Shazamn
"* Sync Outlook calendar
"* Evernote
"* Laridian PocketBible
" Mv Starhucks
Here are a few accessory notes to make sure you have a good
to great experience:
"* Put your name and contact information on every device.
"* Power cords - Get one for every place you will be, main
office location, home office, car, road warrior bag.
"* Cases - Get a cover case from Gelaskin [http://www.
gelaskin.com] to make your device unique.
Pew Research assembled some information about the range
of apps and how they are being acquired by adults. To see the
chart that shows information from its 2010 survey, go to http://
pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/The-Rise-of-Apps-Culture/
Overview.aspx.
In December, 2009, The Nielsen Company conducted an
Apps Playbook survey for apps downloading. Game apps were
the most downloadedin terms of both volume and the percent
of adults who had downloaded them. In terms of actual apps
use, six in 10 ofNielsen's recent downloaders (60%) said they had
used a game app in the past 30 days, and roughly half said they
had used a news/weather app (52%), a map/navigation app
(51%), or a social networking app (47%) in that same timeframe.
Your haystack awaits. Have fun!
Richard Oppenheim blends business experience, technology skills, and
writing competence with a passion to help others succeed. For coaching
and business advice, he can be reached at richopp@oppenheimgroup.com
or wwwrtwitter.com/richinsight.
54 SEARCHER a The Magazine for Dalabase Professionals
- -d ..........

6. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
TITLE: ‘B’ Is for ‘BlackBerry’
SOURCE: Searcher 18 no10 D 2010
The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it
is reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in
violation of the copyright is prohibited. To contact the publisher:
http://www.infotoday.com