The document discusses strategies for developing a mobile website and apps for a library. It recommends focusing content on key tasks and making design accessible across all devices. It also addresses decisions around building mobile sites versus apps, content prioritization, and testing on emulators and devices to ensure compatibility. Vendor partnerships are presented as an option to outsource mobile development and maintenance.

2. Overview Mobile Strategy Content – top library tasks, info pages are secondary, social media Design - accessibility first, must work on all devices, not just the iPhone Sites vs Apps Design Process Vendor vs In-house development Accessing your data Deciding on content Integrating with your full site, Drupal Which devices? Mobile detection Mobile layout Testing (emulators, native devices) Promotion Maintenance

3. Mobile Strategy Mobile is a core service, not a frill Content – top library tasks, info pages are secondary, social media Design - accessibility first, must work on all devices, not just the iPhone Sites vs Apps http://yiibu.com/articles/rethinking-the-mobile-web/ Only Apple users browse the web?

4. Identify content Mobile sites are another degree of task based design Identify tasks Identify products Minimal organizational info or static info

5. Page Pageviews – March 2010 to March 2011 /en/main/overview 7486225 /en/main/find 443970 /fr/main/overview 430815 /en/main/library 370425 /en/main/find/catalog/search/all/about 268408 /en/main/find/download 162844 /en/main/program 111021 /en/main/find/online 103624 /en/main/interest 80412 /en/main/library/card 64233 /en/main/about 63336 /en/main/library/location/central 59022 /en/main/about/contact 52688 /en/main/library/card/using/borrow/help 33801 /fr/main/find 32206

6. Top content Catalogue Search / My Account Locations Digital Media Programs Databases Subject guides / Readers’ Advisory Contact

7. Mobile design After content, then….. Which devices? Sites vs Apps Mobile detection Layout and resizing http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/

8. Mobile sites vs mobile apps Biggest issue with creating apps is the problem of creating an app for every mobile OS The idea of creating websites as apps is a step backwards – web apps More difficult to update Apps should be created when you actually need an application

13. Mobile Traffic - Catalogue

14. Mobile Traffic - Website

15. Mobile Browsers Safari Opera Mini Android Blackberry Dolfin – Samsung Nokia / Symbian Firefox? IE?

16. Benefits of Apps Speed: JavaScript performance has increased dramatically in the past few years, but as an interpreted language, it will never be as fast as compiled code that runs directly on the processor. In a mobile environment where processors run slower to conserve power, every clock cycle counts. Data Management: Core Data on the iPhone provides a much more sophisticated system where relationships between your data objects are managed automatically. Animation: CSS3 and Javascript provides ways to animate page elements, but much more sophisticated effects are possible when you access the underlying Core Animation framework with native code. Resources: Mobile developers never have enough memory, network speed, or CPU power. These limited resources are much harder to control when they’re being managed by JavaScript or the browser. It’s easier for native applications to detect these situations and adapt the user experience accordingly. Usability: iPhone users feel most comfortable when they’re using the standard controls they’ve become accustomed to in Apple’s built-in apps. Integration: An iPhone has many capabilities that are beyond the reach of the web browser. Some simple examples are the user’s contacts, the photo library, voice recording, and device movement.

17. In-house vs Vendor Development In-house development requires mobile programming expertise, site is easier to build as it uses more common programming languages Our setup Need access to your data – API Every new application requires maintenance Drupal modules

18. Vendor options Boopsie Popular mobile solution for your catalogue and gives you some static pages Integrates with every major ILS Key prediction, live integration Drawbacks – different search query, not completely live synching Good reviews

19. BookMyne Sirsi Dynix For the iPhone Barcode scanning capability Social recommendation engine powered via Goodreads For non-iPhone users, all SirsiDynix library technology is supported on Android, Blackberry and other smartphone browsers for mobile-friendly access. We don’t have iBistro so not an option

20. Community Development Apps4Ottawa API access vs Flat files Maintenance? Control over design? Great secondary option and way to stimulate development, engage community LibraryBooks, Ottawa Library Find, Libraries Ottawa, WordPress Plugin

21. Our current implementation Partnered with other Bibliocommons libraries to develop a complete mobile solution EPL funded an iPhone app OPL funded a mobile site Bibliocommons developing an Android app Annual subscription gives you access to all three, includes maintenance, development

27. Mobile Design Mobile Detection User agents, @media queries (CSS3) User Agent API - http://user-agent-string.info/api No perfect system for all devices Any different than testing regular content for browsers? Progressive Enhancement Bandwidth

28. Mobile Layout “ As a long-time proponent of non-fixed layouts, I’ve long felt they were more “future proof” simply because they were layout agnostic.” - www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/

30. Fluid Layout In a fluid website layout, also referred to as a liquid layout, the majority of the components inside have percentage widths, and thus adjust to the user’s screen resolution. The amount of extra white space is similar between all browsers and screen resolutions, which can be more visually appealing. If designed well, a fluid layout can eliminate horizontal scroll bars in smaller screen resolutions. It will also be more compatible with alternate screen resolutions. With cleaner code and design, compatibility problems are more easily prevented, found and dealt with. http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fluidgrids/

31. Testing Emulators - http://mobiforge.com/emulators/page/mobile-emulators “ This underscores a general rule of the utmost importance to web developers: There is no unified WebKit on mobile. I tested nine mobile WebKit-based browsers and they all behave differently . Not wildly so: Baseline CSS support is good, and JavaScript is definitely workable. Still, each one has its problems and strong points.” http://www.alistapart.com/articles/smartphone-browser-landscape/ Emulators vs Native devices

32. Promotion Mobile services can be a great promotional tool for your library Considered newsworthy Generates social media traffic