Wednesday, March 23, 2011

CIL2011: Going Mobile

Parts of this session turned out to be more technical that I anticipated, so my notes are minimal.

Putting You Library in the Hands of Your Patrons - Ronalee Ciocco and Jessica Howard from Gettysburg College
  • They started by doing research on mobile usage including looking at research from Pew Internet and American Life Project
  • Gettysburg College added free wifi which increased usage.  Usable is still growing.
  • Mobile use of the library's web site is increasing.  1% of their traffic comes from mobile devices (Feb. 2011)
  • Call numbers can be texted from the library's catalogue to someone's cell phone.  1000 uses per month.
  • Looked at other libraries mobile web sites to see what was possible.
  • There is already a mobile version of the college's web site.  Created with free software called iWebKit.  They college also developed an iPhone app aimed at prospective students.
  • What do users want?
    • Survey in spring and fall 2010
      • Most using iPhone and iPod Touch
      • What did they want to use? Renewing items and quick informational things
  • Marketing the site
    • Tent cards
    • QR codes - Google URL shortener to track usage
  • Lessons learned
    • Keep it simple
    • Start small
    • Be flexible
Shian Chang - Georgetown University (too technical for me...sorry)
 Kimberly Griggs, Oregon State University

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