Mobile Web

Mobile Web Libraries

Background

Many advanced technologies have emerged since the new millennium and have opened new avenues for libraries to meet patrons’ needs. Some of the technologies include open source software, cloud computing, and mobile technology. With these new technologies and the explosion of personal computers and mobile devices, libraries are no longer the first choice for information. Libraries which use WorldCat and Library of Congress are connecting more with patrons in the 55-64 age range. Whereas, the 18-54 aged patrons are accessing Easybib (OCLC, 2010). As seen by those statistics, the majority of patrons are not using library catalogs for information. These patrons have taken control of their information seeking behavior. The internet has created a new type of user who expects immediate results with just a few clicks or touches. The future of libraries is partially dependent on meeting the needs and desires of its patrons. As more of the patrons belong to the Net Gen Generand Millennium generations, the library must change its delivery strategies to meet the way those patrons access information. Therefore, libraries will find themselves having to adjust to the new technologies. One way libraries can reach these patrons is through mobile web initiatives. They have the potential to become the library that patrons can access anywhere at any time.

Kroski (2008) defines the mobile web as “the World Wide Web accessed through a mobile device, ranging from a cellular phone to an iPod Touch” (p. 5). Research indicates that more people have mobile phones than have personal computers. There are two groups of patrons to consider within two types of libraries. The first and most obvious would be academic libraries. Access to the library with a user-friendly interface is an immediate need for all academic libraries. This technology will allow libraries to connect with their patrons in new, interactive ways. For libraries serving college students, nine out of ten students own a cell phone (Kroski, 2008). People are using their phones to text, take pictures, access the web, play games, and many other applications that libraries can use.

The second is public libraries. Most people have cell phones but fewer patrons have computers. A cell phone makes possible internet access for almost everyone. Public libraries need to be on the forefront of creating a useable mobile interface to most efficiently serve the needs of patrons. Research shows that “62% of American adults have either accessed the internet wirelessly or used non-voice data applications…with a handheld. On the average day, 42% of those with cell phones or other wireless-enabled handhelds use the devices for at least one non-voice data application” (Horrigan, 2008, p.1). The number of cell phone users will increase even more dramatically as AT&T has told the FCC that land lines are a “relic of a bygone day” and want to end the service. Librarians who embrace this technology can begin using this technology to get their library resources and information to their patrons.

People are using mobile technology to do a plethora of things. They are accessing their email and text messaging. They are downloading pictures, videos, ringtones. They are playing games. They are using instant messaging. They are interacting socially through social networks, such as MySpace and Facebook. They are doing searches through Yahoo, Google, Wikipedia. They are using GPS technology to find places as they travel. The digital phone has replaced the digital camera for many people. They are downloading widgets, ebooks, audiobooks. They are blogging and using RSS feeds (Knight, 2007). With all of these different ways to use the mobile technology, libraries can enhance their genre of access.

Advantages

There are many advantages to libraries that use the mobile technologies. As reflected in the research, many patrons own mobile devices. This ownership provides a ready market for the libraries to use to get their information to the users. Many patrons have a mobile device that may not have a personal computer and it would be easy to connect them with the library. The use of mobile technology will enable the library to offer services, such as location via a map, that they are not presently offering. It will allow the library to connect to patrons through a new media. The libraries can use the mobile technology to inform patrons of their resources, tutorials, and other available services that they can access without entering the physical library. Companies are making it easier to download information from various sites and provide access to a wider variety of mobile devices. A mobile device is cheaper than a personal computer. Therefore, more patrons can have access to your library’s mobile information.

The mobile device is more convenient and can go wherever the patron goes. It allows the patron on-the-go information. They are not tied to a desktop computer. It provides a point of need access to information. It is personal and functions increase with each new device entering the marketplace. Carriers continue to be competitive and make the availability low cost.

Cell phones are helping to close the digital divide in minority teens. African-American teens from low income households are almost twice as likely to go on the web than whites via mobile. The percentages change proportionately to the household income. This usage is skyrocketing because of many factors. It is peer-driven, the cell phone is the "new town square" for communication. It is centered around the interests of the group, through music, the arts, and social networking. This gives libraries an opportunity to reach this group through well-promoted mobile initiatives. Careful thought must be given to activities that can promote interest in connecting to the library. Open mikes, art and dance contests are some of the events libraries should consider and promote with the mobile device.

The term, "The last mile," has often been used to denote the most difficult of the efforts to extend communication services to rural and urban low-income groups. It is now, with the proliferation of wireless internet that this last gap can be closed. The library can and should be a part of this closure.

Disadvantages

Mobile devices have limited processing power and a delay opening pages and errors. This also increases battery usage which can be a problem. Many devices have limited memory available for pages and images, and exceeding their memory limitations results in incomplete display and can cause other problems. With all the varying mobile devices and their different interfaces, mobile technology is not as simple as it sounds. Finding the right standards and technologies may be a huge undertaking for an already busy librarian. The information will need to be constantly updated. The updates are not only library-related but technology-related as the industry continues to evolve. It is also can be costly. Companies are available to convert your website into a mobile application at a cost. Electronic versions of ebooks, audiobooks, movies can be bought that can be downloaded to mobile devices for a cost.

Patrons using mobile technologies have different interests than patrons who use computers. According to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) technical document, Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0, “users are less likely to read lengthy documents or browse content…mobile developers need to move beyond shrinking content to fit small screens…” (W3C, 2008). Libraries must wade through all of this technology to produce material that may or may not work on every patrons’ mobile device. Drego (2007) states “the mobile web is fraught with user experience challenges. Sites are difficult to find, usability of both devices and sites is poor and access is costly.” There are 30-40 mobile operating systems and five major phone carriers in the United States with no official standards. Most of the devices offer Internet access, but without any standards the speeds and access vary widely.

Librarians must survey the needs of their patrons and sell them on the use of the web applications. Duran states that there are three factors for a successful mobile experience: Usability, visualization, and functionality. The user must be in control of how they navigate through content. Tasks must be quick and easy to locate. These would include: renewals, databases, and checking records materials borrowed, retrieve personal information, place holds and other activities, all from the cell phone. Also, library information such as hours, departments, phone numbers and other pertinent information needs to be available quickly and easily. A bad experience with the interface can deter patrons from using the library. On the surface, mobile web looks easy and quick to use, but libraries will find it time-consuming.

Implementing a Mobile Website

There are many considerations to take into account before venturing into the mobile web arena. Library Technology Report offers several options in their 2008 report, “How to Create a Mobile Experience.” Testing a library’s current website is the first step. It may work fine in the mobile device. There are technologies available that will transform a traditional website design into a mobile-friendly view. Another option is to design a website with mobile usage in mind. Some suggestions include: keep it simple, keep complicated tasks on the desktop, have the search bar highly visible, and test over a broad range of devices.

A website without users is worthless. Lib Tech offers some marketing advice once a mobile website is operational. Advertise, create incentives, use aggregators, and any other marketing tools available to reach an audience. The librarians and the IT director at North Carolina State University reported that it took them three months to design their mobile applications for their library. They used a variety of resources. Their advice was to not mobilize everything and to keep in mind that mobilizing is not just shrinking the page. The behind-the-scenes work was done by a large team of IT people. They built on open source work done by MIT and developed a NCSU Mobile site.

Mobile Usage

The technology for the mobile web continues to evolve. These are many different types, styles, and models of mobile phones today. These are also many different mobile operating systems on the different phones. The phones range from lower end 2G devices to the new generation of 4G. Future services will become available as the technology changes, such as video chat, video voice mail, and media sharing. Lindsay Notwell from Verizon shared information about what will make the 4G services feasible. The 4G speed will increase to 5-12 Mbps DL and 2-5 UL this means that there will be faster uploading and downloading. Latency will also improve to 30 milliseconds which is real time responsiveness. Verizon will also increase coverage to all of the United States by 2013 (OCLC, 2010). With these changes, mobile technology will be an excellent way for libraries to reach patrons.

There is no doubt that mobile technology is here to stay. Some of the issues that remain in question will be the carriers’ data plans. In a recent New York Times article AT&T announced it will no longer offer an unlimited plan service. Cost will be based on usage. Unlimited plan customers increased over twice in the last year to an estimated 57.1 users.AT&T reported that 2% of the users were taking a majority of the bandwidth. Other carriers will most likely follow suit.

These carrier issues increase the need for libraries to give the user a fast and efficient way to access information. A one-stop shop would increase the chances users would be drawn to library sites. The design of the website will be a critical factor. The 2010 Horizon report indicated that mobile technology is an up and coming technology that is 2-3 years away from wide-spread implementation. It reported that “mobiles represent an untapped resource for reaching students and bridging the gap between the learning that happens in the school and learning that happens out in the world” (Henderson, 2010, para.5). Patrons now expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want.

Mobile Web Libraries and Companies

There are many libraries that have embarked on the mobile web adventure. These libraries include: North Carolina State University, Ball State University, Minneapolis Public Library, and Cuyahoga Public Library. Several commercial companies have also reached out to the mobile community in support of libraries with their proprietary resources. These companies are Sirsi, Westlaw, MEDLINE/PubMed, Open WorldCat.

One library that has excelled is the North Carolina State University Library. The NCSU Library provides a mobile-friendly collection of online news, resources, events, tools, and services to their patrons. Patrons can find the location of each library with directions and a map and the hours. They can check each library to see what type of computer and when the computer is available. They can search the library catalog to see if material is available or not. They can also have access to a librarian through instant messaging. They launched the NCSU Libraries Mobile. From any mobile web device with web access, they could even watch the construction of the new library via webcam. The site automatically detects the user’s device type.

Ball State University provides access to mobile links, computer availability, academic resources, and information. Within their academic resources, the patron can access Cardcat mobile, their catalog. The patron can also access WorldCat and Google Books. Ball State University had as its goal for the Mobile Development Project the development of interfaces to library services and resources to that patrons could access them through their mobile devices. Through this project, patrons can transact requests for Interlibrary loans, conduct literature searches, and access reference sites. They can also receive library alerts when new academic resources become available.

Public libraries are also using mobile technologies. Minneapolis Public Library allows patrons to download digital media. The library uses software provided by Overdrive. Overdrive allows digital media to be downloaded to a variety of devices, such as iPods, mobile phones, ebook readers, and computer harddrives. The library has access to three digital collections: NetLibrary Audiobooks, Overdrive Digital Catalog, and eBooks.

Cuyahoga Public Library provides the digital downloads also. This library also allows access to the catalog using AirPac to access it on your mobile device. The AirPac allows patrons to use the catalog from a mobile device. The patron can search using advanced searching, limiting and sorting results. It also uses Overdrive Media to allow patrons to download Overdrive titles to mobile devices. They also have Mobipocket eBook Reader which is a digital bookshelf powered by Overdrive. It takes less than 8 seconds to transfer an eBook to your mobile device. It will send an alert when new material arrives.

Siris is one company that has taken the mobile technology and make it beneficial to libraries. Most reference librarians are tied to the reference desk. With the wireless PDA technology, the small unit frees library staff to serve users and perform online and offline circulation operations without having to be at a workstation. The library staff can assist users within the stacks, charge materials, and update materials.

Westlaw, MEDLINE/PubMed, Open WorldCat, EBSCO are making their resources available to mobile device users. This resource makes it possible for students to research remotely with their mobile devices. These companies are getting a head start on becoming PDA-friendly for the newest generation of users.

The Live Snapshot Study

There are many libraries that have embarked on the mobile web adventure. For this small study a simple web page was created that could be viewed in a mobile device to compare mobile initiatives at several libraries. Each library site was visited first on their home page on a computer, if a mobile link was provided it was then entered into a mobile phone and viewed. If no mobile link was provided the library home page was entered into a mobile phone. This is a simple "snapshot" study and not meant to be exhaustive. The images below were done on an iphone. The iphone has the capability to do screen captures.

These are the results of the snapshot study.

The critiques below are from viewing on a Samsung. It has a much smaller screen and is not a touch screen.

Valdosta State University Library site opened quickly, but took several tries to get "text only" to work. The "Anywhere Access" had a server certificate warning but finally opened.

South Georgia Regional Library site is not mobile-friendly. The full site opens in the mobile device and is not very navigable.

Florida State University (see image above) has a prominent link on the University Library home page linking to a mobile URL. The site opens quickly with large, readable text. The text is actually too large and requires scrolling. It has only necessary information such as hours, ask us how, search, contacts. It also had links back to the full sites.

San Jose State Library is a combined community and academic library. The full site opens in the mobile device with all images. Not navigable or friendly for mobile use.

North Carolina State University Library site (see image above) recognizes a mobile connection and redirects to the mobile site, no graphics, everything loads quickly. All the links fit in the device screen for quick access. It also has a link to the mobile site of the University's main page, which is also streamlined. This mobile site could be considered a benchmark.

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill library's full website with graphics opens in the mobile device. It is not very navigable. A certificate warning pops up.

Ball State University Library has no mobile compliant site. The URL goes directly to the traditional site with graphics, is garbled, slow to load, and difficult to use. The home page of the University required a search of the directory to find the library site. Ball State has a search engine on the OPAC page.

Minneapolis Public Library has no mobile compliant site. The URL goes directly to the traditional site with graphics, is garbled, slow to load, and difficult to use. When viewed on the mobile device it notes it is a handheld-friendly website but in reality it does not fit that description. Minneapolis has a link on the OPAC page.

Cuyahoga Public Library is not a friendly mobile site. Requires too much scrolling and has too much information. It is the full website. Cuyahoga has a search engine on the OPAC page that works very well. http://sciron.cuyahoga.lib.oh.us/airpac/jsp/airpacIndex.jsp

Simmons College Library is not mobile-friendly. It is the full website with all graphics.

There is an ever-increasing number of applications for the mobile device. A tipping point will be reached and it will become unmanageable for many users. The simpler a library can make their service the more likely it will be used. A good example on the project webpage ia a link to Project Gutenberg's mobile website. The Gutenberg Project requires no software downloads and multiple formats are available, including HTML, which requires no software reader on the phone.

Potential Use for the Future

Many libraries have already found the use for mobile web technology applications. Broader use will become available if standards are written between providers. More commercial developers and writers of open source software will provide better and less costly software to libraries to produce their own applications. More libraries will be able to provide the applications similar to the ones produced by North Carolina State University. The mobile web initiative for libraries means another paradigm shift. More books, textbooks, and reference books will become more available as eBooks which will allow them to be downloaded. This process will provide libraries with more space as less shelving space will be needed. Screens will become larger for mobile devices like the one prototyped by Wistron’s Readius with the pull-out screen.

The mobile devices will allow patrons to check out digital material and print material at their convenience. The print materials will be delivered via a vending machine that they can access through driving up to the library. Reference librarians will spend more time with chat and IM requests and will be freed from the reference desk with the use of PDAs. The PDAs will hold all the information that will be needed to access library resources. The librarian will be able to check out a book from anywhere in the library to a patron. The patron will have their library card on their mobile device also. The libraries will have Q2 codes on the books or end of shelves to provide information about the materials.

Libraries could be the repositories for podcasts and vodcasts required by different courses. It would be much easier to load them to a mobile device and listen to them when time permits than having to be tied to the computer to view them.

References

Barking robot (2010). Report: minority teens close digital divide with mobile web. http://www.debaird.net/blendededunet/2010/04/report-minority-teens-close-digital-divide-with-mobile-web.html

Bradley, Tom. (2010). AT&T tells FCC it's time to cut the cord, PC World, Retrieved from http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/185649/atandt_tells_fcc_its_time_to_cut_the_cord.html

Drego, V. (2007). What’s wrong with the mobile web? Forrester Research. [Excerpt]. Retrieved from http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/whats_wrong_with_mobile_web/q/id/41482/t/2.

EMarketer (2010). Teens close digital divide with mobile web. Retrieved from http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007660#.

Fox, Megan K. (2007). Trends in mobile tools & applications for libraries. [PDF Document]. Retrieved from http://web.simmons.edu/~fox/mobile
Henderson, D. (2010). 2010 Horizon Project: K-12 Edition. The New Media Consortium. [Report]. Retrieved from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon-k12-2010/ .
Horrigan, J. (2008). Seeding the cloud: what mobile access means for usage patterns and online content. Pew Internet and American Life Project, March 5, 2008. Retrieved from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/754/cloud-computing.
Knight, C. (2007). The 55 piece mobile search tool kit. ReadWriteWeb. Retrieved from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_55_piece_mobile_search_tool_kit.php .
Kroski, E. (2008). What is the mobile web? Library Technology Reports, 44(5), 5-9. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
Kroski, E. (2008). Library mobile initiatives. Library Technology Reports, 44(5), 33-38. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete
OCLC (2010). The future is mobile. OCLC and Library Journal Innovation Symposium. [Online Symposium]. Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/innovation/ .
Richtel, Matt (2010). Heavy users of phone services will pay more, New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/technology/03phone.html?src=busln

W3C (2008). Mobile web best practices 1.0. World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C). [Technical Document]. Retrieved from http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/