Do Students Want Mobile Library Access And Are Librarians Ready to Deliver? Electronic Resources & Libraries, February 28, 2011 Angela Dresselhaus, Electronic Resources Librarian Flora Shrode, Head, Reference & Instruction Services

Purpose and Methods Find out if USU students desire mobile access to library functions Learn about what other libraries are doing (unscientific sample; opportunistic population of listserv subscribers) Surveyed students and librarians using SurveyMonkey (Registrar supplied student addresses for survey invitations)

Utah State University Overview Utah’s Land Grant University; Carnegie Research Extensive 173 Undergraduate and 141 Graduate Degrees Regional Campuses, Distance Education, & Extension: 3 Regional Campuses; merged with College of Eastern Utah in 2010; 29 Extension offices (one in each UT county) Enrollment Headcount 25,767

Utah State University Collections 1.6 Million volumes 671,000 print books 300,000 government documents 100,000 maps 11,700 current journal subscriptions 250 databases 200,000 electronic books 42,200 unique electronic journal titles

Survey Response Rate 11.9 % response rate (3074 students) Responses by College

Electronic Resource Use How often do you use the following electronic resources provided by your library? 3,016 Responses

Electronic Resource Use: All Students

Electronic Resource Use: Arts, Business, Education, and Humanities & Social Science

Electronic Resource Use: Agriculture, Engineering, Natural Sciences and Science

Device of Choice Do you use any of the following devices? 3,016 Responses

Smartphone, iPad, eBook Readers or Others?

Handhelds and Academics Do you use your mobile device or phone for academic purposes (e.g., Blackboard, electronic course reserves, etc.)? 3,016 Responses

Student Use of Mobile Device for Academic Purposes Yes

Student Use of Mobile Device for Academic Purposes by College yes

Student Use of Mobile Device for Academic Purposes by College yes

In a Perfect World What Would They Do? If library resources were easily accessible on your mobile devices and if you had such a device, how likely would you be to use any of the following for assignments or research 3,016 Responses

Likelihood of Using Library Resources if Easily Available 71.5 % are likely or very likely to use resources on a smart phone 50.3 % are likely or very likely to use resources on an iPad 49.3 % are likely or very likely to use resources on an ebook reader 54.8 % are likely or very likely to use resources on other devices

Give Them What They Want What mobile services would you like the library to offer? 3,016 Responses

What mobile services would you like the library to offer? 2932 responses from USU students

Librarian Survey 289 indicated the type of library in which they work * 82% Academic * 12% Public * 5% Special *.4% School

Librarian Survey: Mobile Access

Responsibility for Implementing Mobile Applications

Librarian Survey: What Should Libraries Provide? 178 Answered the Question  71% indicated everything or a variety of services  3% expressed doubt that people will use mobile devices for “heavy research” or extensive reading of full text  Suggestions: café webcam; computer availability; reserve a locker; comments/suggestions (moderated); new books app; database trial alerts; iPad (or other device) for roving reference

How Students’ & Librarians’ Opinions Compare Students Librarians

App Tour Android Tour: WorldCat, Gale, & Naxos iPod Touch Tour: BookMyne (SIRSI Catalog)

WorldCat

Gale

Naxos

BookMyne—Sirsi-Dynix OPAC

BookMyne—Sirsi-Dynix OPAC

Mobile Website Tour Ebsco Ball State NCSU

Ebsco

Ball State University

North Carolina State University

Location & Hours

Your Library Goes Mobile: Implementation Team Environmental Survey Planning Where USU Stands

Going Mobile– Implementation Team Public Services– Someone who interacts with patrons regularly Electronic Resources/Collections– Someone who interacts with vendors to encourage mobile web development Website Coordinator– Someone interested in mobile services and knowledgeable of current web standards. Since mobile websites are device agnostic and will likely pose fewer barriers to implementation this position is key. Information technology– Someone interested in developing apps on a number of platforms.

Going Mobile– Environmental Survey Conduct a study on mobile usage in your community Don’t forget about mobile devices such as iPod touches— these devices have many of the same academic possibilities as smart phones but without a monthly contract Check reference logs to determine if students are asking questions about accessing library resources via mobile devices Check usage statistics for evidence of mobile access If you use VPN, check with IT support to see if people have asked for help with configuration

Going Mobile– Getting Started Initial Steps Identify which vendors have created mobile applications Identify mobile web friendly websites Reference help via text messaging & chat widgets Mobile website Planning Hours Reference services Links to mobile friendly websites & vendor created applications Applications Develop applications for highly desired services on a variety of platforms

Going Mobile– Where USU Stands Implemented Text a librarian reference service Mobile profile created on Ebsco Chat with a librarian Coming Soon Study room reservation system optimized for mobile devices– our IT support personnel has requested code from BYU SIRSI-Dynix OPAC app for iPhone Next steps We are in the early stages of search to hire a Digital Services Librarian to help plan a mobile optimized website

Thank You! Flora’s contact Angela’s contact