Mobilizing the Library: Beyond the Catalog 1 Jason Casden, Digital Technologies Development Librarian David Woodbury, NCSU Libraries Fellow Markus Wust, Digital Collections and Preservation Librarian NCSU Libraries Mobile

Markus Wust History and Services 2

NCSU Libraries Mobile History Services Project plan & design Technical details Stats & Future plans 3

MobiLIB: NCSU Libraries’ First Mobile Service Launched in 2007 (before iPhone) Few models in higher education (Ball State University, University of Texas) Mobile not part of institutional strategy No campus collaborators No formal development team 4

MobiLIB Services 5 1.Catalog 2.Computer Availability 3.Opening Hours 4.Campus Directory 5.Contact Information 6.Links to External Information Providers 7.Campus Bus Status Information (External)

Reusing existing services Much of MobiLIB was based upon existing data services –Catalog –Computer Availability –Library Hours –Campus Directory (by campus IT) Simplified development and maintenance Reduced development time Ensured data consistency 6

Catalog using our Catalog Web Service 7

Other Interfaces, Same Data Source 8

9 Automatically generate display of new book titles Create cover image displays for blog posts iGoogle gadget

Computer Availability 10

Other Interface, Same Data Source 11

Library Hours 12

Other Interface, Same Data Source 13

Today… 2 Projects: WolfWalk –Self-guided historical walking tour of NC State campus NCSU Libraries Mobile –Next-generation mobile library site 14

WolfWalk Mobile web version to be launched March 2010 iPhone application coming soon Browse information and photographs of campus sites Detect user’s location to display closest sites 15

NCSU Libraries Mobile Launched December 2009 (after iPhone, Droid, etc.) “Mobile” has become strategic initiative Formalization of development efforts Collaboration with campus IT Utilizes same MIT mobile framework (for display and device detection) as campus site 16

NC State Mobile Web (Campus Site) 17

Our mobile services Locations & Hours Computer Availability Catalog Search Reference Services Webcam Feeds GroupFinder News & Events Link to campus mobile site 18

Locations & Hours 19 New: Images, maps, descriptions User Context: Is this branch library open tonight?

Computer Availability 20 New: Visual display, added branch library User Context: Where can I find an available computer?

Catalog Search 21 New: Cover images, /text message records User context: Is the book I need currently available?

Reference Services 22 New: Integrated reference chat User context: I have a question about the library…

Webcam Feeds 23 New Service: View multiple webcam feeds User Context: Do I have time to get a coffee?

GroupFinder 24 New Service: Find groups within the library User Context: Where is my study group?

News & Events 25 New Service: View multiple library-related news feeds User Context: What is new at the NCSU Libraries?

Real time tools 26

David Woodbury Project Planning & Design 27

Project timeline Campus site launch (September 3, 2009) Planning & wireframes (September) Programming (early October) Beta launch (late October) Formal launch & promotion (November) Main website redirect (December) GroupFinder & bug fixes (February 2010) 28

Project team One project manager & two programmers Approximately one month and half of work for FTE (split between three of us) However, we were using services that took many months to build 29

What to mobilize? What services are currently available? What services are applicable on a mobile device? What services translate well to the mobile environment? What tools can be created easily? What would be fun to see? 30

Relationship to home page Mobile Site ≠ Home Page Narrow options for mobile Can always link back Needs to be maintained by web team Branding & tools need relate to main site 31

“Mobile” is not just shrinking the page 32

Use only essential, relevant content 33

Use only essential, relevant content 34

Reduce options, simplify 35

Push data as high as possible 36

Limit data to mobile context 37

Limit data to mobile context 38 For time oriented data, we assume current day & time We assume action oriented

Use the mobile interface 39

Provide appropriate tools for the user’s context 40

Expose hidden, useful content 41

Mobile Planning Tips Start with the services that make mobile sense Limit the amount of data entry Link back to main site Promote your site Talk to students to get reality check 42

NCSU Libraries Mobile Initiative Key area for the Libraries Includes department representatives from across the Libraries Will plan, advise, and support mobile development Will work with new formalized NC State Mobile campus group 43

Jason Casden Technical Planning and Implementation 44

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When to Make a Native App Charging for it Creating a game Using specific locations* Using cameras Using accelerometers Accessing the filesystems Offline users * Actually available to web-based applications 46

The Case for Mobile Web Apps “I believe that unless your application meets one of these native application criteria, you should not create a native application, but should instead focus on building a mobile web application.” — Brian Fling, “Mobile Design and Development” 47

WolfWalk, Two Ways 48

Our tools Mobile website –XHTML 1.0 transitional –CSS –non-essential JavaScript and AJAX MIT Mobile Web Open Source Project Leaned on pre-existing web services Targeted higher-end devices 49

No developers? Tools that require only HTML knowledge –iWebKit, iUI, Dashcode… –Good for static content –May lack good multi-tiered device support 50

No developers? Vendors –Boopsie, Terribly Clever… –Can manage mobile development process for you –You may lack control over the final product –May be expensive –Doesn’t develop internal expertise 51

Best practices Standards and official guidelines –Useful, but slow-moving –Don’t get stuck 52

Lots of Devices 53 Top Level iPhones, Android phones, Palm Pre Large touch screens, sophisticated web capabilities Middle Level Blackberry, Nokia smartphones, Windows mobile, etc. May lack touch screen and some CSS and JavaScript capabilities. Low Level Web-enabled flip phones Small screens, low web functionality

Content Adaptation 54

Separating data from presentation 55

Testing 56 CC BY-SA 2.0: / /

Recommendations 57

Be Agile Rapid development cycle Think iteratively Adjust to change quickly Avoid paralysis 58

Play 59

Collaborate Campus efforts External projects Steal what you like –Improve it, so it can be stolen back 60

In Summary… Mobile websites are becoming very sophisticated Mobile web app development is web development –just a little different 61

Stats! 62 Page views: Unique visits: 6573

What device? What is getting used? 63

Future Mobile Plans Study room reservations Patron account information and tools Summon article searching ReservesDirect Building wayfinding Staff tools 64

Resources Ballard, Barbara. (2007). Designing the Mobile User Experience. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Fling, Brian. (2009). Mobile Design and Development: Practical Concepts and Techniques for Creating Mobile Sites and Web Apps. Sebastopol, California: O’Reilly Media. W3C Mobile Web Best Practices: W3C CSS Mobile Profile: Griggs, K., Bridges, L. M., Rempel, H. G. (2009). “library/mobile: Tips on Designing and Developing Mobile Web Sites”, The Code4Lib Journal, Issue 8. Retrieved from: MIT Mobile Web Open Source Project: NCSU Libraries Mobile Project Page: 65