Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Mobile Library

OLA Friday February 26 2010
Amanda Etches-Johnson, McMaster University User Experience Librarian


- already 70% of Canadians have a mobile device, over 100% in many other countries, especially Europe

She started out by comparing mobile vs Internet versions of various library websites
- most create a much simpler, stream-downed version of website -- strip down content, as well as strip out bells and whistles
- one exception was EbscoHost -- had much the same content, just rearranged [slides 21, 22]


Her advice:
  • build thoughtfully -- think about bandwidth, analyse site traffic to see what browsers are coming in to your site
  • UX -- always think about the User eXperience
  • automate/syndicate -- use Content Management Systems CMS to pull content out to mobile and "regular" versions (as opposed to building multiple versions of your website)
  • consider Mobify ["Mobify is a web service that provides a quick way to optimize a site for mobile access"... "Mobify works best with well-formed HTML and predictable URL patterns. Websites based on WordPress, Drupal, ExpressionEngine and most modern CMS solutions are a great match for Mobify"]
  • test - watch users (her favourite usability test) also uses heuristic evaluation, card sorting
  • mobile apps -- she predicts these will die off in 2010, because you will need a different app for each mobile device out there NOTE: this is a very different approach from SirsiDynix's -- kae

Mobile Instruction

  • format matters
  • size matters -- videos are better than small type
  • syndicate
  • SMS -- short message system aka texting - 5 trillion txt msgs in 2010 -- stick this in catalogue for Q&A
  • consider QR codes -- two dimensional barcodes which can be quickly read by phones -- convert URLs into QR codes,

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