October 1 st , 2009 Jacob Hill, Elmhurst College, Illinois

1. There is no box: providing low- or no-cost library solutions for mobile device access to your library resources October 1st, 2009 Jacob Hill, Elmhurst College, Illinois Presentation will be hosted at http://library.elmhurst.edu/library-information/presentations

2. Background • The Mobile Devices Support Project grew out of a collaboration in the winter of 2008-2009 between Jacob Hill & Kyle Jones at the A.C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College, IL. • With additional assistance from Missy Roser and Courtney Greene @DePaul University, Toby Greenwalt @Skokie Public Library, and Colin Koteles @College of Dupage • Our overall goal was finding ways to support the mobile populations on our campuses, at no cost.

3. Techevangelism • “It’s really do-or-die when it comes to SMS and libraries” -Keynote speaker, Handheld Librarian conference, July 2009

4. What do we mean when we say “mobile devices”?

5. A mobile device is an ultraportable communication and/or computing platform with some of the following features: • Voice Calling Capability • Display w/keyboard or touch-screen • Internet capability • resident OS & apps • Examples: smartphones (which generally refers to any text-enabled phone with a display), Kindle, iPod touch, netbooks.

6. Who uses them? • According to a July 2009 Pew Study...“One-third of Americans (32%) have used a (mobile device) to access the internet for emailing, instant-messaging, or information-seeking.” • “…On the typical day, nearly one-fifth (19%) of Americans use the internet on a mobile device…” • Study indicates a 73% increase in usage in 16 months.

7. Texting outpacing calling

8. Why should we care?

9. More evidence… Source: Wingfield, Nick (2009, Feb). Time to leave the laptop behind. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 17, 2009 from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122477763884262815.html

10. Replacing the laptop… • From the Educause 2009 Horizon Report: “For many users, broadband mobile devices like the iPhone have already begun to assume many tasks that were once the exclusive province of portable computers.” • From a 2009 WSJ article: “Many travelers are now using smart phones the way they once used laptops -- and laptops the way they once used desktop computers”

11. Society becoming reliant on mobile devices • Pew Internet Study (Dec 2008) predicts: “The mobile device will be the primary connection tool to the internet…by 2020.” • Between 2002-2007, the # of respondents who said wireless devices would be “very hard to give up” had the highest increase amongst all technology: from 6% to 36%! • Youngest age groups are heaviest users: 73% of respondents in 18-29yr group.

12. Users are already out there • Website tracking(Google Analytics) showed that mobile users are already using our primary site. Site usage statistics snapshot, Winter 2008

13. If we don’t care, others will… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPxuNTZ1Se8

14. KGB and friends • Live human responses to texted questions • ChaCha (242242) • Aforementioned KGB (542542) • Mosio, Thumbplay, AskByText • Automated search responses • Yahoo • Google • Microsoft Live

15. What could we do? (without Changing Life as We Know It)

16. The Basics • We identified a scaled “tripod” of services: • Offer a communication tool (SMS support) • Give mobile users a mobile-friendly access point (website) • Explore and offer mobile-friendly resources (mobile-friendly sites, OPAC support, use relevant apps and widgets)

17. 1) SMS Communication Tools • To receive and response to patron text messages, you have 3 choices: • Use a free instant messaging client as an intermediary (AIM) or Google Voice • Use a fee-based intermediary tool (Text a Librarian, LibraryH3lp) • Subscribe to your own mobile device and plan, and use it to answer texted questions

18. The AIM Option • AIM (America On-Line Instant Messaging) tool. Free to create a screename account. • Patrons dial 265010 from their mobile device, and type our screename (texteclib), a colon, and their question. • We can respond directly to them via AIM as if it was an IM chat.

19. Text Questions (non-IM): 08/08-06/09

20. Issues surrounding Texting support • Free tools can disappear at any time • You need to market the service • You need to identity and answer text questions quickly (nature of medium) and with brevity (screen size limitations) • Funneling effect of IM/SMS traffic (most tools allow only 1 “responder” at a time)

21. Old Reference Model Phone Query FTF Query Email Query

22. Problematic new model Email Query Text Query Phone Query IM Query FTF Query

23. LibraryH3lp and TextaLibrarian- queuing • TextaLibrarian and LibraryH3lp (fee services) are tools that enable IM and SMS queuing. • Queuing is the future for mobile devices...several users can respond to a single texted question. (1st responder “wins”) • Minimizes the funnel effect

24. Patron side Library side (Patron IMing in library website chat box or texting w/mobile device) (view of Staff member logged in Libraryh3lp)

25. Potential Queuing Model Email Query Text Query Phone Query IM Query FTF Query

26. Google Voice- new player • Free service that allows you to aggregate several phones under 1 Google number. • Number is also a direct SMS portal- can receive SMS traffic and forward to email. • LibraryH3lp.com can pull Google Voice messages, so they appear as IMs.

27. 2) Mobile devices & web content • Mobile devices have a wide array of web browsing issues: • Smaller displays prevent effective browsing • Difficult data entry (keyboard size & arrangment) • Limited browsers (memory, mobile verisons) • Slower downloads (especially w/cellular links) • There are several ways to optimize your site for mobile users.

28. Transcoding • Transcoded content is standard website content that has been stripped down into a mobile format by using an intermediary “proxy.” • Google & Skweezer offer automatic transcoding • You can also give patrons links to transcoded versions eof sites by appending their redirects before your URL: • http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u= • http://www.skweezer.com/s.aspx?q=

29. Universal Design • Broadly, this refers to designing sites from the ground up to be more usable for multiple populations (see http://www.usability.gov/). • Content is clearly organized, brevity is king • Multimedia and layout minimized or optimized • Animation/links/menus minimized or optimized

30. Mobile-specifc Sites • Mobile devices can’t display standard web content optimally. • In a 2009 web usability test, when participants used sites designed for mobile devices, their “success” rate averaged 64% (vs. 53% when using standard sites).* • Even the iPhone’s large display parses content, and requires tedious scrolling. • *Nielsen, Jakob (2009, February 19). Mobile Web 2009 = Desktop Web 1998. Retrieved March 4, 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/mobile-usability.html

31. Our Mobile website • Uses main site URL with /m suffix. • iPod Touch, iPhone optimized: • Content sized for 320px/480px • Formatted for Touch-screen entry (adequate spacing), Safari browsers • Easy to design for a novice, w/some content updated by Twitter posts. DIY or use a tool like MobiSiteGalore.

32. Minimal info- critical content only. • Contact details, maps, hours, news • Austere design to prevent slow page loads. • Scrolling is “bad” and is avoided at all costs. • Recognizing that we can’t please all mobile users!

33. 3) Mobile-friendly Resources • Mobile-friendly resources are those optimized for mobile users. Some examples: • Mobile-specific sites & resource directories for patrons. • Twitter for library updates, mobile user participation, content management. • Mobile options for OPACs. • Mobile apps and widgets.

34. Resources: sites & directories • Finding mobile sites… • Mobile website URLs can have an official mobile domain (.mobi) or have a traditional mobile website directory ending (/mobile, /wireless, /iphone) • Addresses can also begin with a mobile subdomain (http://m, http://mobile) • There are also mobile website directories, such as find.mobi, winksite.com

35. Resources: Twitter • Free, + the inherent 140 character limit is conducive to mobile users. • “Subscribe-able” RSS feeds, like a blog • Easy content management; using Twitter within our mobile site gives us a facile way to update it.

36. Resources: OPACs • There are add-ons/mobile versions for some vendor OPACs • Shoutbomb- patron account text notifications • You can also provide a transcoded link to your OPAC (free!)…does not work with all OPACs

37. Resources: apps and widgets • Point patrons to Google tools for their phones. • Twitter search- knowledge base for mobile users? • Many smartphones can receive emails… • Depending on carrier, i.e. 5555555555@txt.att.net

38. Getting ready to deploy?

39. Marketing Mobile • What we do... • Main website referral link • Posters • Twitter notifications • What we should do... • Create a real marketing plan • Create community- reach out to our mobile users • Usability testing, invite commentary

40. Training issues • Identify incoming text for appropriate protocols (consistency) • Nature of the text ref. question…when to defer to voice/ FTF? • Priorities? • Dynamic content!

41. What’s on the horizon for mobile tech? • More extensive deployment of queuing applications • LESS mobile website design • More geotagged & GPS-related services • Google Wave, netbooks • Weird stuff…haptic interfaces, image-based infotags, mobile mashups.

42. Further Reading • W3C Recommendation (2008, July 29).Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0. Retrieved December 13, 2009, from http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp • Suda, Brian (2008, March 12). Designing for the mobile web. Retrieved October 15, 2008, from http://www.sitepoint.com/article/designing-for-mobile-web/1/ • Jones, Kyle (2009, January 27). RSS & Twitter. Retrieved February 12, 2009, from http://librasemergingtechnologies.pbwiki.com/RSS-and-Twitter • Liston, Samuel (May 2009). OPACs and the Mobile Revolution. Computers in Libraries (29,5). 11 pages. • Fox, Megan K. (Fall 2008). Information Anywhere. NetConnect (Library Journal supplement). 4 pages.

43. References • Knowledge Generation Bureau Press Release. (2009, Feb 25). KGB Launches National Tour to Answer America's Questions and Find Out What America REALLY Wants to Know. Retrieved March 4, 2009, from http://www.cnbc.com/id/29392713 • New Media Consortium and Educause Learning Initiative. (2009). 2009 Horizon Report. Retrieved April 17, 2009 from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/. • Net Applications Company Website. (2009, Feb). Mobile Browsing by Platform Market Share. Retrieved March 4, 2009, from http://marketshare.hitslink.com/mobile-phones.aspx?qprid=55&sample=31 • Wingfield, Nick (2009, Feb). Time to leave the laptop behind. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 17, 2009 from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122477763884262815.html

44. References, cont. • Pew Internet & American Life Project (2008, Dec). Internet Evolution: future of the internet III. Retrieved March 4, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/270/report_display.asp • Greenwalt, Toby (2009, July). Building a Mobile Library Platform. Handheld Librarian online conference. • Koteles, Colin (2008, October). The Mobile Web and Library Services. College of Dupage, Illinois. Presentation. • AdMob (2009, April). AdMob Mobile Metrics Report. Retrieved September 19 from http://metrics.admob.com/2009/05/april-2009-mobile-metrics-report-mobile-web-vs-html/ • Pew Internet and American Life Survey (2009, July). Wireless Internet Use. Retrieved September 16, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/12-Wireless-Internet-Use.aspx