Innovation in Libraries Explores Mobile Services
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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 11/9/2009
From instant messaging to e-books, text referencing to cell phone search, libraries are serving up more mobile resources to patrons, helping to turn 24/7 services into more of a reality, according to speakers at the Innovation in Libraries event at the Queens Library in Flushing, NY, November 3. “I think allowing, encouraging, and even facilitating the active use of mobile devices by patrons within the library has been a very exciting way libraries have integrated mobile devices without changing much except attitude,” wrote Joe Murphy, science librarian and coordinator of instruction and technology at the Kline Science Library at Yale University by email. “But that cultural shift is huge.”
For adults and even staff, pushing mobile technologies within library services can sometimes be a bumpy ride. Some patrons may not feel the need to adopt what they see as a frivolous new skill, and even staff members may see the learning curve as large.
“The trick is, as I have found, to make the learning process more about play and less about forced training,” says Murphy, who spoke at the event.
That’s the attitude adopted by most teens and tweens who seem to interact intuitively with mobile devices. For them, text-reference services, like one in Monroe Township Library, in Williamstown, NJ, are an easy fit. So, too, is a pilot program from the New Jersey State Library, using text to push out information about contests, for example.
“Many libraries already use text messaging to alert patrons to when books that they have requested are available and to remind teens about programs coming up,” says Amy J. Kearns, program coordinator for the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, who also spoke at last week’s event. Even a library’s youngest patrons can make use of mobile services, such as a story hour delivered with e-books on smart phones or e-readers, suggested Murphy.
Still, e-books and e-readers have had a slow adoption in libraries as devices remain relatively expensive and formats aren’t consistent across all hardware. However, Monroe Township Library is working with audio books project ListenNJ and e-book distributor Overdrive, which will allow users to download e-books from participating library Web sites beginning January 2010, says Karen Klapperstuck by email. Another presenter at the event, Klapperstuck is virtual branch manager at Monroe Township.
“I do think these services will improve, and probably pretty quickly,” says Kearns. “I would imagine that the experience will be dramatically better than it is now, not that it isn't pretty good already, within another year.”
