On the move with the mobile Web: libraries and mobile technologies
Contact: Dan Freeman
Editor, Online Resources
dfreeman@ala.org
(800) 545-2433, ext. 5413
(312) 280-5413 (outside U.S. and Canada)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
August 5, 2008
On the move with the mobile Web: libraries and mobile technologies
“Libraries are already offering amazing services through the use of the mobile Web. Imagine where we'll be in a year or two as mobile Internet adoption continues to increase and portable devices steadily improve."—
LTR 44:5, p. 38
CHICAGO - In the fifth issue of
Library Technology Reports this year, author and library-technology blogger Ellyssa Kroski outlines the components of the mobile Web — the users, devices, the operating systems, the services, the content — and illuminates the research tracking how users currently engage with information on the Web via their mobile devices. Kroski also delineates several library mobile initiatives and provides a "how to" chapter for libraries interested in developing a mobile experience for their users.
Stranger Than Fiction? Not Anymore
"Imagine walking by a movie poster for the upcoming Harry Potter film and scanning it with a click of your camera phone in order to download associated ringtones, get showtimes, or even buy tickets. How about snapping a photo while browsing through a magazine to get a free sample of a new perfume?" Kroski asks readers to ponder in chapter 1, "What Is the Mobile Web?"
She writes, "This may sound like science fiction right now, but in Japan, this type of mobile search technology is widespread, and in the United States similar services are already being developed, services that promise just this type of virtual engagement with the world around us. Think about the convenience of scanning the logo on someone's Yankees cap to instantly receive the latest score from the game. This is what's coming."
Also in
"On the Move with the Mobile Web: Libraries and Mobile Technologies":
- Library Mobile Initiatives
- Developing a Mobile Strategy
- Getting Started with the Mobile Web (Forums, Blogs, Web Sites, Activities)
About the Author
Ellyssa Kroski is a reference librarian most recently at Columbia University as well as an independent information consultant and international conference speaker. She is an adjunct faculty member at her alma mater, Long Island University's Palmer School of Library Science, as well as at Pratt Institute and San Jose State University, where she teaches LIS students about new and emerging Web technologies. Ellyssa has worked with Information and Internet technologies since the mid-90s.
Ellyssa is a published author and has written about emerging technologies and their applications in libraries for major library publications and scholarly journals. Her book
Web 2.0 for Librarians and Information Professional was published in February 2008. Ellyssa teaches professional development workshops and provides technology instruction throughout the country. She blogs at
iLibrarian and
InfoTangle.
About ALA TechSource
ALA TechSource is a unit of the Publishing Dept. of the American Library Association and publishes the periodicals Library Technology Reports and Smart Libraries Newsletter as well as the popular ALA TechSource Blog.
