Presented at the Spring 2010 meeting of the Indiana Online Users Group (IOLUG) May 14, 2010. program was titled "You Can Take it With You: Libraries Moving into the Mobile." My presentation was on how to access commercial and non commercial databases with mobile devices. An iPhone was used for demonstration purposes.
Research on the Go: Accessing Library Databases via Mobile Devices
1. Research on the Go: Accessing Library Databases via Mobile Devices Richard Bernier Rose-HulmanInstitute of Technology IOLUG Spring Meeting - May 14, 2010
2. Why? Increasing number of people use mobile computing devices With faster networks and an ever increasing number of apps, mobile devices increasingly become a part of people’s daily lives.
3. Limitations Often lacking full search capability Search screen may be mobile friendly, but documents may not be. May need to maintain two library websites or two sets of links (traditional & mobile) OR simply have one scaled down website that is mobile friendly.
4. Two Types Mobile friendly website designed for mobile devices Application Based
5. Mobile friendly Websites No need to download any special apps so it will work with any device with Internet access. Extra link to mobile friendly website Mobile friendly websites such as EBSCOhost still require user authentication Some do not provide full text access but allow access to abstracts and an option to email article.
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17. Editing Direct Links to Specific Databases http://search.ebscohost.com/login.asp?profile=web&defaultdb=aph http://m.ebscohost.com/login.asp?profile=mobsmart&defaultdb=aph
18. Video demonstrations of EBSCOhost, Encyclopedia Britannica and USA.gov are viewed at this point.
20. WorldCat Uses a mobile application Download from AppStore or go to www.worldcat.org/m Apple iPhone Blackberry Palm OS 5.4 or later MIDP 2.0, CLDC 1.1 Java Nokia Windows Mobile 5.0 Complete list of supported phones at http://worldcat.boopsie.com/home/phones.html
21. WorldCat Capabilities Search for library materials—Enter search terms such as keywords, author or title Find a WorldCat library near you—Enter your ZIP code or location in the Libraries Locator Call a library—Highlight and click the phone number in a library listing to place a call Map a route—Find the fastest way to a WorldCat library using the mapping software already on your device
23. Conclusion Many of our users have already integrated mobile computing into their daily lives We should want them to integrate the library into that realm. Functionality of mobile databases will continue to improve and become more sophisticated in the future.