Cultural Research

iLibrarian: Top 30 Library iPhone Apps

iLibrarian has a three part series in progress focused on a list of the Top 30 Library iPhone Apps:

Part 1: Apps Created by Libraries

Part 2: Library Vendor & Database Apps

Part 3: Coming Soon!

Developing a Mobile Website for your Library

Cindi Trainor reports on the "Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device: Developing a Mobile Website for Your Library" workshop at ALA Midwinter.

The workshop included "six steps to mobile development":

Needs assessment
Integrating with existing library services
Project planning
Building the site
Keeping up

Slideshow from the presenters:
Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device: Developing a Mobile Website for Your Library

EBSCOhost Mobile Interface Tutorial

EBSCOhost Mobile Tutorial

The above video demonstrating the EBSCOhost Mobile interface is a bit of a snoozer but, if you've wondered exactly how services would be mobilized, it will give you a sense of the thrilling reality!

If you're really interested in following the tutorial, I'd suggest going to the video at YouTube and enlarging the image.

ResourceShelf has more information and a brief review dating back to EBSCOhost Mobile's launch in the fall.

NCSU Libraries Release WolfWalk Mobile Site

The NCSU Libraries recently released WolfWalk:

"a mobile library project that allows you to explore North Carolina State University campus history using selected mobile devices. WolfWalk provides information on the history of approximately 60 major sites of interest on the NCSU campus, together with multiple current and/or historic images that are sourced from the NCSU Libraries Special Collections Research Center."

This sounds like a great tie-in between special collections and information about a local setting in mobile website form. It's also an example of how traditional library departments, such as special collections, can move from simple access to the creation of meaningful resources, i.e., to digital publishing.

There's more at NCSU Libraries News.

What Happens When Your Mobile Library Goes Tactile?

Synaptics Debuts Fuse Next-Generation Mobile Phone Concept

Like a squeezable iPhone.

More from Gizmodo.

Library Labs: Developing Tools & Gadgets for Library Communities

RSS4Lib shares a Directory of Experimental Library Tools including links to a number of different academic library labs.

OSU Library Labs wants to feature information tools created by their community:

"Have you created your own tool, gadget, plug-in, browser extension to help manage you personal access to and management of information? Are you willing to share with the community? If so, let us know!"

"The goal of the Ohio State University Library Labs is to showcase experimental and emerging technologies that facilitate access to information, resources, and services."

Other projects include mobile initiatives from NCSU and MIT, a library toolbar from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne and a promising looking integrated search experiment at the University of Virginia.

Plus, in a reminder that innovation doesn't have to always be enormous or expensive, the University of Texas has a nice example of the use of a variety of web services, some of them freely available on the web, to create Library Widgets.

The Making of Molly: A Library in a Bus

The Making of Molly (NLB Mobile Library Bus) 2008

From YouTube:

"A three-minute video produced by the National Library Board (NLB) Singapore. Shows the refurbishment of the bus for the Mobile Library Service. The service was launched on 3 April 2008."

I'm starting off my Mobile Libraries category with this video as a tongue-in-cheek gesture, since Mobile Libraries will actually focus on libraries and mobile communications. But I'm also using this look at a bus transformed into a library to launch my Libraries category because looking at unique solutions to library access is one way to find a fresh vantage point for considering what a library might be.