Mobile Library Services : Best Practices

This exciting new series highlights the latest innovative services and programs being offered in public, academic, school, and special libraries across the United States and Canada. There s something in here for every type and size of library With the rapidly increasing use of smartphones and tablets in the library to access information; as well as the growing role of social media, blogging, and e-learning instruction, the identity of libraries themselves are being transformed. Every function of the library, such as customer service, can be improved with technology. Why reinvent the wheel? Instead, you can now implement or expand services while knowing how other libraries have met their user needs. The first four titles in Scarecrow s new Best Practices series cover the following crucial aspects of these new library services: .Mobile Library Services: Best Practices .Using Social Media in Libraries: Best Practices .Customer Service in Libraries: Best Practices .E-Learning in Libraries: Best Practices Following an introduction, each book highlights ten best practices. Each best practice includes the following information: .When and how the library made the decision to launch it; .Its chief aims and objectives; .The steps taken to get it off the ground (including specific technologies and equipment used, techniques, staff training, etc.); .A description of resources (staff, funds, time) required; .An exciting narrative of how the user community reacted and the program s role in furthering the library mission; .How the library assessed the service; .Any planned next steps; and, .Advice offered to librarians seeking to start or expand similar services. Here is a list of the contributors and topics for this state-of-the art series: Introduction by Scott La Counte, Author, of Going Mobile: Developing Apps for Your Library Using Basic HTML Programming A Student-Library Collaboration to Create CULite: An iPhone App for the Cornell University Library Matthew Connolly and Tony Cosgrave, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY Launching a Mobile Initiative: Outreach Strategies Alexandra W. Gomes, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, George Washington University, Washington, DC The Valley Library s Mobile Site Laurie Bridges, Hannah Gascho Rempel, and Evviva Weinraub Lajoie, The Valley Library, Oregon State University, Corvallis Making the Library Mobile on a Shoestring Budget Ben Rawlins, et al., Georgetown College Library, Kentucky The OCLS Shake It App Cassandra Shivers, Orange County Library System, Orlando, FL Moving Library Orientation Out of the Classroom and Into the Library Anne Burke, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh Responsive Web Design for Libraries: Beyond the Myth of the Mobile Web Matthew Reidsma, Grand Valley State University Libraries, Allendale, MI The iPad Library Tour Nancy Weichert, Brookens Library, University of Illinois, Springfield Going Mobile at Illinois Joshua Bishoff, University of Illinois Libraries, Urbana The Gimme Engine: A True Story of Innovation, Creativity and Fun Aimee Fifarek and Ann Porter, Scottsdale Public Library, Scottsdale, Arizona. Building a Mobile Library Web App with the jQuery Mobile Framework Jason Clark, Montana State University Library, Bozeman