Creating a Mobile Library Website

Abstract

Question/Objective: Discuss the perceived need for a mobile library website, how the site was created and expansion of the site. This includes the technical and design information. Setting or Participants: A health sciences university and hospital in Georgia. Methodology: The project started with an informal poll of our patrons. We then looked at how other libraries were creating their mobile sites. It was decided to create a mobile website to accommodate our patrons and also take advantage of the vendor and consortium mobile products available to us. This allows us to take advantage of web based mobile products that are not applications, which already have a page on our website. We are now able to reach our patrons in a novel way that takes into consideration the explosion of smartphone usage and the variety of 12 smartphone platforms. Findings: Statistics show that our patrons are using the services and resources offered. As expected PubMed is receiving the highest number of hits, but our general health, nursing and drug databases are also showing good usage Conclusion: Our mobile site allows patrons to access the Library resources and services when and where they desire. The mobile site provides our patrons the flexibility to access our resources and services with a mobile device they probably already carry on their person. No need to find a laptop or head across campus to the library building for many library needs.