Dec 21, 2014
Liftoff!
seen from China
seen from T1
seen from Australia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
Liftoff!
Launching rockets at the library.
Yum
Love using my solar powered clothes dryer.
Making the log look pretty.
Thing 10: Mobile Library Services
I looked at Crandall's site on my mobile phone...very nice. I also checked out Albany Public powered by boopsie...also very nice. I especially like the BookLook feature that lets you scan an isbn which it checks against the libraries holdings. That is so cool! I'm pretty sure it costs some money though. I wonder if SALS/JA could look into that?
I looked at Overdrive and downloaded the mobile app. I like the app. Once I got it installed I found it easy to navigate, easy on the eyes, and easy to download a book and read it. It was much easier than fighting with my oldish nook and a pc. I didn't even mind the tiny screen while reading the book. (Ok, I haven't finished the book and probably won't before it times out, but I did read the first chapter.) I think that will make it easier for me to talk to people about Overdrive and I'll recommend the app for mobile users.
I also checked out Gale. This opens up with a nice app-y look. However, once you make a selection you go to a webpage. Kind of a bait and switch. I would have to really want the information fast to fight with a webpage on my phone...so much easier to wait till I can get to a bigger screen.
It is obvious there are good ways to build apps and not-so-good ways to build apps. The best ones make good use of limited space, provide the content that is desired, have a design that is easy on the eyes on a small screen.
I wonder if we revisited this in a year what changes we would see?
Thing 9 - a week behind
Mobile web interfaces - what can I say? I love to play with Wordpress and learn about new features - but the implementation....
Hi, my name is Jen, and I have been maintaining a non-responsive website for years and preaching about need for one for just as long.
I just created a Wordpress site for another library using one of the default themes and it is quite responsive in a mobile sort of way. I now feel compelled to dig deeper and see if I can get a nice mobile theme for the site.
As to the SALS site - it is a work in progress and I actually have started a test site to experiment with features and infrastructure. I have visions -- but the implementation....
Scanning some of our library sites that are not Wordpress are quite interesting -things are really inconsistent out there. The Clifton Park Halfmoon and the Saratoga Springs sites are non-responsive. They are miniature versions of their site. The Waterford Public Library starts out with a huge version of their site. Kudos to Crandall - a nice mobile site indeed. Everything a person would want - Events, Catalog, "My Account", Ask a Librarian, eContent, Location and Hours and Contact us.
I say K.I.S.S. and use web analytics to figure out which pages are most important to your users. Instead of relying on Wordperss to make a responsive, mobile or out of your control version of you website, make a very specific mobile site based on needs.
Thing 9 Mobile Web Interface
I used a PC, my laptop, my husband's ipad, and my android phone to compare my library's website. The laptop and PC were the best, mainly because of the size of the screen. The mouse and even the track pad of the laptop were easier and more consistent to use than my finger on the touch screens of the mobile devices. Of the two mobile devises the ipad was better...again mainly due to screen size. The phone opened the library's site in a modified version that was ok, and there was a link to switch to the desktop version which was just what you'd see on the desktop computer just very tiny. (And yes, you can make it bigger, but then you have to look at only part of the page at once.) All versions worked fine, I personally find the small screen size to be annoying. I also think the touch screens of the ipad and phone can be a bit finicky...perhaps due to fingerprints on the screens. The small size of the phone can also lead to some errors in selection. You just can't beat it for portability though.
I guess what it comes down to is I can use any device to access the web and my library's website. Circumstances will dictate which device will be used. If I have a choice I will choose the largest screen readily available. I do suspect that if I were in my teens, 20s, or even 30s I'd probably have a very different opinion just from watching how that age demographic uses their phones.