Identifying Key Steps for Developing Mobile Applications & Mobile Websites for Libraries

Authors

  • Devendra Dilip Potnis School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • Reynard Regenstreif-Harms School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • Edwin Cortez School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v35i3.8652

Abstract

Mobile applications and mobile websites (MAMW) represent information systems that are increasingly being developed by libraries to better serve their patrons. Due to a lack of in-house IT skills and the knowledge necessary to develop MAMW, a majority of libraries are forced to rely on external IT professionals, who may or may not help libraries meet patron needs but instead may deplete libraries’ scarce financial resources. This paper applies a system analysis and design perspective to analyze the experience and advice shared by librarians and IT professionals engaged in developing MAMW. This paper identifies key steps and precautions to take while developing MAMW for libraries. It also advises library and information science (LIS) graduate programs to equip their students with the specific skills and knowledge needed to develop and implement MAMW.

Author Biography

Devendra Dilip Potnis, School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Devendra Potnis is an assistant professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. His research interests include IT adoption by libraries and small businesses, ICTs for development, microfinance, and e-Government. Potnis received a PhD in information science from the College of Computing and Information, University at Albany, State University of New York. He has received the Bonnie Carroll and Roy Cooper Faculty Enrichment Award and the Sharrar Research Award at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Information and Communication Technologies and Human Development, and the International Journal of Technology Diffusion. He has published his interdisciplinary research in top-tier journals and conferences including The Information Society, Communications of the AIS, Government Information Quarterly, First Monday, IEEE Technology & Society, Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, and Journal of Asia Pacific Business. He is a member of IFIP WG 9.4, AIS, ASIST, INFORMS, and ALISE. Contact him at dpotnis@utk.edu.

References

Devendra Potnis, Ed Cortez and Suzie Allard, “Educating LIS Students as Mobile Technology Consultants,” (poster presented at 2015 Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, January 25-27, 2015), http://f1000.com/posters/browse/summary/1097683.

Edwin Michael Cortez, “New and Emerging Technologies for Information Delivery,” Catholic Library World no. 54 (1982): 214-218.

Kimberly D. Pendell and Michael S. Bowman, “Usability Study of a Library’s Mobile Website: An Example from Portland State University,” Information Technology and Libraries no. 31 (2012): 45-62.

Godmar Back and Annette Bailey, “Web Services and Widgets for Library Information Systems,” Information Technology and Libraries no. 29 (2010): 76-86.

Hannah Gascho Rempel and Laurie Bridges. “That was Then, This is Now: Replacing the Mobile Optimized Site with Responsive Design,” Information Technology and Libraries no. 32 (2013): 8-24.

June Jamrich Parsons and Dan Oja, New Perspectives on Computer Concepts 2014: Comprehensive, Course Technology. (Boston: Cengage Learning, 2013).

Ibid.

Andrew Walsh, Using Mobile Technology to Deliver Library Services: A Handbook (London: Facet, 2012).

Matthew B. Miles and A. Michael Huberman, Qualitative Data Analysis (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1994).

Bohyun Kim, “Responsive Web Design, Discoverability and Mobile Challenge,” Library Technology Reports no. 49 (2013): 29-39.

James Elder, “How to Become the “Tech Guy and Make iPhone Apps for Your Library,” The Reference Librarian no. 53 (2012): 448-455.

Sarah Houghton, “Mobile Services for Broke Libraries: 10 Steps to Mobile Success,” The Reference Librarian no. 53 (2012): 313-321.

Pendell and Bowman, “Usability Study.”

Lisa Carlucci Thomas, “Libraries, Librarians and Mobile Services,” Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology no. 38 (2011): 8-9.

Elder, “How to Become the ‘Tech Guy.’”

Kim, “Responsive Web Design.”

Chad Mairn, “Three Things You Can Do Today to Get Your Library Ready for the Mobile Experience,” The Reference Librarian no. 53 (2012): 263-269.

Rempel and Bridges, “That was Then.”

Rachael Hu and Alison Meier, “Planning for a Mobile Future: A User Research Case Study From the California Digital Library,” Serials no. 24 (2011): 517-525.

Kim, “Responsive Web Design.”

Lorraine Paterson and Boon Low, “Student Attitudes Towards Mobile Library Services for Smartphones,” Library Hi Tech no. 29 (2011): 412-423.

Jim Hahn et al, “Methods for Applied Mobile Digital Library Research: A Framework for Extensible Wayfinding Systems,” The Reference Librarian no. 52 (2011): 106-116

Patterson and Low, “Student Attitudes.”

Gillian Nowlan, “Going Mobile: Creating a Mobile Presence for Your Library,” New Library World no. 114 (2013): 142-150.

Elder, “How to Become the ‘Tech Guy.’”

Matthew Connolly, Tony Cosgrave and Baseema B. Krkoska, “Mobilizing the Library’s Web Presence and Services: A Student-Library Collaboration to Create the Library’s Mobile Site and iPhone Application,” The Reference Librarian no. 52 (2011): 27-35.

Stephan Spitzer, “Make That to Go: Re-Engineering a Web Portal for Mobile Access,” Computers In Libraries 3 no. 2 (2012): 10-14.

Houghton, “Mobile Services.”

Cody W. Hanson, “Mobile Solutions for Your Library,” Library Technology Reports no. 47 (2011): 24-31.

Terence K. Huwe, “Using Apps to Extend the Library’s Brand,” Computers In Libraries no. 33 (2013): 27-29.

Edward Iglesias and Wittawat Meesangnill, “Mobile Website Development: From Site to App,” Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology no. 38 (2011): 18-23.

Jeff Wisniewski, “Mobile Usability,” Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology no. 38 (2011): 30-32

Jeff Wisniewski, “Mobile Websites with Minimal Effort,” Online no. 34 (2010): 54-57.

Hahn et al., “Methods for Applied Mobile Digital Library Research.”

J. Michael DeMars, “Smarter Phones: Creating a Pocket Sized Academic Library,” The Reference Librarian no. 53 (2012): 253-262.

Kim Griggs, Laurie M. Bridges and Hannah Gascho Rempel, “library/mobile: Tips on Designing and Developing Mobile Websites,” Code4lib no. 8 (2009): accessed at: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/2055 (accessed Sept. 7th, 2011.

DeMars, “Smarter Phones.”

Hahn et al., “Methods for Applied Mobile Digital Library Research.”

Beth Stahr, “Text Message Reference Service: Five Years Later,” The Reference Librarian no. 52 (2011): 9-19.

Patterson and Low, “Student Attitudes.”

Ibid.

Ibid.

Hanson, “Mobile Solutions for Your Library.”

Stahr, “Text Message Reference Service.”

Spitzer, “Make That to Go.”

Allison Bolorizadeh, Michelle Brannen, Rabia Gibbs and Thura Mack, “Making Instruction Mobile,” The Reference Librarian no. 53 (2012): 373-383.

Maura Keating, “Will They Come? Get Out the Word About Going Mobile,” The Reference Librarian no. 52 (2011): 20-26.

Patterson and Low, “Student Attitudes.”

Hanson, “Mobile Solutions for Your Library.”

Patterson and Low, “Student Attitudes.”

Hanson, “Mobile Solutions for Your Library.”

Cody W. Hanson, “Why Worry About Mobile?,” Library Technology Reports no. 47 (2011): 5-10.

Keating, “Will They Come?”

Spitzer, “Make That to Go.”

Kim, “Responsive Web Design.”

Wisniewski, “Mobile Usability.”

Elder, “How to Become the ‘Tech Guy.’”

Sally Wilson and Graham McCarthy, “The Mobile University: From the Library to the Campus,” Reference Services Review no. 38 (2010): 214-232.

Brendan Ryan, “Developing Library Websites Optimized for Mobile Devices,” The Reference Librarian no. 52 (2011): 128-135.

Kim, “Responsive Web Design.”

Connolly, Cosgrave and Krkoska, “Mobilizing the Library’s Web presence and Services.”

DeMars, “Smarter Phones.”

Mark Andy West, Arthur W. Hafner and Bradley D. Faust, “Expanding Access to Library Collections and Services Using Small-Screen Devices,” Information Technology and Libraries no. 25 (2006): 103-107.

Houghton, “Mobile Services.”

Rempel and Bridges, “That was Then.”

Elder, “How to Become the ‘Tech Guy.’”

Heather Williams and Anne Peters, “And That’s How I Connect to My Library: How a 42 Second Promotional Video Helped to launch the UTSA Libraries New Summon Mobile Application,” The Reference Librarian no. 53 (2012): 322-325.

Hahn et al., “Methods for Applied Mobile Digital Library Research.”

Danielle Andre Becker, Ingrid Bonadie-Joseph and Jonathan Cain, “Developing and Completing a Library Mobile Technology Survey to Create a User-Centered Mobile Presence,” Library Hi-Tech no. 31 (2013):688-699.

Rempel and Bridges, “That was Then.”

Iglesias and Meesangnill, “Mobile Website Development.”

Elder, “How to Become the ‘Tech Guy.’”

Andrew Walsh, “Mobile Information Literacy: A Preliminary Outline of Information Behavior in a Mobile Environment,” Journal of Information Literacy no. 6 (2012): 56-69.

Back and Bailey, “Web Services and Widgets.”

Ibid.

Ibid.

Spitzer, “Make That to Go.”

Iglesias and Meesangnill, “Mobile Website Development.”

Bohyun Kim, “The Present and Future of the Library Mobile Experience,” Library Technology Reports no. 49 (2013): 15-28.

Pendell and Bowman, “Usability Study.”

Hahn et al., “Methods for Applied Mobile Digital Library Research.”

Andromeda Yelton, “Where to Go Next,” Library Technology Reports no. 48 (2012): 25-34

Ibid.

Hahn et al., “Methods for Applied Mobile Digital Library Research.”

Houghton, “Mobile Services.”

Ibid.

Mairn, “Three Things You Can Do Today.”

Ibid.

Tamara Pianos, “EconBiz to Go: Mobile Search Options for Business and Economics – Developing a Library App for Researchers,” Library Hi Tech 30 (2012): 436-448.

DeMars, “Smarter Phones.”

Ryan, “Developing Library Websites.”

Pendell and Bowman, “Usability Study.”

Ryan, “Developing Library Websites.”

Michael J. Whitchurch, “QR Codes and Library Engagement,” Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology no. 38 (2011): 14-17.

Back and Bailey, “Web Services and Widgets.”

Jingru Hoivik, “Global Village: Mobile Access to Library Resources,” Library Hi Tech no. 31 (2013): 467-477.

Elder, “How to Become the ‘Tech Guy.’”

Ryan, “Developing Library Websites.”

West, Hafner and Faust, “Expanding Access.”

Hu and Meier, “Planning for a Mobile Future.”

Iglesias and Meesangnill, “Mobile Website Development.”

Wisniewski, “Mobile Usability.”

Joe Murphy, “Using Mobile Devices for Research: Smartphones, Databases and Libraries,” Online no. 35 (2010): 14-18.

Amy Vecchione and Margie Ruppel, “Reference is Neither Here nor There: A Snapshot of SMS Reference Services,” The Reference Librarian no. 53 (2012): 355-372.

Hu and Meier, “Planning for a Mobile Future.”

Wilson and McCarthy, “The Mobile University.”

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) (Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, 2013.

Devendra Potnis, Reynard Regenstreif-Harms, Kanchan Deosthali, Edwin Cortez, and Suzie Allard, “Skills and Knowledge Needed to Serve as Mobile Technology Consultants in Information Organizations,” Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 57(2016): 187-196.

Downloads

Published

2016-09-30

How to Cite

Potnis, D. D., Regenstreif-Harms, R., & Cortez, E. (2016). Identifying Key Steps for Developing Mobile Applications & Mobile Websites for Libraries. Information Technology and Libraries, 35(3), 43–62. https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v35i3.8652

Issue

Section

Articles