Mobile Website Puts Library Services at Your Fingertips
December 2, 2010 —
Technology gurus tell us that by 2013, people will use their mobile devices more than their desktop PCs to access the Internet.
The Springfield-Greene County Library District is ready when you are.
To see what I mean, just type thelibrary.org on your mobile device. (The web address is the same one you’re used to – the home page detects that the user is coming from a mobile device and redirects to the mobile home page.)
What you get is the library’s new mobile website with a simple, drop-down menu.
Rather than recreating the library’s entire website in a mobile format, it focuses on key tasks that users are likely to want.
“Mobile users have different interests than users of desktop computers,” says the library’s Web Manager Nancy Eike. “They have immediate, task-oriented goals. Mobile users are generally not interested in lengthy documents or in browsing.”
From the drop-down menu, you can:
- find a branch, its address and phone number, a Google map link and hours of operation,
- do a quick library catalog search on COOLcat. (We did not create a mobile version of COOLcat, Eike says. The mobile home page has a keyword search box, and some changes were made to the search results page so the page displays better on mobile phones. The library may consider buying a mobile version of the catalog later as the budget allows.)
- You can also see all the programs and events at all the branches that day, with times, locations and phone number for details,
- submit a question to Ask a Librarian, just as you can on the non-mobile homepage,
- or click on “Full Website” to see the regular homepage.
One day soon, it will be easier to download e-books and e-audiobooks from the mobile website – and more.
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Today (Sunday, Dec. 5) is the final day of the library’s annual Holiday Store, where children can shop for gifts for family and friends at prices that won’t break the piggy bank.
Volunteers will be at the “store” from 1-4:30 p.m. just inside the Library Center to help children shop, manage their gift budget and wrap and tag their gifts.