Mobile Technologies Presentation for the General Training Programme Julie Allinson 30 th Nov and 3 rd Dec 2010 photo credit:

Why this session? Our customers use them … and will increasingly expect library services delivered to their device of choice They bring challenges and opportunities to Libraries, and education As Library staff we need to be aware of technology changes photo credit:

Mobile technology? Laptops of all shapes and sizes E-readers – Amazon Kindle, Sony E-Reader Tablets – iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Blackberry PlayBook, Archos 9 Smartphones – iPhone, Android devices Media players (and beyond) – iPod Touch Gaming devices – Nintendo Dsi, Sony PSP photo credit:

Gadgets, or pedagogic tools? Photographic and screen-based research Teaching with screen-based media iTunes U, vodcasts and archived lectures supporting construction and delivery of lectures Specialist note-taking facility with attendant sonic recording Student portfolios BOOKS photo credit: see article in the Times Higher

Easier in the old days … photo credit:

What about library content? photo credit: Much of our content is accessible via the web, which makes it (partly) accessible from such devices Access to academic E-Books varies As ever, publishers and suppliers are in control with licence terms which prevent activities that are permitted with print equivalents

Some issues Different supported formats: Apple uses the epub standard, but Amazon uses its own mobipocket format. DRM … a PDF with DRM cant be read natively on any of these devices These are designed as personal devices – sharing is difficult This is backed up by licence terms

What about other library services? One example is QR codes (like barcodes) which can be scanned by many smartphones, and used for activities such as: – Link to a mobile site – Begin text message to the library – Virtual tour directions – Item information photo credit:

Your tasks Using the supplied instructions (and by asking me!) Have a play with each device Look at some of the books and PDFs available Download a free E-book from Amazon to the Kindle Share it with the iPad or iPod Touch From the iPod or iPad, download the Elsevier SciVerse ScienceDirect application and see how it works Download a barcode scanner for the iPod or iPad and scan the QR codes supplied.