To read this content please select one of the options below:

Optimizing library content for mobile phones

R. Bruce Jensen (MLIS, MA‐TESL, is Information Commons & Multicultural Support Librarian at Rohrbach Library, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, USA. (rjensen@kutztown.edu))

Library Hi Tech News

ISSN: 0741-9058

Article publication date: 6 April 2010

Issue publication date: 6 April 2010

2110

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present evidence that academic and school libraries can serve users by offering readings in phone‐compatible files, and describe how to use readily available tools to cleanly and effectively format various types of documents for mobile devices.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was made of a variety of utilities for preparing texts to accommodate mobile reading and the products were tested on several types of phones – from the least sophisticated to popular smartphones.

Findings

Cell phones are effective, convenient appliances for use as text readers. Though US subscribers have been slower than others to embrace their phones as readers, a fast‐growing segment of users is doing so. Course materials traditionally offered as reserves can easily be made available to students on a device that is familiar and comfortable.

Practical implications

Furnishing content in relevant formats increases user convenience and positions libraries to respond to technological change. Providing readings on mobile phones is a move toward the mainstream of today's networked mobile environment.

Social implications

In the USA, people of color and youths have led others in internet access by phone. Libraries, in acknowledging the primacy of mobile devices in people's information universe and providing them with genuinely usable texts, can claim a place in users' pockets, as the commercial sector has already done.

Originality/value

The techniques presented in this paper are within the capabilities of all libraries and can dramatically broaden their service profile, enabling them to bring materials to readers in new, perhaps unexpected ways.

Keywords

Citation

Jensen, R.B. (2010), "Optimizing library content for mobile phones", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/07419051011050411

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Related articles