Please Pull Up to the Second Window
Posted by Lynette Maldonado on Tue, Jun 28, 2011 @ 01:07 PM
By: Mark Abes, Sales Manager, EOS International
How much longer is the library-as-destination model viable for professionals seeking knowledge assets held by their organization? The proliferation of web-enabled tablets, smart phones, social media, and the aversion of younger consumers to print material is rapidly changing the dynamics of the interchange between knowledge workers and knowledge consumers.
According to Nielsen, roughly 5% of the U.S. population owns a tablet such as an iPad or Xoom. More impressive is smartphone penetration measured at 31%, with some demographic groups gauging as high as 45%. Mobile professionals and students that rely on organizational knowledge assets represent an interesting challenge for our libraries and IT departments. In a recent symposium, Lindsay Notwell Executive Director of 4G Strategy & Implementation at Verizon Wireless, stated "Let's face it, the world is going mobile, and your patrons are going mobile."
In addition to new formats and forums for sharing and transmitting information, the growth of telecommuting and the centralization of information resources make the speed at which we access and deliver data as important as the reliability of the data itself.
An increasingly kinetic, always-connected population will come to expect their information to be served up like their burgers – ordered, prepared, delivered, and consumed in 5 minutes or less.
EOS responded by releasing Discovery OPAC, an enhanced online catalog with an elegant mobile interface. Discovery OPAC provides the unique capability of allowing patrons to easily utilize their EOS OPAC through their smartphone or tablet. This new OPAC automatically senses a smartphone’s operating system and optimizes the display to accommodate iPhones, Android phones, and BlackBerries. Add the benefit of being able to immediately access and download linked digital documents and we’re talking about a very powerful new functionality for your patrons.
An acute need identified by researchers was finding a way to push research results out to patrons in the field. Attorneys and other field staff wanted answers in real time, without having to find a mobile hot spot and boot up their laptop. To address this need at EOS, we enhanced our Reference Tracking module, providing the ability to transmit research results via SMS text message. Enhancements to the Discovery OPAC will allow patrons to better manage research requests from their smartphone, encouraging greater collaboration with library staff.
Although personal interaction between patron and library staff may be waning, there is an excellent opportunity to make your knowledge assets and hence the library, more valuable to the organization it serves. So, you want fries with that?