CamLib Mobile interface Report

The CamLib mobile interface is entirely a product of the project. We decided that as well as pursuing students into social networking sites, we also wanted to inveigle ourselves onto their phones. There is no escape from the Library!

We initially set out to simply recreate the library widget for smartphones, but as we went along we did some thinking about what people would want to do on their phones (as opposed to waiting until they were at a 'proper' computer)

So the focus was on finding out if something existed, where it was, and how to get your hands on it. We did quite a lot of integration with maps and request functionality, and added a new "bookbag" feature to allow users to build lists of books from the catalogue and email it to themselves. Plus we kept in all the renewal, loans, libraries stuff as well.

How is it doing so far? Let's take a look (vertical axis figs are 35 and 70)

Well, just a bit better than expected. We knew that only a minority of students have smartphones, and only a minority of them use smartphones for work. So 540 unique users in a month isn't bad.

But we're expecting a tipping point sometime in this academic year, much as happened with laptops a few years ago. And when they come we will be ready!

Verdict: B-
Good effort, great things expected