Mobile Information Literacy

Faubion, Kathy

Mullins, K. (2017). Research Plus™ mobile app: information literacy “on the go”. Reference Services Review, 45, 38-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/RSR-03-2016-0020

Descriptive Summary: This is a study of how librarians can develop a mobile app for students with  information needs. This study at Long Island University showed that students wanted mobile access to library resources and databases for research purposes, but that even when issued iPads, they were not using them for this research. Even though most students have access to mobile technology, lack of direction from faculty and lack of digital literacy combine to make the use of the technology low at present. It was decided that useability needed to be addressed to increase student use of this mobile technology. Academic libraries have an opportunity to work with faculty and students to help increase understanding of how to use the mobile technology. Favoring a native app, the study used the ADDIE approach: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation in deciding how best to increase the use of mobile library technology. In each of the phases, students were surveyed to determine how to best develop the information literacy app. The study used an app called Research Plus™. The app was designed to walk students through the steps of mobile research to increase useability.  A second purpose was to meet student information literacy needs, in accordance with the ACRL (Association of College and Research) standards, even in a mobile platform. The features of the app included everything from choosing a research topic to evaluating the resources. The app was approved for beta testing at the time this article was published, although the author notes that money and time constraints when studying an ever-changing technological landscape make the study more difficult.

Evaluation: Although this study was done in an academic library, I think it could easily be adapted to public library use.  A major focus at my library is to make our mobile applications more accessible and useable for our patrons.  Many of our patrons use our databases for research purposes, but it is our goal to make it so they can do so “on the go”.  If an app like Research Plus™ were available to the public, then mobile information needs could be better met.

Keywords: Information Literacy, Mobile Technology, Mobile Resources, Academic Library

Reading Backwards

Langstraat, Carina

Bernier, A. (2011). On Reading Academic Literature (Strategically). [Lecture]. Retrieved from

San Jose State University INFO 285-14 Canvas site

Summary:

Bernier’s article tells you how to absorb vast amounts of information as quickly as possible.  It is geared toward how to accomplish this when doing research, but is applicable to life at large.  It's approach is basic and straightforward in nature.  No one is assuming I already know all this just because I am in information school.  His approach boils down to reading the conclusion of an article first and then the introduction.  When doing research, this allows you to quickly decide if the article is worth pursuing.  Seems obvious but this approach has been a game changer for me.

Evaluation:

The Bernier article on how to read academic literature is one of the best pieces of information I’ve read since I’ve been at SJSU.  When I started this program, reading strategically wasn’t as much a choice on my part, but a survival skill.  In my first semester, I wanted to immerse myself, get as much as I could out of the program, etc.  But with the amount of assigned reading combined with necessary research reading, it quickly became apparent that reading, as Bernier says, in a “once upon a time” fashion, wasn’t going to work.  What Bernier’s article has done for me is to relieve me of the guilt of strategic reading, instead emboldening me to enhance those skills.  For example, I’ve always read the abstract, the introduction, and then the conclusion in order to decide if the article was a keeper.  Doing it the other way around makes more sense because it’s a more direct route to the author’s punch line.

Location-triggered audiobooks

Faubion, Kathy

Hinze, A. & Bainbridge, D. (2016). Location-triggered mobile access to a digital library of audio books using TIPPLE. International Journal on Digital Libraries, 17, 339-365.  doi:10.1007/s00799-015-0165-z

Descriptive Summary: Using location-aware software (Tipple), a person may be shown maps or historical information which relates to an audio book they have downloaded.  For example, some who has downloaded Jane Austen’s Persuasion would be given location and relevant information on the assembly rooms in Bath. This is known as literary tourism. Tipple is based on Tip (tourist information provider). As you are near a point of interest, the app (there are several which use Tip) chirps at you and you can then listen to the chapter in the book which correlates to the landmark. This study used the Greenstone Digital Library and text-to-speech features to access the MP3 audio books. You can tweak the settings to allow you to see a map with points of interest, or distance from where you are to points of interest, or finally points of interest listed in book order so you can literally follow the path of the story. 

Evaluation: Ever since my children explained Pokemon Go to me, I have been fascinated by the idea of a virtual world within real world locations. The idea of being able to travel to the real places within a story and listen to the parts of the book which take place there is genius. For example, traveling the path set out in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and listening to the parts of the story that happen at each landmark would be the ultimate literary experience in my opinion. I am amazed at the complexity of the design in this study. It has to use several different platforms to achieve the marriage of location-based software and digital audio materials, and the diagram of all the programs in play is dizzying. However, the participants in the study were able to make somewhat successful use of Tipple. The authors conclude that there is still a lot of work to be done to make the experience seamless, however they are also already looking to add further augmented reality into the experience. I’m waiting for the experience when I can actually talk to a virtual Mr. Darcy.

Keywords: Audiobooks, Audio access, Location-based system, Mobile Digital Library