Title: Expanding Access to Devices, Collections, and Services
Abstract: Abstract Although web sites accessed on phones are the most obvious type of mobile Internet use, they're not the only kind_ This chapter provides other examples of mobile library services that can be geared toward diverse populations: audiobook collections, text reference and notification, and device lending programs. Where possible, the focus is on inexpensive ways to implement these services. ********** Chapter 2 addressed ways to make your Web presence more mobile-accessible and treated information delivery via mobile web browsers. I started here because the Web, accessed via a browser, is the first thing many of us think of when we think mobile information access. However, there are many more devices than just phones, and they have many more capabilities than web browsers. I can't hope to cover every other type of mobile service you could provide--and even if I could, something new would be available by the time you read this. What I aim to do instead in this chapter is give you examples of some diverse types of mobile services libraries can provide, in hopes of inspiring you to think broadly about the possibilities. This chapter will discuss literacy promotion and outreach using audiobooks; text reference and notification services; and expanding access to mobile devices themselves. Audiobooks The Little Priest Tribal College Library/Winnebago (Nebraska) Public Library is a combined academic and public library serving a largely Native American population on the Winnebago Reservation. Librarians here noticed that patrons of a variety of ages faced literacy challenges, from kids who were not read to much at home to college students who did not have college-level reading skills. As part of a multipronged strategy to combat this, the librarians built an audiobook collection encompassing hundreds of tires. (1) An audiobook collection can be made mobile in a variety of ways. The library can lend devices, such as Playaways. In fact, the Washington, DC, public libraries will deliver devices to the homes of visually and physically handicapped patrons. (2) OverDrive supports compatibility with mobile devices including iPods and smartphones, though a desktop computer is required to transfer content onto iPods (other than the iPod Touch), so for some patrons this can be done only in-library. Audiobooks can also be used to reach out to patrons whose first language is not English. OverDrive offers audiobooks in Spanish, though with many fewer tires than its English collection. (The first three big-city library websites I checked--New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago--all link directly to their Spanish-language collections in the sidebar of their digital book pages.) Additionally, free public domain audiobooks and podcasts can be found online in a variety of languages. Library curation could do much to make these more accessible. If you're looking for a free option, you can create, or augment, an audiobook collection with LibriVox. This is a collection of public domain audiobooks read by volunteers. As the recordings are also explicitly in the public domain, you can do whatever you want with them. For example: * Add them to your catalog, with links to the books for patrons to download. (Of course, this is the bare minimum, and not particularly interesting! Nor does it include any special outreach to diverse populations. By all means catalog them, but don't stop there.) * Curate a list of links to books you recommend for particular populations. * Download the books to library computers and put them behind the interface of your choice. * Slice them into chapters and create a library podcast. Then go a step further and couple your podcast with an online or face-to-face discussion group. * Couple them with the text versions (which are also free for your use as they are in the public domain). Create self-reading books to aid language learners and patrons with reading disabilities. …
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 3
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