The ZBW is a member of Leibniz-Gemeinschaft

EconBiz Mobile –

A Library App for Researchers

Tamara Pianos

Information Provision and Access

Trondheim

02.10.2012

Why App and Where Do We Go from Here?

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Overview

• Background information: ZBW and EconBiz

• Old clothes: portal beginnings

• The wardrobe: different clothes for different occasions

• Why App? Functions, challenges, usability

• Where do we go from here?

• Conclusion

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About the ZBW: largest library in the world for

business & economics & related social sciences

Kiel

&

Hamburg

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2:13 p.m.: Our Daily Connection to Norway

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About EconBiz

• Subject specific portal for business & economics & related social

sciences

• Covers articles, books, full-texts, events etc.

• Started as a project in the year 2000

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EconBiz: Very Old Clothes

2002

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The Wardrobe:

Different Clothes for Different Occasions

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EconBiz: Last Season‘s Clothes

• 2010 ff: Google-like search interface

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EconBiz: Scope and Limitations

• Search engine, Solr-index

• Content pool of more than 8 million records

• BUT: Access to licensed & printed material difficult for users outside

German universities

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Fast + Easy Solution EconBiz Open

• Open Access material only

• ~ 1 million documents

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Why App?

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2010: Reasons for the Apps

• Try out innovative service

• Offer less complex, easy-to-use, up-to-

date service

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2009-Study: What Users Want on a Mobile Phone

Keren Mills: M-Libraries: http://arcadiaproject.lib.cam.ac.uk/docs/M-Libraries_report.pdf

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Basic Needs

Relatively easy to supply:

• Opening hours

• Location

• Contact information…

A bit more of a challenge:

• OPAC

• Borrowing Records

• E-books…

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What the EconBiz Apps Offer

• Search a number of (free) databases simultaneously

• Direct access to open access PDFs

• Access to licensed material depends…

• Reduced features (no expert search, less filters…)

• Additional feature: map of libraries that can be used to find a library

(but not individual library maps)

• Basic information on location and opening hours, contact info etc.

• Helpdesk

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iPad

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Basic Features

Display of:

• results

• favourites

• map

• options

• filters

• mail

• notes

• libraries

• …

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Map and phone-App

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Phone-Apps

• Basically the same

• many functions

behind the „more

options“ icon or

button (Android)

• + Barcode-scanner

to start search

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Challenges

• We serve users in a specific

discipline but not in a specific library

• We need to find solutions for

presenting availability options

• Refer users back to their home

libraries for licensed material or

printed books (works o.k. for

German libraries since we are able

to include external availability

checkers. But other countries…)

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Availability Challenges

German

Gateway

WorldCat

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First Usability-Test-Results for the Apps

• iPad much better than phones for

actually doing research

• Bright icons misleading

• Library options confusing,

raise false expectations

[availability always difficult]

• More space for search-words

• Different „folders“ for saving

results/favourites would be good

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The Buffy-Musical Question:

„Where do we go from here?“

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App versus Mobile Website

Apps:

• Offer faster access

• Make better use of the small

displays / User experience

design

• Easy to save data and PDFs

on device

• Use offline

• Geolocation services

Website:

• Easier to realize one login

and list of favourites

• One version – not different

versions for different devices

• Faster, easier, cheaper to

realize

for in-depth analysis:

GIA Whitepaper

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EconBiz: Today

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EconBiz: Possible Future?

EconBiz

EconBiz

EconBiz

personal choice

content, language etc. EconBiz

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In the Meantime: Some Accessories

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Facebook (App) and Twitterbot

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Geo-Mashup of Calendar of Events

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A Bigger Wardrobe

• More tools and gadgets will be

provided by student projects

• EconBiz will be a content provider

and testbed for the EU-Project

EEXCESS and for our

Science2.0-Research-Network

Tochtermann, 2010

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Conclusion

• EconBiz is available in different shapes and sizes

• Rapid changes in technology make it difficult to plan a couple of

years ahead

• The API gives us flexibility for quick developments and for different

future usage options. It helps us to bring our content to the platforms

that the users prefer - independent of their shape and size.

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Questions?

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Questions?

TAMARA PIANOS

T: +49–431–8814–365

E: t.pianos@zbw.eu

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Some Sources on Library Apps

• Conference: http://www.m-libraries.org/

• Wiki: http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=M-Libraries

• Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7719700810/

• Ellyssa Kroski: Libraries to go

• Rudolf Mumenthaler: Arbeiten mit mobilen Geraeten

• Tamara Pianos: EconBiz to Go (includes a number of references)

• Hans-Bodo Pohla: Bibliothekarische Applikationen

(includes a number of references)

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EconBiz & EconBiz Mobile Links

• EconBiz-Prezi

• EconBiz-Open-Prezi

• http://www.econbiz.de/en/ext/econbiz-mobile/

• Video: EconBiz4iPad [in German]

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Apps for iPad, iPhone und Android

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/econbiz/id419108453?mt=8

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zbw.econbiz&hl=en