Mobile site and iPhone app make Cornell Library portable

Imagine it's 10 p.m. on a Monday. You're walking across campus, and you need a quiet place to do research. Which libraries are still open, and can you get the book and four journal articles you need for tomorrow's seminar?

Mobile computing to the rescue.

Cornell Library has released a Web site that can be browsed from any mobile device. Users of data-enabled mobile devices can point their browsers to http://library.cornell.edu/m to experience a pocket-sized version of the Web site. Users can check library hours, search the catalog, find workshops and events, and use mobile-friendly Web sites. They can also contact librarians through text, chat, e-mail and phone.

Thanks to students of a computer science class in fall 2009, the library is also accessible via iPhone, which also enables users to check their accounts to renew books and access a list of their library materials. Download the app from iTunes (see link at right).

"One of our overarching goals is to make the library accessible to people wherever they need us, and this application helps achieve that," said Nan Hyland, co-director of the library Web site. "We're committed to providing the best technology we possibly can, and we're pleased to provide continual support the mobile site."

Both mobile applications launched Feb. 16, several months after members of the Student Library Advisory Council suggested students would use a mobile library site.

Students from the CS 5150 class spent a full semester working with the library as a client to develop the iPhone app. Computer science professor William Arms divided the class into small groups, and each carried out the projects through every phase of development. "The purpose is to bridge the gap between what you'd call academic science and the outside world -- a lot of the issues aren't about computing itself, but about how you fit computing into an organization," he said. "Library projects like the iPhone app tend to be successful. … [The students had] a good working relationship with the client, and they made sensible joint decisions."

A five-student group worked on the application, which replicates many of the most heavily used features on the Web site -- including "My Account," which allows users to renew books and check the status of holds, among other features.

"The library hours feature is probably the most useful, closely followed by the search feature," said Wesley Jordan '10, a student who worked on "My Account" and helped develop the design of the component that manages interaction with the library's backend database.

Beth Brown '10, another class member who helped create the app's interface, said that she "had a lot of fun supporting the design aspect of the project" and was pleased with its final outcome.

The students received guidance from a mobile technologies team headed by Tony Cosgrave, the instruction coordinator at Olin Library.

Blogger Gerry McKiernan, who writes about mobile technology in libraries, noted that the app has "the most functionality of any library app" he knows.

Gwen Glazer is a staff writer at Cornell University Library.

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