Presence and Value of Mobile Apps in the NJ Academic Environment

I’ve Got an App for It!

1Maria Deptula – Berkeley CollegeRomel Espinel – Stevens InstituteLawren Wilkins – Hudson County College

1. Overview of the mobile world – Maria2. Vendors apps in depth – Lawren3. Mobile presence of NJ academia – Romel

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New Mobile World

February 2012 – New Media Consortium Horizon Report for the Higher Education – “mobile apps and tablet computing are expected to become pervasive within higher ed. in the next 12 months.”

“Smartphones including the iPhone and Android have redefined what we mean by mobile computing, and in the past three to four years, the small, often simple, low cost software extensions to these devices — apps — have become a hotbed of development.”

NMC – New Media Consortium – “an international community of experts in educational technology”

May 2012 – comScore study reported that during the first quarter of 2012, more mobile subscribers used apps than browsed the web on their devices: 51.1% vs. 49.8% respectively.

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According to Pew Research Center, as of September 2012, 88% of American adults have

a cell phone and 45% have a smartphone

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http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2351/smartphone-ownership-young-adults-high-income-households

New Mobile World Smartphone ownership has increased from 35%

in May of 2011 to 45% in September 2012; Age group 18-29 – 66% own smartphones; “Some 17% of cell phone owners do most of

their online browsing on their phone, rather than a computer or other device. Most do so for convenience, but for some their phone is their only option for online access.” Pew Internet

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What’s Out There – OPERATING SYSTEMS

“An operating system (OS) manages the resources of a computer so that many different processes can share the computer memory and processor.”

Software platform – system under which ”various smaller application programs can be designed to run.”

A mobile device is often tied to a single operating system, which resides wholly on the local device

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What’s Out There – OPERATING SYSTEMS

Apple - first iPhone introduced in 2007

iOS - operating system for Apple devices Proprietary systemNot licensed for

installation on third-party hardware, but allows third party apps.

Android: smartphone operating system and software platform

from Google Linux based Emerged in 2010 Uses Open Source software

components Android smartphones are

made by many manufacturers

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OTHER OSNokia's Symbian

RIM's BlackBerry OSSamsung's Bada

Microsoft's Windows PhoneHewlett-Packard's webOS

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Android vs iOS

March 2010 - 34 Android based devices on the market from 12 manufacturers

September 2012 - Google announced that total activations of Android-based devices exceeded 500 million

smartphones tablet computerse-readersOther (smartwatch, players)

iPhone iPod Touch iPad iPad mini September 2012 – 400 million

iOS based devices

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“New data shows that Android nabbed 75 percent of the world's smartphone market share, while iOS trailed with 14.9 percent and BlackBerry brought up the rear with just 4 percent.” CNN News, Nov. 1, 2012

An App Computer software

designed to perform specific tasks

Runs on a specific operating system (platform)

Not standardized Found only in app stores –

pertinent for the device’s operating system

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“Software applications coded for a specific platform (Android, iOS, Blackberry) that can be downloaded and accessed directly using one’s phone or another mobile device, like a tablet or music player.”

iOS based pps available through the App Store

More than 700,000 apps in iTunes App Store

Only software scrutinized by Apple is allowed onto Apple devices and in store

Consistency & centralized support Universal App (iOS) designed so

after purchasing can run on iPhone and iPad (+ sign in Apple store)

Android / Apple Apps Market

Google Play – formerly Android Market – store for Android based apps distributed through the https://play.google.com/

Over 500,000 apps available More than half are available

free of cost and the rest require nominal fees

Third party apps – some of poor quality

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Apps – Categories EntertainmentGamesProductivityNewsBusiness/FinanceReference ResearchSportsSocial networkingUtilities

Lifestyle Music NavigationPhotoShoppingTravelVideoBooksWeatherMany More 12

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/appcenter/categories/

Apps categories by numbers

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www.appbrain.com/stats/android-market-app-categories

Apps features Free and paid (free trials) Some require to create an account Download free – content (upgrade) paid Some allow content to be shared Many have social media components/integration option (i.e. apps for

location) Some have multiple functions (Stanza for many publ. formats) Some allow you to sync data with document storage apps such as

Dropbox , Google Docs or Evernote

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The term "app" has become so popular that in 2010 was listed as "Word of the Year“ by the American Dialect Societyhttp://www.americandialect.org/app-voted-2010-word-of-the-year-by-the-american-dialect-society-updated

Apps for Academia Books – iBooks, ebrary, Stanza, Classics… Collaborating – Dropbox, Orchestra To-do, GroupMe…. Distance Education – Blackboard, iTunes U, Edmodo… File Storage – Dropbox, SkyDrive, Idrive, iDisk…. Presenting – Showpad, Prezi Viewer, Keynote…. Productivity – Wunderlist, Backupify, Evernote… Research – PubGet, Wolfram Alpha, ACS Mobile… Reference – Dictionaries, Britannica, World Factbook… Writing – MyMLA, EasyBib, Documents to Go… Vendors’ App – JSTOR, Ebsco, Gale (Access My Library).

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Ebooks

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http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/10/23/younger-americans-reading-and-library-habits/

Apps for ReadingEbook readers: Kindle, Nook, iBooks for iOS, Bluefire

(Android & iOS)Textbooks: Inkling Interactive Textbooks, iBooks Textbooks,

Kno TextbooksMagazine reading: Flipboard, Reeder, Zite (iOS), Feedly (news

aggregator), Pulse News (Android & iOS)Journals: Chronicle of Higher Ed., APA Journals, PLoS (Public

Library of Science app)PDF readers: GoodReader (iOS), Adobe Reader, StanzaRSS readers: Reader, Newsrack, FeedlyFlipboard - reads content from Facebook, Google Reader,

Twitter, and more in a magazine-style layout.

Apps from e-Books vendors

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http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/10/23/younger-americans-reading-and-library-habits/

Apps for Productivity Task Management apps: Wunderlist , Remember the Milk,

Astrid Note taking: WritePad, CourseNotes, Evernote Sharing ideas (group work): Corkulous, Trello Office Suite: Quick Office Pro recommended from a long list

of office suites Word processing and presenting: Pages, Keynote Communication: Skype, Facetime Sketching: BombooPaper, SketchyPad Scanning: Genius Scan+ (for reading QR codes) Lists: Orchestra To Do Other tasks: AirPrint, Calendar, Graphic Calculator,

iHomework, WIFI Finder……

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Apps for Reference General encyclopedias: Britannica, World Fact Book, Wikipanion.. Specific encyclopedias: integrate multimedia elements – Skeletal

Anatomy 3D, Periodic Table Explorer, History: Maps of the World.. Location & Research: WolfWalk (photographic guide of NC),

Tagwhat.. Photography & Video: Instagram, Diptic, iPhoto, Snapchat Music: Pandora (streaming Internet radio), Kling Klang Machine Art: ArtStudio, iDraw, Artnear (helps finding museums and exhibits) Math: Wolfram Alpha Dictionaries: Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster Dictionary Article Search – Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search for

iOS – “enables you to perform simultaneous searches across multiple sources, for easy access and instant results using your iPhone, iPod-touch or iPad!”

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Apps for Research Citations: EasyBib, QuickCite, Zandy (Zotero for Android) iSource APA or iSource MLA: both $1.99 Professional organizations research materials:

ACS – American Chemical Society IOPscience express – latest papers from the Institute of Physics iResearch – searches and browses journals published by the

American Institute of Physics (AIP) iSSRN – searches over 260,000 research papers in the social

sciences and humanities available from the open access repository of the Social Science Research Network

Google Scholar: reference and citation index Pocket (Read It Later): enables to save pages from websites, to

read them later, free of the advertising and other junk on the original page

Apps to learn languages: Mango, 50languages..

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Apps from database vendors

Gale: AccessMyLibrary Encyclopedia Britannica Ebsco Host Elsevier Oxford University Press DK WorldBook Wiley 22

LIBGUIDES University of Hawaii – Mobile Medical Apps - (discipline specific apps &

multidisciplinary)http://jabsom.hawaii.libguides.com/medicalapps

MIT Apps for Academics: http://libguides.mit.edu/apps Mobile Applications for Law Students and Lawyers from UCLA School

of Law - http://libguides.law.ucla.edu/mobilelegalapps A guide to mobile research tools – University of Arkansas http://

uark.libguides.com/content.php?pid=284164&sid=2339441 Mobile Apps for Research and Study – Rutgers (Joseph Deodato) http

://libguides.rutgers.edu/apps Mobile Apps for Research & Study from Metro New York http://

libguides.metro.org/content.php?pid=304911 Boise State U.– lists apps separately for Android and iOS (!)

http://guides.boisestate.edu/mobile_symposium Berkeley College – Mobile research

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Where to find info about apps? Lifehacker – best apps for all your gear (media, communication,

productivity, utilities) Macworld App Guide AppAdvice – iPhone, iPad app news and reviews APPitic – directory of apps for education Macstories: “a weblog about iOS & OS X news, app reviews, and

stories.” Appolicious Thomson Reuters News Pro PC World App Guide Life of Android App Storm InfoWorld Techradar

Apps reviews /promotion –

App a-week Name of the app Which device(s) it runs on Brief description of purpose Features and functionality Pros/cons Audience Price (from free to $50 or more) – some apps are free but

you pay for the content – Kindle, Britannica – monthly fee to access content, free “lite version vs. full version,”

How it compares to other similar apps

Final Thoughts Keeping up: news apps such as Flipboard, Feedly, Zite The 100 Best iPad Apps from PCMag & the Best Android/iPhone

Apps from Gizmodo Mobile Nation Podcast or AppAdvice Daily Apps for discovering apps: DiscoverApps (iOS), AppSHopper

(iOS), BestApps & AppBrain (Android) Why an app when there is a good web presence ? Use of apps in classrooms Privacy concern (information gathered about your location and

more) – agreements (permissions)

Work Cited“’App’ voted 2010 word of the year.” American Dialect Society, Jan. 8, 2011. Web. Dec. 15. 2012. http://

www.americandialect.org/app-voted-2010-word-of-the-year-by-the-american-dialect-society-updated

Brenner Joanna, “Pew Internet: Mobile.” Pew Internet, 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/February/Pew-Internet-Mobile.aspx

Kerr, Dara. “Android beats iOS 5-to-1 in Q3 smartphone market share.” CNET, 1 Nov. 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57544131-94/android-beats-ios-5-to-1-in-q3-smartphone-market-share/

Mizejewski, Michele, “Mobile apps: what you need to know.” An ACRL e-Learning Online Course, April 23-May 11, 2012. Web.

New Media Consortium. NMC Horizon Report, 2012 Higher Education Edition. NMC, 2012. PDF. http://www.fdi.vt.edu/online-resources/2012-Horizon-Report.pdf

Perez, Sarah. “In U.S. Mobile Market, Samsung, Android Top The Charts; Apps Overtake Web Browsing.” comScore, 2 Jul. 2012. Web. 8 Dec. 2012. http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/02/comscore-in-u-s-mobile-market-samsung-android-top-the-charts-apps-overtake-web-browsing/

Raine, Lee. “Smartphone Ownership Update: September 2012” Pew Internet, 11 Sep. 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Smartphone-Update-Sept-2012.aspx

“Most popular Android market categories.” AppBrain. 2 Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Jan. 2013.

Shilov, Anton. “Amount of Activated Google Android Devices Surpasses Apple iOS Products by 100 Million Units.” Xbit Laboratories. 9 Sep. 2012. Web. 8 Dec. 2012. http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/display/20120912235558_Amount_of_Activated_Google_Android_Devices_Surpasses_Apple_iOS_Products.html

Zickuhr, Kathryn, et al. “Younger Americans’ Reading and Library Habits.” Pew Internet. 23 Oct. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/10/23/younger-americans-reading-and-library-habits/

EBSCOhost Mobile • Compatible with Android 2.3.3 and Apple iOS 4

and iOS 5

• No download required for app, but it is available for free through the iTunes App Store and Android Market if desired

• For those chosing not to download the app, the use of a Smart phone or tablet will prompt EBSCOHost to automatically redirect to the mobile version, but it does not offer all of the features of the downloaded app and it is not possible to be authenticated for full-text access

• iPads are not redirected to the mobile and the site will be shown in desktop version

• Once the app is downloaded, users can receive an “access key” through e-mail that will allow access to all databases subscribed to by their affiliated institutions

• Users who do not enable an access key may log in as guests but will only have full-text access to Greenfile

• One-time authentication process provides permanent automatic

log-in to the user’s affiliated institution whenever app is

launched

• Home screen in downloaded app offers customization for users including a list of their recent searches, saved searches, and

saved articles

• Buttons at the bottom of screen offer additional features

• Hitting the “Settings” button at the bottom of the screen, allows users the

capability to select which EBSCO databases they want to search

• Default is all databases selected

• To search only certain databases within the list, either unselect databases that are not of interest or click “None” to clear and

start over and then make selections

Below the available database list, search options are provided which include

limiting to only full-text content, limiting to only peer-reviewed journals,

and the option to enable or disable autocomplete, search by publication name, and search by publication date

• Once a user has performed a search, he or she has the option of sorting by

relevance or by date

• Thumbnails at the top of the screen shown after an article is selected allow

users several options

• Article can be read in PDF format (as opposed to the default of html full text

you are given)

• Can be e-mailed to user in either PDF or html format

• Can also be saved within the app itself and retrieved by clicking on “Saved

Articles” on the downloaded app’s home screen

•Reading the PDF on the Smart phone screen can be awkward

•“Save to” feature at the top of the screen is buggy and doesn’t work

properly

EBSCOhost Mobile Final Analysis

What’s Hot•Clean interface

•Fairly straightforward set-up process•Allows access to all full-text available

through user’s member institution•Works on a variety of platforms•Downloaded app allows for

customization (saved searches, saved articles, most recent searches)

What’s Not•No advanced search mode

•“Save to” feature inside PDF documents is buggy and does not seem

to work properly•Viewing PDFs on a Smart phone can be

a bit awkward

ScienceDirect Mobile• Compatible with Android, iPhone, iPod

Touch, and iPad

• Free download through the iTunes App Store or Android Market

• Users can log in as “guest”, but will not have access to full-text content

• Authentication process entails going to ScienceDirect database on campus and filling out a user registration form. ScienceDirect will then e-mail a link which will activate the authentication once clicked on through e-mail checked with mobile device.

• One-time authentication process provides permanent automatic log-in to the user’s affiliated institution whenever app is launched

• Home screen allows the option to run a search or retrieve articles saved from previous sessions

• User can also personalize this screen to show the latest stories on previously research topics

• Once the search button is clicked, users are taken to a search field to

type in their term(s)

• If the users have run past searches, those will appear on this screen as

well

Results screen gives user the option of sorting by date or relevance

Once an article has been selected from the results screen, the user has the option to read the full-text, abstract, outline, figures/tables, and references.

• Users are given the option to save or e-mail an article by clicking on the options button in the upper right-hand corner of the article itself

• Articles can be also be saved within Science Direct and accessed at a later time

ScienceDirect Mobile Final AnalysisWhat’s Hot• Clean interface• Allows access to all full-text

available through user’s member institution

• Works on a variety of platforms• Users can personalize home screen

to show recent articles pertaining to most current search topic

• Alerts can be set that will notify user when new articles are added to the database that are related to their current search topic

What’s Not• Cannot delete saved articles or

saved searches• No advanced search mode• No way to limit search results to full-

text only• Link for authentication process

within the database itself is not clear

SpringerLink Mobile• Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch,

and iPad

• Free download from iTunes App Store

• Offers a collection of chapters from ebooks as well as journal articles

• Once the app has been downloaded, it will authenticate automatically if the user is in the affiliated institution’s library and if the device being used has a wireless connection established through the library’s wireless network

• This authentication will enable the user to have access to their affiliated institution’s full-text content subscription

• Home screen offers the option to do an advanced search as well as a basic search

• Users can also access their saved searches from the home screen if they have previously searched for terms using this app

• Advanced search offers options to search by keyword, publication type, open access journals only, subject, title, author, or publication date

• The options to browse subject terms and publication titles are also offered

• Icons are provided on the results screen that allow the user to know whether an item is a book chapter or a journal article

• The results screen shows nothing to indicate whether or not the item is offered in full-text format and there is nothing in the advanced search field that allows the user to limit to full-text only

• Once an item has been selected, a user can view the abstract for the book chapter or article

• The document can be saved within the app from the “Save” button

• The document can be shared through e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter

• The full-text (if available) can be accessed by hitting the “Full Text” button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen

User can search within the document when viewing it in full-text format

Citation is made available at the end of each full-text document that can be copied by the user simply touching the citation itself and selecting the copy option that pops up

SpringerLink Mobile Final Analysis

What’s Hot•Clean interface•Allows access to all full-text available through user’s member institution•Content can be shared by e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter•Citation provided within each book chapter and article record that the user is able to copy

What’s Not•There is no app available for Android users•No full-text only limiter and no way to know if content is available in full-text within the results screen•Searches only retrieve book chapters containing terms entered as opposed to entire books•Option to register and set up log-in given by vendor is not sufficiently explained on the vendor’s site•Users who are not able to register for a log-in have are confined to only using the app within their institutional libraries in order to view full-text documents

Other Available Mobile Apps…• AccessMyLibrary College Edition (offers content available through Gale

Cengage Learning)

• Alexander Street Press

• DynaMed

• ebrary

• For a list of even more available mobile database apps, please see Joseph Deodato’s “Mobile Databases” page at http://libguides.rutgers.edu/mobile

ReferencesMcKiernan, G. (2011). The Mobile Lucky 7. Searcher, 19(6), 16-53.

Robert Morris University Library Services. (2011). Databases with mobile

editions and mobile apps. Retrieved from

http://sentry.rmu.edu/web/cms/schools/library/services/Pages/databases-

mobile handheld.aspx

Special Thanks!Cynthia CoulterLawrence Louie

Mobile Web Sites

59Romel Espinel Web Services LibrarianStevens Institute of Technologytwitter: @cudjoe70#valenj2013mobileapps

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Mobile web sites are NOT reduced size web sites.

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Mobile web sites ARE defined as interfaces that are created for mobile screens.

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These web sites provide a mobile experience.

Touching and no clicking

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So Are New Jersey Libraries Keeping up?

UMDNJ

Stevens Institute

Felician CollegeIn March of 2012, only 3 out 27 Academic Libraries in NJ had mobile ready websites

Now: 8 out 27 Libraries have mobile ready sites

St. Peters *

The College of NJ

Bergen CC *

Monmouth U. *

Rowan

Why?

• From Google Analytics we’re able to see what kind of Devices our community uses during the Fall 2012:

• Based on Screen Resolution: 51.13% 768x1024 (tablet & desktop); 26.95% 320x480 (mobile)

• Mobile Preference: 81.03% iOS; 18.01% Android

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Taking a Closer Look: Stevens Institute of Technology

Library Web Stats:

Why?

• Most of your users have a mobile smartphone and search the internet using the devices.• Instantly Available.• Compatible Across Devices.• Updated Instantly• Because it’s on the open web it can reach a

larger audience than a mobile app.• And . . . .

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$

• Mobile Library Web Sites can be built in house or by third party developers (Boopsie).

• Once the mobile site is built it just needs to be placed in the web site code so it can be detected by browsers.

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