Apps for Scholarly Research: Implications for Discovery and

Learning

Robin Canuel, McGill University Libraryrobin.canuel@mcgill.ca

Chad Crichton, University of Toronto Librariesccrichton@utsc.utoronto.ca

LOEX 2013 - Nashville, Tennessee

Learning Objectives

Participants will…• Discover the value of mobile applications for

scholarly research in a variety of disciplines.• Appreciate the breadth of teaching and learning

opportunities afforded by mobile technologies. • Understand the ways in which mobile technology

and apps are impacting the future of research and teaching.

Introduction

• Mobile technology and information literacy.• Rapid development of the mobile environment

over the last two years.• Changing nature of how people work with their

mobile technology.

The Mobile Explosion and Apps • Pew Internet & American Life Project (2013) - 87% of

American adults own a cell phone, and 45% of American adults now have a smartphone.

• January 2013, 26% of American adults own an e-book reader, and 31% own a tablet computer.

• Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) - 62% of undergraduate students owned a smartphone, 15% owned a tablet, and 12% owned an e-reader (Dahlstrom, 2012).

• Horizon Report (2013) - Identified tablet computing as having a major impact in the near-term (next 12 months).

There’s an app for that!

• Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store have more than 800,000 apps available to download.

(Apple, 2013; Paul, 2013)

Mobile Applications for Academic Research

• Can be incorporated in to teaching and research activities

• Access information• Data collection • Working directly with content

and creating new content

Library Workshop

Mobile technology for academic purposes• Connectivity• E-formats and DRM• Accessing content• Managing content• Productivity apps

Productivity Apps

• Reading • Citation management• Cloud based storage• Writing and note taking

• Read and manage your articles and eBooks

• Highlight, and draw or write, on the PDF

• Annotation tool which allows you to write notes, and save or email them to yourself

Reading• Adobe Reader

Free!

• Bluefire ReaderFree!

• Good Reader$4.99

Reading• Ebrary

• OverDrive

• BrowZine

• Read and manage your subscription-based articles and eBooks

• Institutional Subscription required

• Synchronize your Libraries• Access your references

and articles on the go• Allows you to add

reference to your library from several websites

• Edit and tag your references on the go!

• Also easy to share references with others

Citation Management• EndNote

$1.00

• MendeleyReference Managerfree!

• Sente Reference Manager (Mac)$19.99

Cloud Based Storage• Synchronizes with your

main web based accounts• Access your documents

and media from anywhere in the world!

• DropboxFree!

• Google DriveFree!

• EvernoteFree!

Writing and Note Taking • With Docs-to-Go you can

access and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, as well as other file types

• Evernote is a great note taking app, but you can’t edit office documents

• Evernote also allows you to take pictures, and record sound

• Documents to Go – Office Suite$9.99

• Pages (Mac)$9.99

• EvernoteFree!

Ready Reference Apps

Ready Reference Law Apps

Mobile Search and Data CollectionSearching for, and collecting, information and data on an internet-capable mobile device:• Textual (keyword search and writing)• Spoken/mic (audio/voice capture and searching)• Camera (image capture and searching)• Location-aware services (GPS and Compass) • Barcode and QR code scanning• Augmented reality

Discipline-Specific Specialized Apps

Discipline-Specific Specialized Apps• GPS_Logger

Free!

• The Night Sky$0.99

• iBird Pro HD$9.99

Discipline-Specific Specialized Apps• Patent Search

Free!

• Layar - Your city 100 years agoFree!

• Wolf-GISFree!

ActivityQuestion – Brainstorm: What innovative and creative ways can you think of to use apps to facilitate mobile learning and research, and the development of mobile information literacy? In particular, consider the discipline-specific research and learning activities of your faculty and students that might benefit from mobile apps, including activities for which specific apps may not have been developed yet.

Opportunities for Research • Researchers can continue their work outside of

the office/lab• Reference sources and other data available at a

researcher’s fingertips• Apps sometimes allow for downloading data to

the device• Researchers can record, collate, and analyze

data they collect in a wide variety of formats. • App developers continue to create unique tools

to assist researchers

Opportunities for Teaching • Building awareness and promoting the potential of these

technologies to our students and faculty. • Workshops to teach students and professors about

mobile apps, and the unique implications of working in a mobile environment.

• Beyond teaching the fundamentals, librarians can also encourage the adoption of mobile technology by faculty to take their own teaching activities outside of the classroom.

• Guides to mobile apps, and finding aides designed to help researchers to navigate the hundreds of thousands of apps available for use.

App Curation

Mobile Apps Committees• Review free and vendor-supplied apps• Make recommendations for promotion or

purchase of apps• Develop descriptions and instructions for using

library-supported apps • Develop marketing strategies and training sessions

for library-supported apps• Work with the website team to

develop a web presence for apps• Assess the impact the selection of

an app would have on departments

Conclusions• Keeping researchers informed about current

trends in mobile technology.• Learning about and promoting mobile apps.• Facilitate the use of apps by researchers and

students.• New apps are being developed every day, many

of which can be used for academic purposes. • As experts in information literacy, librarians are

uniquely placed to assist faculty and students in navigating the vast repositories of apps available for mobile devices.

Roundtable Discussion

Mobile learning - from 1:00-1:30pm in Ballroom 1• Is your campus creating apps related to the library?• What apps are folks using for class related work

that they did not have to develop?• Does your library have a mobile website and if so,

how are you using it/referencing it during instruction sessions?

• Are your mobile developments tending more toward app development or flexible web sites that work on mobile devices?

http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/classroom-tablet-600.jpghttp://www.widencollective.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/thank-you-screen.jpg

THANK YOU!

ReferencesApple (2013). Apple updates iOS to 6.1. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/01/28Apple-Updates-iOS-to-6-1.htmlBowen, K., & Pistilli, M. D. (2012). Student preferences for mobile app usage (Research Bulletin). Louisville, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/student-preferences-mobile-app-usage Canuel, R., Crichton, C. & Savova, M. (2012). Tablets as powerful tools for university research: Teaching the relevant skills. Library Technology Reports, 48(8), 35-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/ltr.48n8Dahlstrom, E. (2012). ECAR study of undergraduate students and information technology, 2012 (Research Report). Louisville, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/ecar-study-undergraduate-students-and-information-technology-2012 Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., & Ludgate, H. (2013). NMC Horizon report: 2013 higher education edition. Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/publications/2013-horizon-report-higher-ed Paul, I. (2012). Google Play Store: 800,000 apps and overtake Apple AppStore! RssPhone.com. Retrieved from http://www.rssphone.com/google-play-store-800000-apps-and-overtake-apple-appstore/ Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2013). Adult gadget ownership over time. Retrieved fromhttp://pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data-%28Adults%29/Device-Ownership.aspx Rowinski, D. (2013). Google Play will beat Apple App Store to 1,000,000 apps. Readwrite mobile. Retrieved fromhttp://readwrite.com/2013/01/08/google-play-to-hit-1-million-apps-before-apple-app-storeWalsh, A. (2012). Mobile information literacy: a preliminary outline of information behaviour in a mobile environment. Journal of Information literacy, 6(2), 56-69. http://dx.doi.org/10.11645/6.2.1696 Zickuhr, K., Rainie, L., & Purcell, K. (2013). Library services in the digital age. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/01/22/Library-services/