Putting research into practice: Mobile technologies in

libraries Jo Alcock and Annmarie Lee Birmingham City University

CILIP Umbrella Conference 3rd July 2013

Research •  Jisc-funded m-library community support

project Practice •  Birmingham City University Library and

Learning Resources Conclusions •  Implications for researchers and

practitioners

Overview

Mobile technologies in libraries

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kennedylibrary/6176216315

Jisc m-library programme

"to help support and engage the emerging

m-library community by reviewing and synthesising existing research and evidence-based guidance"

Evidence Base & Owen Stephens Consulting November 2011 - September 2012

http://mlibraries.jiscinvolve.org/wp/

M-library community support project

Evidence gathering

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vees/999594439

Community building

http://www.flickr.com/photos/omegaman/194705584

Pathways to best practice

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hockadilly/5744624394

•  A student population of 25,000 •  About a third of our students study part-

time •  Six academic faculties offering over 350

courses •  Eight campus libraries •  Increase in users learning from a

distance

BCU Library and Learning Resources

Mobile at BCU - outreach

Since August 2011, 78,825 Library SMS messages have been sent.

Mobile at BCU - SMS

Mobile at BCU - QR codes

•  Representatives from different campuses and parts of library, plus a CICT colleague

•  Meet on a monthly basis •  Bring ideas together and work on small

scale investigative projects •  Organic process to enable new

opportunities

Mobile technologies working group

•  Library functionality in mobile app •  Mobile treasure hunt for inductions •  Supporting learning and teaching (e.g.

augmented reality) •  Recommended apps for outreach •  Mobile access to resources •  Google Maps for location-based

orientation

Working group projects

Mobile at BCU - iBCU

Research informing practice

Research informing practice

Research informing practice

http://www.libsuccess.org

•  Ensure research is informed by practice o  Need to be aware of pain points

•  Ensure information is accessible to practitioners o  Improve awareness by sharing at

practitioner events o  Produce short easy-to-use guides

Implications for researchers

•  Look for research to inform practice o  Starting a new project? Has it been done

before? Has someone published lessons learned and tips for best practice?

•  Remain aware of current research o  Follow research blogs and tweets

•  Help provide information to inform research o  Contribute to research surveys

Implications for practitioners

•  Both sides can learn from each other o  Two way process - practice informed by

research, research informed by practice •  Help improve practice and research

Benefits of collaboration

Jo Alcock @joeyanne

Jo.Alcock@bcu.ac.uk

Annmarie Lee @annmarielee66

Ann-Marie.Lee@bcu.ac.uk

Thank you for listening