Presentation delivered at CILIP Umbrella Conference 2013.

1. Putting research into
practice: Mobile technologies in
libraries
Jo Alcock and Annmarie Lee
Birmingham City University
CILIP Umbrella Conference
3rd July 2013

2. Overview
Research
Jisc-funded m-library community support
project
Practice
Birmingham City University Library and
Learning Resources
Conclusions
Implications for researchers and
practitioners
•
•
•

3. Mobile technologies in libraries
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kennedylibrary/6176216315

4. Jisc m-library programme

5. M-library community support project
"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/

6. Evidence gathering
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vees/999594439

7. Community building
http://www.flickr.com/photos/omegaman/194705584

8. Pathways to best practice
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hockadilly/5744624394

9. BCU Library and Learning Resources
• 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

10. Mobile at BCU - outreach

11. Mobile at BCU - SMS
Since August 2011, 78,825 Library SMS
messages have been sent.

12. Mobile at BCU - QR codes

13. Mobile technologies working group
• 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

14. Working group projects
• 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

15. Mobile at BCU - iBCU

16. Research informing practice

17. Research informing practice

18. Research informing practice
http://www.libsuccess.org

19. Implications for researchers
• 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

20. Implications for practitioners
• 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

21. Benefits of collaboration
• Both sides can learn from each other
o Two way process - practice informed by
research, research informed by practice
• Help improve practice and research

22. Thank you for listening
Jo Alcock
@joeyanne
Jo.Alcock@bcu.ac.uk
Annmarie Lee
@annmarielee66
Ann-Marie.Lee@bcu.ac.uk