Thursday, June 5, 2014

11. Library & Reference

Blogging for this Thing:  Explore the ELM Mobile website or find an app from your library that you can delve into. Write a blog post about what you think about what you used and how you may be able to use it personally or professionally. 

I personally have the EBSCO app on my smartphone but never thought to put instructions on our school website to let students know that the app is available for them to use.
We also have Mackin Via so I will need to get the word out about the availability for this app as well.
I will ask our school IT person to include apps for our databases on our GAfE homepage to get these apps in front of our students.
I especially appreciate the information in this Thing since I didn't need to create a new account for anything. I also found this Thing immediately useful in my professional setting as a librarian.  There was nothing new to Learn, just action needed on my part.  Thank you for including this thing!!
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We all work in different libraries and have different needs, so a library and reference category that will be useful for everyone is hard. What we decided to do for this Thing is to give you information about the ELM Mobile site and some library and vendor apps that may be useful for you.

Blogging for this Thing

Explore the ELM Mobile website or find an app from your library that you can delve into. Write a blog post about what you think about what you used and how you may be able to use it personally or professionally. If you know of another app that would fit under this Thing, tell us about it in your blog, too.

ELM Mobile

In 2012, the ELM portal (Electronic Library for Minnesota) was treated with responsive web design techniques. This means that the site automatically responds to any device’s screen size no matter if that is a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone. Also, users will not have to remember a separate mobile access point for the website. It’s all at the same location – elm4you.org!
Click here for a tour of the ELM Mobile site (written by Jennifer Hootman, Minitex).

Library apps

Does your library or a library in your area have its own app? Apps where you can check your account, search the library catalog, ask a librarian, find library events, and much more? We’ve located some apps from around the state that you may want to explore:
Did we miss your library’s app? We’re almost certain we missed an app, because it’s hard to keep track of the great things you all are doing, so please write about your library’s app in your blog post for Thing 11 and we’ll try to get it added to the list.

Vendor apps

If there isn’t an app specific to your library, there may be apps to use to interact with books or databases that your library subscribes to.
In school libraries, is there an app to search your library’s book collection or ebooks? Maybe through MackinVIA or others?
In academic libraries, is there an app to search databases from EBSCO, ProQuest, or other vendors?
We know there are apps for all these things, but the question is: does your library subscribe to books or databases that allow you to use an app and does your library promote the use of this app?
To try to see if there are apps you can use to interact with library materials, you’ll need to search for this on your library’s website. Visit the website of a library that you use, whether it’s a school, public, academic, or special library, and see if they have apps you can use. Follow the directions on their site for downloading and using the app and blog about it for Thing 11.
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