Jason A. Clark, London, Facet Publishing, 2012, 114 pp., £34.95 (soft cover), ISBN 978-1-85604-845-3, (available from Inbooks)
There is little doubt that the future of information access is via mobile devices. This book, the twelfth in the excellent Tech Set series, focuses on the topical subject of creating mobile applications for libraries. As with other volumes in the series, this guide explores planning, implementation, marketing, best practices and measures of success. There is also an accompanying website for the series at http://www.alatechsource.org/techset, which includes additional information such as podcasts and up-to-date advice. Clark is Head of Digital Access and Web Services at Montana State University Libraries and regularly writes and presents papers on mobile library applications.
The book is aimed at those trying to understand what mobile technologies mean for libraries and looking to start developing their own mobile library applications. It can be used as a guide to the potential of mobile applications or, for the more technical-minded, a guide to developing new mobile applications. The work concentrates on building software, web applications and websites for mobile and other handheld devices. The projects range from simple to complex, but all projects are broken down into a series of achievable steps, with many examples provided at each step. Specific projects include learning how to develop an iPhone application that features core library services, building a location-aware library-finding tool for Android, developing a mobile catalogue using WorldCat, and creating a mobile website that can be viewed on smartphones.
Clark describes tools that can be used at each step in developing mobile applications. The best-practices chapter contains much useful advice to help make us think mobile when creating software (such as using native device controls and limiting navigation to primary tasks) and to get away from more desktop-driven design. The explanation of the differences between mobile websites, mobile web applications and native applications are clear and provide guidance on which ones suit each library's individual needs and circumstances.
This book is well written, and the author's explanations are easily understood. This is a useful work and recommended to anyone trying to get a grip on mobile technology and what is involved in bringing it to their library.
©2012, Catherine Gilbert