Mobile Devices in The Library: QR Codes, Mobile Services and Location Aware Services

Mobile Devices in the Library: QR Codes, Mobile Services and Location Aware Services
Smartphone use is growing in the adult and teen population. In the past year, smartphone
usage has increased from just under 40 percent of cell phone users to one in two cell phone
owners using a smartphone over a conventional cell phone. This year, experts expect the
mobile phone is expected to outsell the personal computer. Taking that a step further, in the
age group of 12-17 year olds, 40 percent of cell owners are using smartphones. As we take
advantage of all technology available to us, this smartphone demographic signals a group of
users ready to make mobile phones to school and make learning work for them.

This is a ready source of technology already being used by our students and staff. Because
of the pervasive culture of smartphone use, education will lose more than an opportunity if
they they do not learn to embrace smartphones; they may be lost altogether in the deluge of
information.

Mobile devices have two distinguishing characteristics: web access anytime, anywhere and
location awareness. Mobile devices can be beneficial for both library applications and in the
classroom to make static lessons and services more dynamic, collaborative and personalized.

I. QR Codes
QR codes are specialized bar codes that store information in a two-dimensional space.
Originally, they were used to track auto parts but have seen a huge growth in commercial
popularity in Japan.

One of the more interesting developments on the mobile front has been the trend of mobile
tagging--a process that allows users to access digital content on their mobile device via an
encoded object. QR codes encode data both horizontally and vertically in a grid of tiny squares,
so more data can be embedded in a smaller space. Since Barcodes are only lines, their use
is limited to only identify products or objects. QR codes actually embed that information in the
code itself, and can trigger actions like launching a website or downloading a file. Additionally,
QR codes can be read from any angle, while barcodes must be aligned properly.

In recent years, smartphone cameras have been used as scanning devices, and as the
smartphone market dramatically expanded, so did use of QR codes. When scanned, the codes
can send a user to a video, website, survey, Google map location, calendar event, or any other
media on the Web.

A. How Does it Work?

QR codes were developed by the Japanese corporation Denso Wave
(http://www.denso-wave.com/en/index.html) in 1996. Since their introduction,
QR codes have become absolutely pervasive throughout Japanese marketing.

For library or classroom use, a QR codes prompts a mobile device to open a page on
your librarys (or classrooms) web site. If the URL ever changes, you can revise the
underlying data without having to alter the codes image.

To implement, users would need to create QR codes for their product or service.
1. Find a QR Code Generator
Heidi Nowicki LMED 650 July 13, 2012 1

There are many out there, but the key is finding the right one for your needs.
Some things to look for when choosing a QR code generator are whether you
can track and analyze performance, if it allows you to design a code that is
unique to your brand, and if it is compatible with common QR code readers.
Some sites that create QR Codes:
Kaywa
Maestro
GOQR.me
Microsoft Tag
2. Create and Link QR Code
You can create and customize your QR codes to make them look like a
companys logo or school mascot. More importantly, you created added benefit
to your product (whether a for-profit company or a school unit) by creating a QR
code. The important thing to remember that the goal of creating a QR Code is
make the effort of using a QR code worthwhile.
3. Test It
Just like when using any technology, make sure to test your codes. If they dont
work, they arent achieving anything. Two tools help to read your QR codes
with multiple readers, Like Google Goggles and QR Code Reader.
4. Track
Keep track of how much traffic your QR Code generates. You can see if the
codes are getting any use and troubleshoot codes that may not be working well.

B. How is it Used in Schools and Libraries
QR is enrichingQR codes tie the physical to the digital. They also can deliver content
with a great depth of interactivity.
1.Read-alikes for library
2.More in-depth content for books (links to movie trailers, author information,
etc.)
3.Book reviews (librarian or student created--great class project!)
4.Orienteering--each QR code opens a new clue or map to bring student to next
clue
5.Add multimedia content to a static page. See periodic table http://tinyurl.com/
85pr83l
6. QR safety/use links on equipment
7. Linking to solutions and tutorials
8. Links in school yearbook to enhanced content: video of an activity or game,
messages from classmates or teachers, etc.
9.Links to resumes, letters of reference, and other career-building information
10. Exemplars to show correct pronunciation in language and samples of finished
products
11. Linking PBL information to school newsletters or other district content
12. Interactive learning stations
13. To check homework answers
14.Extensions that use QR Codes to provide optional / differentiated
assignments

15. Students create codes that link to items discovered during research;
creating walls that talk projects
16. Interactive labs
17. Vote--students can get up and move around during an activity.
18. Incentives: earn badges for successfully completing lessons, or even have
students award them to each other for sportsmanship, sharing, cooperation, etc.

C. Considerations for Implementing
1. All you need is a smartphone with a code reader installed. Free QR code
readers are available for all of the major smartphone operating systems.
2. This would be reliant upon the students and the teachers having the devices. If
students and teachers do not have devices, it could create a digital divide.
3. Implementing the QR codes takes effort, too. While creating the codes is
easy, it can be time consuming to create codes with quality, reliable information
for large-scale projects.
4. Not all library users may be familiar with QR codes or how to use them
with their smartphones. Miami University Libraries has a page on its website
explaining how the library is using the technology, including a short video
demonstration titled "QR Codes: How They Work." ww.lib.muohio.edu/qr-codes
5. Some critics also say that it is doomed to fail, just like CueCat from the early
part of the 2000s. CueCat was a plug-and-play device with proprietary codes,
but it hit the market at the same time as the tech bubble burst. Its market
aspirations, burst, too. The current QR codes are more universal, and, with
smartphone accessibility, better poised for success and staying power.

D.Options
1.QR Codes are available for free and and a wide variety of providers offer apps
to create QR Codes.
a. ZXing Project
b. BeQRious
c. Delivr
d. Azonmedia
e. Maestro
f. goQR.me
g. Online Qr Lab
h. Mobile-Barcodes
i. KAYWA
j. BeeTagg
2.QR Codes are standardized by the ISO (International Organization for
Standardization) standardNo matter what region they are created in, a QR
code is going to be a QR code.
3. Data Matrix is alternative, but QR has a higher capacity and greater size
variability and better capacity for error correction.Up to 30% of damaged or
obscured data can be restored.

E.QR Codes Impact Now and in the Future of Schools and Libraries?
1. QR codes creates another layer of integration for information. Interactivity is
the name of the game.
2. Multidimensional learning, reference, and collaboration become even more
essential.

3. A true foothold on 21st Century Learning; those who embrace QR Codes will
help to encourage collaboration and lifelong curiosity and learning.
4. The downside is that with instant connectivity, our students may be less
inclined to learn traditional research skills.

F. Links
http://tinyurl.com/cojgaz3
50 QR code resources for the classroom
a number of articles, tutorials and lesson plans designed to help educators.

http://www.schrockguide.net/qr-codes-in-the-classroom.html
Kathy Schrocks Guide to Everything
QR Codes in the Classroom
List of different readers, resources, and activities

II. Mobile Services
Mobile technologies present new opportunities for libraries to promote access and expand
reach. As information consumers increasingly integrate their digital and analog lives, they turn to
the information access points that are most readily available to meet their needs.

Libraries are responding to the evolving expectations of mobile users. The Pew Research
Center's Mobile Access 2010 report reveals that the number of cell phone users who used their
devices to "send or receive texts messages" increased by more than 10% from 2009 to 2010,
and those who used their mobile devices to "access the Internet" jumped by more than 50% in
the same time frame, showing that this responsiveness to the growing expectations is essential
to keeping up with library audiences.

Patrons use a smartphone to address mobile ready services within the library and
classroom. Some library examples are mobile-friendly OPACs and e-resources, and
fully optimized patron account features (e.g., holds, renewals, fine notifications), the
ability to reserve library computers, SMS reminders of library events and programs, and
more experiential services like including interactive maps, QR codes, augmented reality,
location-based services, custom smartphone applications, and increased integration with
social media platforms, like Facebook to provide expanded services to mobile users.

1. Classroom research
2. Find definitions, currency conversion, math equations, translations
3. Use as an Internet browser to access information
4. Book searches
5. Read news articles and current events
6. Read books
7. Download and use education programs such as Google Maps and use as
GPS.
8. Use as a digital or video camera to accompany school projects, publishing,
etc.
9. Educate students on appropriate and acceptable social use
10. Use the voice technology to share engaging lectures or lessons
11. Student response polling or pop quizzes
12. Access to online card catalogs

13. Access to Badgerlink
14. Send homework notices home to students and parents
15. SMS reference (reference assistance via text messaging)
16. SMS (text message) notifications.

1.There are three essential elements that need to be considered when working
with the digital natives. These are the following:
a. The service must be easy to implement, staff, and use.
b. It must be served on a platform that is already commonplace.
c. It must be relevant and meet the current needs of the digital natives.
2. Mobile services are easiest to justify when they are perceived to be most
useful. If libraries have a web presence, they may also wish to provide a
mobile-optimized version of their website, especially since it's a relatively low-
cost endeavor. It is a harder sell to justify the development of a smartphone
application for a specialized function, such as augmented reality-enhanced
library tours, since doing so may require additional staffing with unique
programming skills and staff support.
3. Mobile library services should consider covering the total range of online
library services already offered through traditional web interfaces. Mobile users
may not want to use certain library services on their mobile devices; an analysis
of usage statistics of EBSCO Mobile at the Library of Texas A&M University
demonstrated the number of searches in EBSCO mobile is increasing, yet only
1% of mobile searches leads to a fulltext download, against 77% of regular
EBSCO searches. These findings suggest that library customers, at least
academic ones, are willing to search for books and articles on their mobile
devices, but will postpone actually using them until they are in a more convenient
environment. Apparently small screens and/or mobile PDF readers are not
very reader friendly in academic settings. This may be different for other library
audiences, but it bears consideration.
4. Libraries that are not using mobile services have several reason why they do
not do so:
a. Budgets--The cost of providing new mobile services can be expensive
and include hardware, software, training, staffing, management, and time
for research and development. Implementing any new service requires
start-up and sustaining funds to support development and growth, and
many library budgets are simply stretched too thin already.
b. Priorities--Some libraries feels that mobile services have not become a
priority project because clientele have expressed no interest. Moreover,
some libraries might feel that their particular library better serves its
patrons with one-on-one help.
c. Skills--Lack of technology skills among those tasked with library
services, and a shortage of time for those with technology skills--too
many conflicting projects. The library technology may be driven by
IT experts instead of the library service personnel.
d. Perceptions--librarian attitudes vary. Some may feel that regular phone
calls and emails work just fine, while other libraries may face institutional
resistance.
5.Creating opportunities to educate staff, build local expertise, and promote
discussion by offering training sessions and professional development options
may the first appropriate steps to take for many libraries. It is essential to build

a solid foundation of knowledge about mobile services within the organization,
even if creating mobile services are not yet right for your community (or within
your library's budget).
6. According to one article, mobile services is also somewhat slow to catch fire.
Several factors may influence these figures, such as lack of awareness about
the services, length of time that the services have been offered, misalignment
with the preferred services of the mobile community, or simply a small number of
mobile library users within a specific community.
7. Another significant gap exists between mobile access to e-resources presently
offered by libraries and the services libraries wish to offer to mobile users. For
example, reader interest in ebooks has skyrocketed, yet libraries struggle to
make them available via handheld devices owing to the limitations of digital rights
management, restrictive (or nonexistent) lending rules, exclusive platforms, and
incompatible file types--all of which impede efforts to provide effective access to
electronic collections.

D.Options
1. Student response devices or Clickers to interact with interactive whiteboards
2. iPods with wifi (as opposed to iPhone or smartphone)
3. Android-based wifi tablets

E.Mobile Devices: Impact Now and in the Future of Schools and Libraries?
1. Mobile-optimized library websites and catalogs create an entry point for
libraries to continue to explore and expand mobile library services
2. Mobile users are engaging with the mobile library services being offered, and
essential element as libraries launch new services from their mobile platforms
and the use of handheld devices continues to proliferate in the mainstream.
3. Libraries might consider expanding instruction programs to include how mobile
users can best access licensed e-resources for subject research, or to examine
how QR codes and augmented reality can enhance the research process.

F. Links
http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/
Toy to Tools Blog by Liz Kolb
This blog is dedicated to conversing on methods for integrating cell phones into classroom learning.

http://cellphonesinlearning.wikispaces.com/
Cell Phones in Learning Wiki

http://edutechie.com/2007/06/06/8-ways-to-use-camera-phones-in-
education/
10 Ways to Use a Camera Phone in Education Blog by Jeff VanDrimmelen

http://www.slideshare.net/satonner/mobile-phones-in-education-
constructive-not-deconstructive-124979
Mobile Phones in Education: Constructive Not Destructive Power Point by
Sharon Tonner

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2009-Horizon-Report-K12.pdf
2009 Horizon Report for K-12 Edition focused on Mobile Technologies


http://teachdigital.pbwiki.com/cellphones
Teach Digital Wiki by Wes Fryer

http://cit.duke.edu/tools/mobile/index.html
Duke University Center for Instructional Technology: Mobile Devices in Education

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/around-the-web/index.cfm?i=58186
Cell Phones Get Top Marks in Classroom - article from eSchool News

III. Location Aware Services
Online content delivered to users based on their physical location. Various technologies
employ GPS, cell phone infrastructure, or wireless access points to identify where electronic
devices such as mobile phones or laptops are, and users can choose to share that information
with location-aware applications. Users can then see maps with you are here references,
or area restaurants and reviews. Social network applications can link locations with others,
allowing social network users to meet up. Users have access to a location-based filter for online
information.

These devices offer a convenient layer of content filtering with significant promise for
education. Field research is boosted by geotaggingembedding location-specific
metatdata (coordinates or place names) in photos, videos, blogs, or websitesand
location-aware applications can effectively connect geotagged resources to students
when and where they need it.

1. Geocaching, or coordinate-specific treasure hunting, can be customized
in educational games that leverage location-aware mobile devices, including
augmented reality simulations that use clues and riddles to enable student
problem solving and collaboration.
2. Location-based information can allow students who opt-in to locate members
of study groups on campus or check nearby computer labs to see which have
unoccupied bays.
3. Librarians could also point patrons to resources, based on a users described
interests and borrowing habits, by indicating where important books and media
on key topics can be found.
4. Duke University has used Google Maps to add a layer of augmented reality to
the Digital Durham project, which has turned the city of Durham, North Carolina,
into a laboratory for the study of history. Mapping old tobacco warehouses,
textile mills, and churches, the project offers location-specific information
that illuminates the lives of city residents from the 1870s through Prohibition.
Concurrent student projects involve adding audio tracks collected with digital
recorders and geotagging photographs of the mapped locations.
5. Montclair State University has implemented a location-aware service that
includes find-a-friend, shuttle tracking, and a security service.
6. At MIT, the Scheller Teacher Education department has developed augmented
reality games like Environmental Detective, in which participants can use
location-aware devices to interview virtual characters and gather simulated
scientific data to uncover the source of a hypothetical toxic spill.

1. Concern privacy and security. Applications to be opt-in services and allow
anyone to disable them whenever they choose. To complicate this concern,
increasing interconnectivity between social networking sites like Twitter,
Facebook, and Flickr means that data posted on one could migrate to another
without users being aware of how this happens.
2. Standards are still emerging for these devices, as are etiquette and social
protocol.
3. Raising awareness about the implications of allowing online systems to know
where users are should be a requisite part of student, teacher, and parent
training.

D.Options
1. Major vendor include, or have the potential to include all cell phone
manufacturers, GPS device manufacturers such as Datalogic, Honeywell, HP,
AT&T and Dell, PDAs and small-form computers.
2. Several of the applications require Mobile Windows platforms.
3. Google, Microsoft, and HP provide application programming interfaces and
applications that can be augmented by others.
4. Over 30 companies have formed the open handset alliance to develop the G1
with Android the first complete, open and free mobile platform.
5. Apple is also rolling out new applications for the iPhone at a rapid rate.

E.QR Codes Impact Now and in the Future of Schools and Libraries?
1. Location-aware systems will become increasingly effective at predicting what
we would like to know about in the geographical space around us, offering a
layer of knowledge superimposed on the physical world that can be accessed for
information and convenience. Through applications like Graffitio, users can even
add their own comments to that layer, "air posting" notes on the nearest handy
geolocation wall.
2. Narratives can emerge naturally from places of historical interest.
Through location-aware browsers on mobile phones, nature walks can not only
provide the names of plants but also offer community-generated photos of what a
specific specimen looks like in bloom or heavy with fruit.
3. Student researchers might employ the coordinates provided by a location-
aware device to tag photos, research data, or other field notes on a map in
Google Earth, providing an additional overlay of information.
4. The availability in the public domain of geotagged photos, videos, and audio
tracks will allow educators to create effective windows into other cultures for
class, group, and individual study.
5. Offers another venue for instructors to link their lessons to geographic
locations, whether those lessons are clues in an augmented reality game, data to
be collected from the field, or directions to the right section of the library.

E. Links
http://www.librarything.com/local
LibraryThing Local
Link to other readers and venues nearby

http://commonplace.net/2009/06/linked-data-for-libraries/
Commonplace.net
Linked Data for Libraries


Resources

5 real ways to use QR codes in education. Retrieved from http://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/
02/20/qr-codes-in-education/

7 things you should know about...location-aware applications. (2009, March) Educause.edu.
Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7047.pdf

10 Ideas for Using Cell Phones in Education, K-12. World of media. Retrieved from http://
worldofmedia2007-2008.blogspot.com/2009/05/10-ideas-for-using-cell-phones-in.html

Balas, Janet L. (2011, December 1). Can QR codes be used to deliver library services?
EventDV, 24; 10.

Blevins, Tim. (2012, March 1). How QR codes add value to library programming. American
Libraries; 43 ; 3-4.

CueCat barcode scanner. Digital Convergence Information. Retrieved from http://
www.cuecat.com/

Generation App: 62% of mobile users 25-34 own smartphones. (2011, November 3).
Nielsenwire. Retrieved from http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=29786

How to create QR code in 4 easy steps. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/6r2h7t9


Koebler, Jason. (2011, October 26). Teachers use cell phones in the classroom. US News
Education Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/
2011/10/26/teachers-use-cell-phones-in-the-classroom
Koster, Lucas. (2010, March 4). Mobile library services: location aware services in a digital library
world. Commonplace. Retrieved from http://commonplace.net/2010/03/mobile-library-
services/
Kosturski, Kate and Skornia, Frank. Handheld libraries: using mobile technologies in the
academic library. Information Today, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.infotoday.com/
cilmag/jul11/Kosturski_Skornia.shtml
Miller, Andrew. Twelve ideas for teaching with QR codes. Retrieved from http://
www.edutopia.org/blog/QR-codes-teaching-andrew-miller
OBrien, Terrence. (2010, June 21). In a nutshell: what are QR codes? Switched.com. Retrieved
from http://www.switched.com/2010/06/21/in-a-nutshell-what-are-qr-codes/

Pulliam, Beatrice and Landry, Chris. (2011). Tag, you're it! Using QR codes to promote library
Services.The Reference Librarian, 52: 1, 68 74
QR codes to extend librarys reach in Contra Costa, CA. (2010, January 1). Library Journal,135;
1.

Stephens, Michael. Why the QR code is failing. Tame the Web: libraries, technology and people.
Retrieved from http://tametheweb.com/2011/10/22/why-the-qr-code-is-failing/
State of the Appnation A year of change and growth in U.S. smartphones. (2012, May 16).
Nielsenwire. Retrieved from http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/state-of-
the-appnation-%e2%80%93-a-year-of-change-and-growth-in-u-s-smartphones/

Thomas, Lisa Carlucci. (2010, October 15). Gone mobile? Mobile libraries survey 2010. Library
Journal, 135; 17

Thomas, Lisa Carlucci. Mobile Libraries 2012. ; ; Library Journal,137; 2.

Three-quarters of smartphone owners use location-based services. (2012, May 11). Pew
Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved from http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/
Reports/2012/PIP_Location_based_services_2012_Report.pdf

Tucker, Al. (2011, November 1). What are those checkerboard things? How QR codes can
enrich student projects. Tech directions ,71; 4.

What is a QR Code? WKU web site. Retrieved from http://www.wku.edu/teaching/booklets/
otherproducts/qrinstruction.php accessed July 12 2012

Whitchurch, Michael J. (2011, October 1). QR codes and library engagement. Bulletin of the
American Society for Information Science & Technology, 38; 1.

Young. (2011, February 23). Top 10 free online QR code generators. Retrieved from: http://
freenuts.com/top-10-free-online-qr-code-generators/


YouTube Resources (for possible use in presentation as examples)
QR Codes:
http://youtu.be/3Jdqu_K6Bj8
What is a QR code? You might start seeing them around the library and our website. Snap a
quick pic of one with your mobile phone and gain access to maps, web pages, images, and
more! Visit http://www.ocls.info/qrcodes to learn more!

http://youtu.be/apPL_S6POQA
Using QR codes to promote Readers' Advisory Services at your library. QR Code is registered
trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.

Mobile services

http://youtu.be/uiB2lb3uMuQ
Excerpt from talk at San Diego Area Law Libraries (SANDALL) fall workshop on September 25,
2009. Jason Griffey is Assistant Professor and Head of Library Information Technology at the
University of Tennessee (HN note: dry and informative)

http://youtu.be/RGxU_5O7NKQ
OCLS Shake it

http://youtu.be/yAeAZ82y8A4
Text a Librarian is easy-to-use, secure, web-based text message reference software enabling
libraries to engage with patrons on their mobile devices. Text a Librarian was developed
specifically for libraries and is now the fastest growing SMS reference service technology in the
library industry. (HN note: older piece)

http://youtu.be/oPFjmWlZu-Q
Mosio / Text a Librarian put together this list of 6 questions you should ask when considering
vendors to add mobile and text messaging to your library services. If you're paying for a service,
you have a right to know what you're getting. Questions to ask:
Is the company mobile carrier certified?
Does the company use screen scraping or violate another companys terms of
service (many violate Googles terms)?
Does the service require you to buy or lease web services or hardware (or heavy
IT dept involvement?)
How is patron privacy and security handled by the vendor (do they show patron
phone number)?
Will the application automate and streamline the process? Is there a dedicated
support team?

http://youtu.be/2yjlz1zZ1cU
Western Illinois University Libraries is offering its new "Text Me" service, through which students
can text reference call numbers to their mobile phones.
Text me services for book searching (can do research at home, then just bring phone to library
to get books) (HN note: student created video showing how a service works)

http://youtu.be/991qqTnvqfo
Take a look at the brand new OCLS Mobile, a breakthrough way to explore the Library using
your iPhone or iPod Touch. Search the catalog, access your account, find Library locations
and driving directions, learn about upcoming events, watch videos, and more! (HN note: nice

promo that easily explains benefits)

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