On July 20th, Apple reported its 3rd Quarter results, claiming a record-breaking revenue of nearly $16 million dollars. They sold over 17 million iPhones and iPads in a single three-month period. In fact, three million iPads were sold in only 80 days. The popularity is astounding.
Unlike some devices where Internet and Email is exclusively available through a mobile browser, iPhones and iPads offer the beauty of apps. And some of these apps are getting pretty fancy.
Take a look at the Flipboard.
It allows the user to keep up with his or her social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, by means of a magazine-style interface. How cool is that??!
One of the biggest buzz-topics within archives and libraries is bringing down the silos that separate the many different facets of an information system. For example, the library may use DSpace for its main digital repository, the special collections use blogs and web resources like Flickr and YouTube, the photo archives might use a homegrown system built for JPEG2000 images, and your university archives may simply be using HTML, text-based webpages on the main site. Sure, you could have one website that links to all of these different areas, but this will not appeal to the browsing user's attention span.
Focusing on usability in addition to access is getting significantly difficult, since many users are getting more information than ever while exerting less effort. Keeping your organization's information streamlined and easily browse-able is key and I think that's why apps and Apple's mobile products have become so popular.
While I'm sure that app cost a fortune to create, there are other ways that information centers can implement the fundamental ideas of Flipboard.
Focus on your media. Yes, I know your HTML finding aid probably took a TON of time to compile and update and publish on your website. And while it may make complete sense to you, the average user is attracted to shinier things, like photos, videos, and interactive items. It's so much more fun to click and watch then to scroll and read! Instead of uploading a picture or two of your latest acquisition, maybe put it into a video! Take some pictures, put it in iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, record a voiceover about the item and how it came to be in your collection, and add some background music.
Streamline your collections. Even if it's just cross-referencing items within your collection, taking time to put several things together in one aesthetically-pleasing format will mean more exposure of items with decreased user effort. For example, instead of making a video of one item that is particularly cool, maybe combine it with other items and make yourself a mini "exhibition" via video. For the 50th Anniversary of the Byrd Polar Research Center, I made a YouTube video of each of the cases in the anniversary exhibition (here's a link for one of the cases!). Though it may take a couple days to really get in the groove of your movie maker of choice (mine is iMovie), it is knowledge that will be useful for many projects, such as podcasting or adding to iTunes U.
I hope this gives a little inspiration in your own info centers. I'd love to hear about your own experiences, too! In the meantime, I'm off to technolust over the latest and greatest gadgets. 'Til next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment