19 March 2010
Week 10 – Marvellous Mobility
I can tell you that I can’t go for very long without checking my iPhone. I could honestly say, unless I’m in a movie theatre or in class, I could honestly tell you I’m looking at the screen every, oh, say 5-10 minutes.
It’s funny. I could say that the outside world distracts me from my iPhone.
If you knew me, and actually spent time with me, you’d know that if you’re speaking with me, I am absolutely present and focused on what your saying. I do have a decent attention span! But I am connected to the web at all times in every way I possibly can be and want to be.
How does this work for me personally? Cloud computing, ubiquity, and mobility allow me to stay connected. I can communicate with clients, friends, and colleagues from wherever I happen to be, access documents that I need, look up information that I don’t have already.
The concept of a big storage bin in the sky from where you can access information wherever you are is truly amazing! I use cloud computing software services such as MobileMe, Evernote, and Dropbox on a regular basis
What is also exciting about ubiquity is the push for developers to focus on designing websites for the mobile web and computing. Websites and mobile websites are going to be more streamlined to work with mobile devices. Network infrastructure will be pushed to accommodate the rapidly growing number of mobile device users. Things are going to be faster and better!
How would this work for libraries?
A concern I’ve come across with cloud computing personally (and also throughout all the articles) is security of the information. Cloud computing involves offsite and third party software. I’ve worked at an institution where personal records and history have to be kept and board committee members were leery of even having the information house in a separate building of the same institution much less off-site.
I’ve also dealt with ethical considerations on a research level. The transferring of recorded interviews and photos for research with identifying information across the net through something like Dropbox becomes questionable because in reality you are storing these files on a third party server. (There are even bigger implications with having this information on servers in the U.S.)
Even though some would argue it’s more secure (as EDUCAUSE’s write up indicates) it would still take a heavy-duty security scheme. More importantly it would take institutions to grow more comfortable with the idea.
The advantages of cloud computing is accessibility across many platforms and across many locations. For libraries this means more users can interface with library services from not only different physical locations, but on different platforms and devices as well. Stephens’ article makes some excellent points on how libraries may use cloud computing, one of the most practical is being able to save time and money.
Mill’s article from the University of Cambridge and the Open University Library outlines many ideas that could be implemented in libraries exploring the use of mobile technology. Text–alerting services, text referencing, mobile OPAC interface, developing a mobile device friendly website are all good ideas that can be piloted using existing software. It was interesting (but not surprising) to see the research that the use of the mobile internet is still behind SMS and calling.
Mills makes a good point about expectation from library users for libraries to provide mobile friendly services in the future. I feel that this is very important for the evolution of libraries and their services as we are dealing with a generation that do access the majority of their information from the palm of their hand. In fact, I look very forward to it!