Library Mobile Services

The library organization that offers mobile services is County of Los Angeles Public Library (COLAPL) that I will evaluate how they use their technology and how they incorporate into their services. Offering digital services is a new realm they are exploring and trying to understand what works for them and for the patrons. So many of their services are what I classify as beta stage as they are figuring how to make services work such as mobile.

As someone who has a background in dealing with similar technologies, COLAPL has an unconventional way of offering mobile services to patrons.  Most other websites will offer web forms that patrons will input information like contact number, name, text field for the question and some sort of security captcha feature to filter out spammers to get processed and be replied.  COLAPL offers in the reference web page a phone number for patrons to text their questions. Seems unconventional as a user experience when reaching out. Also for security reasons giving out a number to text will be an open target for spammers. My observation COLAPL doesn’t offer any back-end software for the mobile services aside from providing a number.

In addition to mobile services COLAPL also offers other forms of online contact like social media and digital services. They have native mobile apps which is a mini representation of the county library’s website. Offers all the information an individual on the go will need. They do offer instant-messaging services, as like mobile service, only works during branch hours.  Also an initiative for COLAPL is having a social media presence but there isn’t customer support or reference services offered through those portals. As mentioned COLAPL is going through beta phase in working on their digital services.

In reviewing their reference contact page on their site, it does feel very plain and limiting on how patrons can get the information they need. There should be some functionality where a patron’s question can be searched and auto-answered by the website. Similar to other sites where a user ask for help and the site tries to answer the question before it gets escalated to customer support. Overall the only questions that this mobile services seems useful are basic questions like library hours, where to find specific materials for non-library cardholders and questions about the website. Also as a user navigating the website, the reference mobile contact information took several steps to get to, this should be a quick find and ease to use.

As our culture becomes more connected with their mobile devices, the need for services that caters to geo-located services will be important. This is why mobile services should be a focal point for COLAPL to develop to grab the younger generation that is always connected. This also applies to chat/IM as most phones can operate SMS and chat/IM. As mentioned we are a culture always connected and seeking information.