In Michelle Kraft‘s article yesterday, Stop the App Madness, she says librarians should resist the temptation to jump on the “App bandwagon.” We don’t have the resources to create apps for all mobile platforms, she says. Good point, especially in medical libraries, where iPhone, Blackberry, and Palm are all used. But note that Michelle is NOT saying that we should resist the trend to mobile. On the contrary — Here are her words:

The most effective way to reach ALL of your mobile users is to create a mobile friendly website.  If your website is mobile friendly then you don’t have to worry how many of your users have iPhones, Blackberrys, Androids, Pixis, or whatever the next trendy sparkly new device, THEY ALL CAN USE YOUR CONTENT if your website is mobile friendly. Creating a mobile friendly website is the biggest bang for your buck [boldface by me].  It doesn’t require as much programming knowledge as an app and you are able to target way more people more effectively rather than constantly creating different apps.

I’m getting the feeling I’m on a roll … Two days ago in my article One iPod Touch per Librarian (OITPL), I suggest that libraries need to become more involved in the world of mobile devices. Early yesterday, I found one article that I thought related closely to this idea, and wrote about it. And then a few hours later, I discovered Michelle’s Biggest Bang article that also resonates with my OITPL article. …

I think Michelle is right on target — The world is going mobile, and we need to learn how to serve it. As I say in the OITPL article, we should see this as a great opportunity to help the world to discover the best way to design information on a small device, and in the process, win over the next generation of potential library users. (Note that, although I suggest in the previous article that libraries consider providing each staff member with an iPod Touch, I’m open to considering other devices if/when they become as practical as the iTouch — The underlying point is that we need to get mobile devices.

Related articles:

• Why Apple & Google Win – And Libraries Don’t
• A Mobile Modest Proposal: One iPod Touch per Librarian – Mobile Friendly Design: A Great Opportunity for Libraries
• Mobile First Design: Simplifying Complexity
• The Google Simple Design Revolution

Eric Rumsey is at: eric-rumseytemp AttSign uiowa dott edu and on Twitter @ericrumseytemp