Patrons are accessing the library's web page from their cell phones? You're kidding!

Yes Virginia, as mobile technology becomes cheaper and more pervasive there are more and more cell phones sold each day that can access the internet. That means that the library's website is often accessed by people using their cell phones. Yes, I know it may seem strange but that means they are looking at our beautiful and exciting website on a screen just a few inches wide.

Just think for a moment what you would do if you were in your car listening to an author interview from NPR's Diane Rehm show. You may want to pull over to note the author and book title. What if you could simply connect to the library right there and put the book on hold? Would you do it?

Absolutely! If you are like me just remembering to write those authors and titles down and then remembering to look them up later are the hardest parts of the whole process.

The thing for us to think about is how to make our website more accessible to mobile users. You'll be glad to know that this is one of the goals of the new web team. We have talked about it and will need to work hard to create an alternate website that is pared down and easy to search for cell phone users. It won't happen right away but hopefully in the next calendar year.

Here's the best part. You are in luck! Last month PPL hosted a program by the maven of all things mobile, Megan Fox of Simmons College. It's long but it goes over all the technologies and discusses how we can use them in our libraries to connect our mobile patrons to our catalog, ready reference, databases, and resources.

What a great way to serve our public -- by making it easy for them to use us!

Thanks to Alvin Negron-Paez and Denise Birnbaum for sharing this site.