Implementation

Two stand outs from the conference today with varying degrees of relevance to Griffith.  The first one from Leeds University, Mobile library support and the use of tablet PC's at Leeds University Library was the web 2.0 version of our roving service.  Several things of note are:

• combined reference, lending desk and review of service led to the mobile service
• Redesigned and optimized the library web page for the mobile service
• Use of tablet devices to deliver the service
• searches on the library catalogue can be performed by text, voice and barcode reader (QR code?)
• students can text, tweet or use strategically placed QR codes to request support from anywhere in the library & staff go to them.

The other session was from a public library (the only one at the conference) in Edinburgh.  This library has embraced social media of all kinds to involve and invite the community into the library spaces, both physical and virtual - Libraries surviving and thriving in the multi-device, multi connection world

• catalyst for change - apps, ebooks, portals, mobile, customer expectation, digital inclusion, public sector shift
• library app - similar to ours in that it has access to account information, catalogue, events, map, news and twitter (all social) media feeds - but also...
• Patrons can scan the barcode of any book in a shop from the mobile app, to see if the library has the book to borrow rather than buy the book! (not sure what the booksellers make of that!)
• presence in all social media - available from app

This I love - Use of a google map overlaid with book-covers to reveal the geographic location of author - obviously not down to street view! Simple but interesting use of AR.  The library has seen a
9.5% increase in visits in 12 months and virtual library visits and transactions have had a 251% increase.  Final note...its all about content

Final plenary speaker Thomas Cochrane from AUT
Thom used a QR code to activate his wiki by using SIRI voice activation! A fantastic interactive start to a very informative session. We also polled about what mobile device we had, we had two people in the audience show us their favorite apps which was projected onto the screen and we had a demo of several apps with a use case example for each of them. The  theme  ubiquitous disruptive technology, about the learner not the technology and learner generated content and context resonated.   Thom was inspiring in his use of technology as a teaching tool.  Very interactive presentation - certainly practices what he is preaching. By far the most interesting presentation of the conference in my view!
Notes on this presentation can be found on his blog entry http://thomcochrane.wikispaces.com/