Have you ever found yourself about to buy a book in a bookstore, but wondered if the book was available at your local library? I have and it’s not just because I’m a librarian. Sure, you could call the library and ask if the book was available, but first you’d have to call 411 to get the phone number to the reference desk, then call the library, and then wait on hold while the library staffer on duty checks to see if your item is available.
I don’t know about you, but this culture of immediacy has totally changed how I look for information. I don’t want to have to wait, I don’t want to have to go an extra step just to get an answer to a simple question, and I want to be able to finish my information transaction quickly, easily, and in a matter of seconds (OK, minutes).
MPOW doesn’t have a mobile catalogue (sadly), but thanks to the folks at OCLC, I don’t have to worry. The WorldCat mobile database is currently in beta, and you can search any library catalogue around the world from your mobile phone or hand held device. You can search for library materials, find a library near you by entering your postal code, and call a library by highlighting and clicking the phone number in the library listing. You can even map a route to your library, right from your phone/handheld!
The only feature that would make this better would be integration with library catalogues, so that you could place an item on hold, or, if the item you were looking for is available in electronic format, if you could authenticate to your library and have the document delivered to you immediately.
I’ve often surprised library patrons when I tell them that I’m a lazy librarian who rarely likes to travel to a library branch to do research or to pick up a book or a movie. I tell this story to potential library customers to say that like them, I’m incredibly busy (lazy) and there are times when having to go all the way into a library is inconvenient. I’d still rather turn to the library than a search engine for most things, but sometimes we make content just a little too hard to access. The physical library is important, without a doubt. But people’s communication habits have changed drastically and libraries should keep up with these changing habits if they want to secure their position as content distributors.
I’m happy to see such a major library player taking the initiative toward making the library available anywhere and everywhere library customers may be.