I analyzed LibraryThing’s “Local books” iPhone/iPod touch application. It was released in January 2010. I got interested in this because I looked at the Top Tech Trends that were discussed at the 2010 ALA Midwinter (Hadro, 2010). It indicated that mobile technology is an area that is really catching on. Local Books is a free application that helps users locate libraries, bookstores, and bookish events in your area or across the country.
The search features are great. You can search by venue or by place. Results can be sorted by distance, name or venue type (i.e. Bookstore, Library, Fair/Festival). You can also search for events. These results can be sorted by date, distance, or name. Using your mobile device’s built in location feature, you can always easily search for venues or events wherever you’re at.
The information available for events and venues is helpful. Indeed, it allows for a description, websites, contact, photos, event listings, and a map. This is a lot of good useful information to patrons and likely will lead to a lot of foot traffic to the website and make it easier for people to visit the library on the go. The only problem is that someone does have to put the information there. Venues have to be added by people and then they have to upkeep it. However, this is pretty much the same situation as with venue websites. I can see the temptation to just add links might be strong, but venues should really add upcoming events to their profile as well.
The ability to personalize the application is there. You can favorite locations and events and easily consult them later. There is also a preferences icon at the bottom right which allows you to set the search range for distance and days from today. Therefore you can limit how far away you want to go to venues or events and you can limit how far out events are in the results.
The interface is really good. Its’ search feature is simple, like Google. The sort option is easy to find, near the top just under the search icon. LibraryThing also makes it easy for us to distinguish between different venue types by color coding them. These colors even match the color portrayed on the venue map.
In terms of instructions, if you are an iPod touch or iPhone user, you know that apps can be found on itunes. When you get to itunes there is a Local Books Support link. It includes instructions for adding a venue or event. It has screenshots to go along with the instructions, which helps. However, if you are adding this on your mobile device directly and not syncing it up from your account on your PC, you may miss this support link. I certainly did. When you are in the Local Books app, there isn’t a help feature. This is certainly a downside of this application.
Even with some negatives, this is a good application for libraries and patrons. It allows libraries to reach out to people on the go, whether from the area or not. This also gives libraries an opportunity to easily publicize events. However, libraries will have to take the time to update it. For patrons, this is convenient. It also allows for personalization which is really popular these days.