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iPads at the Reference DeskMillie GonzalezReference and Electronic Resources Librarianvgonzalez@framingham.edu

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Pilot Overview2010 – iPod Touch purchased

for experimentation2011- iPad for professional

development, roving, and experimentation (in conjuction with IT and Curriculum Library’s iPad project)

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Accessories impact adoption.

Relied on standard apps on the iPad: camera, Facetime, Notes, browser

Free apps for reference work• Bookmark your library page on iPad, create

icon• Twitter: tweet from the desk• Google Voice: monitor SMS texts*• Meebo: monitor instant messaging*• Wolfram Alpha: computational search engine

Google images*Helpful if your library uses these applications for SMS and IMs.

Free apps for reference work• Adobe Reader: read pdfs, annotate• iBooks: house books, documents• Browsers: Safari, Google, Bing, Opera Mini,

Dolphin HD• EasyBib: cite a book by scanning• Bamboo Paper: note taking

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Free apps for reference work• Overdrive: show how to download Overdrive

titles• Kindle: Overdrive titles on Kindle• Foursquare: check in and leave library tips

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$ apps for reference work• Pages: word processing• Keynote: presentation software• Side by Side: split screen app

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Free database apps• Gales’ Access My Library/Access My Library College*• EBSCOhost*• Science Direct*• WorldCat• Mango Languages*• Blackboard Mobile Learn*• PubMed

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Literature Review*Few articles on specifically using the iPad at the reference desk. Focused on roving reference

as defined by Courtois and Liriano: “library employee circulating within the reference area or other parts of the library to offer assistance to users.”

In Roving Reference with iPads, the authors of the study found the iPad offered advantages like, “portability, suitability for simple on-the-fly web searching, ease of gathering user feedback for assessment, and ability for several people to easily see the screen.” “The multifunction capabilities and long battery life” were found useful. Some librarians disliked the pop-up keyboard and missed the keyboard shortcuts.

In Using the iPad for reference services, the iPads were primarily used for roving reference. “The inability to ‘multitask’ by toggling through several applications has some negative implications…” The authors hope to use the iPad for video chat reference.

*Citations to articles on roving reference are included in list of references at the end.

Survey of reference staff • All of the reference staff used the iPad in varying degrees.• The librarians who used the iPad more actively played with the apps,

used Facetime and camera. They have also used the iPad with students.

• The rest browsed the web, played with the keyboard and/or read email.

• All of the reference staff preferred to use the computer at the reference desk. One would like to use both the iPad and the computer at the reference desk (the iPad to check for links and searching databases).

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Survey of reference staff • All found value in using the iPad for roving reference

(only two used it for this purpose). Those that “roved” used the iPad in the stacks for catalog/periodicals searching on the catalog. One person would like to take it to meetings and conferences as well.

• Most found benefit in using the iPad as a second screen at the reference desk. The majority did not feel it was a necessary tool.

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Next steps / future• Roving reference trial with ipads and/or ipod

touch for the fall semester. Suggested location: campus center

• Discussion of Facetime/messenger reference• Survey collection using LibAnalytics• Departmental communication via ipad

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Resources • Bibliography on Refworks: http://

www.refworks.com/refshare2?site=042421170651600000/RWWEB1041458836/IPAD

• Recommend ALA course: iPads, Tablets, and Gadgets in the Library: Planning, Budgeting, and Implementation eCourseGoogle images