Apps for Scholarly Research:
Implications for Discovery and
Learning
Robin Canuel, McGill University Library
robin.canuel@mcgill.ca
Chad Crichton, University of Toronto Libraries
ccrichton@utsc.utoronto.ca
LOEX 2013 - Nashville, Tennessee
Learning Objectives
Participants will…
• Discover the value of mobile applications for
scholarly research in a variety of disciplines.
• Appreciate the breadth of teaching and learning
opportunities afforded by mobile technologies.
• Understand the ways in which mobile technology
and apps are impacting the future of research
and teaching.
Introduction
• Mobile technology and information literacy.
• Rapid development of the mobile environment
over the last two years.
• Changing nature of how people work with their
mobile technology.
The Mobile Explosion and Apps
• Pew Internet & American Life Project (2013) 87% of American adults own a cell phone, and
45% of American adults now have a smartphone.
• January 2013, 26% of American adults own an ebook reader, and 31% own a tablet computer.
• Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) 62% of undergraduate students owned a
smartphone, 15% owned a tablet, and 12%
owned an e-reader (Dahlstrom, 2012).
• Horizon Report (2013) - Identified tablet
computing as having a major impact in the nearterm (next 12 months).
There’s an app for that!
• Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store
have more than 800,000 apps available to
download.
(Apple, 2013; Paul, 2013)
Mobile Applications for Academic
Research
• Can be incorporated in to teaching and
research activities
• Access information
• Data collection
• Working directly with content
and creating new content
Library Workshop
Mobile technology for academic purposes
• Connectivity
• E-formats and DRM
• Accessing content
• Managing content
• Productivity apps
Productivity Apps
•
•
•
•
Reading
Citation management
Cloud based storage
Writing and note taking
Reading
• Adobe Reader
Free!
• Bluefire Reader
Free!
• Good Reader
$4.99
• Read and manage your
articles and eBooks
• Highlight, and draw or
write, on the PDF
• Annotation tool which
allows you to write notes,
and save or email them
to yourself
Reading
• Ebrary
• OverDrive
• BrowZine
• Read and manage
your subscriptionbased articles and
eBooks
• Institutional
Subscription required
Citation Management
• EndNote
$1.00
• Mendeley
Reference
Manager
free!
• Sente
Reference
Manager (Mac)
$19.99
• Synchronize your Libraries
• Access your references
and articles on the go
• Allows you to add
reference to your library
from several websites
• Edit and tag your
references on the go!
• Also easy to share
references with others
Cloud Based Storage
• Dropbox
Free!
• Google Drive
Free!
• Evernote
Free!
• Synchronizes with your
main web based accounts
• Access your documents
and media from
anywhere in the world!
Writing and Note Taking
• Documents
to Go –
Office Suite
$9.99
• Pages (Mac)
$9.99
• Evernote
Free!
• With Docs-to-Go you can
access and edit Word,
Excel, and PowerPoint
files, as well as other file
types
• Evernote is a great note
taking app, but you can’t
edit office documents
• Evernote also allows you
to take pictures, and
record sound
Ready Reference Apps
Ready Reference Law Apps
Mobile Search and Data Collection
Searching for, and collecting, information and data
on an internet-capable mobile device:
• Textual (keyword search and writing)
• Spoken/mic (audio/voice capture and searching)
• Camera (image capture and searching)
• Location-aware services (GPS and Compass)
• Barcode and QR code scanning
• Augmented reality
Discipline-Specific Specialized
Apps
Discipline-Specific Specialized Apps
• GPS_Logger
Free!
• The Night Sky
$0.99
• iBird Pro HD
$9.99
Discipline-Specific Specialized Apps
• Patent Search
Free!
• Layar - Your city 100 years ago
Free!
• Wolf-GIS
Free!
Activity
Question – Brainstorm: What innovative and
creative ways can you think of to use apps to
facilitate mobile learning and research, and
the development of mobile information
literacy? In particular, consider the disciplinespecific research and learning activities of
your faculty and students that might benefit
from mobile apps, including activities for
which specific apps may not have been
developed yet.
Opportunities for Research
• Researchers can continue their work outside of
the office/lab
• Reference sources and other data available at a
researcher’s fingertips
• Apps sometimes allow for downloading data to
the device
• Researchers can record, collate, and analyze
data they collect in a wide variety of formats.
• App developers continue to create unique tools
to assist researchers
Opportunities for Teaching
• Building awareness and promoting the potential of
these technologies to our students and faculty.
• Workshops to teach students and professors about
mobile apps, and the unique implications of working
in a mobile environment.
• Beyond teaching the fundamentals, librarians can
also encourage the adoption of mobile technology
by faculty to take their own teaching activities
outside of the classroom.
• Guides to mobile apps, and finding aides designed to
help researchers to navigate the hundreds of
thousands of apps available for use.
App Curation
Mobile Apps Committees
• Review free and vendor-supplied apps
• Make recommendations for promotion or purchase
of apps
• Develop descriptions and instructions for using
library-supported apps
• Develop marketing strategies and training sessions
for library-supported apps
• Work with the website team to
develop a web presence for apps
• Assess the impact the selection of
an app would have on departments
Conclusions
• Keeping researchers informed about current
trends in mobile technology.
• Learning about and promoting mobile apps.
• Facilitate the use of apps by researchers and
students.
• New apps are being developed every day, many
of which can be used for academic purposes.
• As experts in information literacy, librarians are
uniquely placed to assist faculty and students in
navigating the vast repositories of apps available
for mobile devices.
Roundtable Discussion
Mobile learning - from 1:00-1:30pm in Ballroom 1
• Is your campus creating apps related to the library?
• What apps are folks using for class related work
that they did not have to develop?
• Does your library have a mobile website and if so,
how are you using it/referencing it during
instruction sessions?
• Are your mobile developments tending more
toward app development or flexible web sites that
work on mobile devices?
http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/classroom-tablet-600.jpg
http://www.widencollective.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/thank-you-screen.jpg
THANK
YOU!
References
Apple (2013). Apple updates iOS to 6.1. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/01/28AppleUpdates-iOS-to-6-1.html
Bowen, K., & Pistilli, M. D. (2012). Student preferences for mobile app usage (Research Bulletin). Louisville, CO:
EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/studentpreferences-mobile-app-usage
Canuel, R., Crichton, C. & Savova, M. (2012). Tablets as powerful tools for university research: Teaching the relevant
skills. Library Technology Reports, 48(8), 35-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/ltr.48n8
Dahlstrom, E. (2012). ECAR study of undergraduate students and information technology, 2012 (Research Report).
Louisville, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Retrieved from
http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/ecar-study-undergraduate-students-and-information-technology-2012
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., & Ludgate, H. (2013). NMC Horizon report:
2013 higher education edition. Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from
http://www.nmc.org/publications/2013-horizon-report-higher-ed
Paul, I. (2012). Google Play Store: 800,000 apps and overtake Apple AppStore! RssPhone.com. Retrieved from
http://www.rssphone.com/google-play-store-800000-apps-and-overtake-apple-appstore/
Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2013). Adult gadget ownership over time. Retrieved from
http://pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data-%28Adults%29/Device-Ownership.aspx
Rowinski, D. (2013). Google Play will beat Apple App Store to 1,000,000 apps. Readwrite mobile. Retrieved from
http://readwrite.com/2013/01/08/google-play-to-hit-1-million-apps-before-apple-app-store
Walsh, A. (2012). Mobile information literacy: a preliminary outline of information behaviour in a mobile
environment. Journal of Information literacy, 6(2), 56-69. http://dx.doi.org/10.11645/6.2.1696
Zickuhr, K., Rainie, L., & Purcell, K. (2013). Library services in the digital age. Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Retrieved from http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/01/22/Library-services/