LibraryLiinkNJ Mob
bile Pilot Project – FY
Y2012 New Jersey LLibraries‐O
On‐The‐Go
Che
eng Libraryy, William Paterson U
Universityy – Mobile Project Fin
nal Reportt Augu
ust 15, 20112 Project Description
D
The
T goal of Cheng
C
Librarry Mobile is to
provide a mobile inteerface to the David and Lorraine
L
Cheng Liibrary of Wiilliam Patersson University that
allows caatalog search
hing, review and renewaal of
checked--out materialls, contact with
w Library reference
r
staff via web-based
w
chat,
c
and acccess to Libraary
informatiion and even
nt notificatio
ons. We are interested
i
in supporrting increassed enrollmeent, student retention
r
and succeess by providing state-off-the-art mob
bile
access to
o Library reso
ources via a mobile interrface.
Pertinentt literature, such
s
as the Pew
P Research
h
Center’s reports and articles in most
m library-ffocused
journals, cite a mobille app or website as a cru
ucial
channel for
f meeting our
o users evolving needss and
expectatiions.
Goal Sta
atements:
I.
nt vendor-su
upplied librarry mobile
Implemen
applicatio
ons with WPUNJ-approv
ved
branding.
a market our
o service, Cheng
C
Librrary Mobilee, and create access poinnts
II.
Promote and
throughou
ut the WPUN
NJ informatiion system.
III.
Measure and
a assess th
he use of Ch
heng Librarry Mobile annd its impactt on Library
users and the WPUNJJ community
y.
n the project and its impaact to LibrarryLinkNJ andd at VALE aand NJLA
IV.
Report on
conferencces and to thee WPUNJ an
nd Library aadministratioon.
We
W received notification
n
of the LibraaryLinkNJ aw
ward for ourr pilot projecct in March 22012
and began
b
the pro
ocess of imp
plementation
n with Boopssie, Inc. Rouutine processses of
configuration too
ok approximaately 60 day
ys and at thatt point our sppring semestter was at ann end.
A fulll rollout of Cheng
C
Mobiile with a fulll WPUNJ sttudent popullation will occcur at the
begin
nning of our fall semesteer on Septem
mber 4, 2012.. Over the suummer we hhave been puutting
prom
motional mateerials in placce and so theere is not yett a way to m
measure the pproject’s imppact
on ou
ur users.
William
m Paterson Un
niversity – Ch
heng Library M
Mobile Projecct Report – Au
ugust 15, 201
12 ‐ Page 1 of 10 Vendor and
a Producct of Choice
Boopsie,
B
Inc. was selected as the Ven
ndor and Prooduct of choiice due to faavorable priccing
and an im
mpressive set of features and abilities. We selectted Boopsie bbased on theeir effective
presence at the 2011 LITA (Libraary Informattion Technollogy Association) annuaal forum in S
St.
Louis, MO.
M Boopsie’’s mobile ap
pplication waas used in thee form of a m
mobile confe
ference progrram,
which waas extremely
y convenientt and effectiv
ve. Boopsie was also favvored for its out-of-the-bbox
compatib
bility with alll web-enableed phones. Cheng
C
Mobille is easily aavailable at tthe Apple/iO
Os
and Andrroid app storre, as well ass for Window
ws Mobile aand Blackberrry devices.
We
W have foun
nd the Boopssie staff to be
b very respoonsive and ggood to workk with. They have
an excelllent online help system for
f communiication and hhave resolveed any issuess within one or
two work
king days. Th
he Boopsie documentati
d
ion and conffiguration syystem deservves special noote
for its ease of use. On
nce our acco
ount with Bo
oopsie was e stablished a set of docum
ments were
shared ussing Google Docs. Somee of these weere more-or--less conventtional descriiptions and
tutorials of the usual configuratio
on processess. Particularlyy interestingg were severral documentts
that servee as active configuration
n files. They appear as sttandard wordd processer ffiles, but ediits
made and
d saved result in almost immediate updates
u
to thhe smartphonne app.
n
emaail
In the example abovee, if I changee the phone number,
o other inforrmation in th
he “text” collumn, the eddit will
address or
be reflectted in the mo
obile app tex
xt (depicted here):
Likewisee, changing the
t icons or logos
l
is simp
ply done by pasting
them into
o the Googlee document. These exam
mples of easee of
maintenaance were deescribed by the
t vendor an
nd influenceed our
decision to use Boop
psie. We are happy to rep
port that our
experiencce using theiir configurattion and documentation
interface has been mo
ost positive and without incident.
William
m Paterson Un
niversity – Ch
heng Library M
Mobile Projecct Report – Au
ugust 15, 201
12 ‐ Page 2 of 10 Staff Commitment
Getting Cheng Mobile running proved to be a straightforward process. As anticipated,
Kurt W. Wagner managed and administered the project, working approximately 4 hours per
week on configuration. Ray Schwartz, Systems Specialist Librarian, provided an initial
bibliographic extract and then created a scripted extract that runs weekly to upload records to the
Boopsie interface. Our ongoing commitment will be to keep the Library Hours section up to date
and to monitor the scripted upload of bibliographic file, totaling only a few minutes per week.
Implementation Timeline
The individual tasks on the timeline did not vary too much from the preliminary
estimates, however, there were a few unforeseen activities and moderate delays as parties outside
the Library became involved.
Task
Initial Timeline
6.1 Create and provide Day 1 - 30 minutes
test accounts to
vendor for
configuration
6.1 MARC extract
Day 1 - 1 hour
6.2 Check MARC
records in Boopsie,
verify basic
functionality
6.3 Library
information
integration
6.4 Launch
preparations: graphics,
application store
descriptions, text
proofreading
6.4 Deployment of
marketing/public
relations materials
Day 2 - 1 hour
6.5 Launch of Cheng
Library Mobile
Day 4
Actual Timeline
Occurred on schedule
Performed a week later than
planned.
Occurred immediately after
MARC upload.
Day 2 – 3-4 hours
Occurred on schedule
Day 3 – 3 hours
Occurred over May-June
period as graphics were
developed by WPUNJ Public
Relations Office.
Day 4 – 3 hours
Deployed Library-created
promotional materials in July.
PR Office materials are still in
process.
Soft launch of Cheng Library
Mobile occurred July 1, 2012.
William Paterson University – Cheng Library Mobile Project Report – August 15, 2012 ‐ Page 3 of 10 Marketing and Pub
blic Relation
ns Plan
Marketing
M
off
Cheng Mobile
M
has beeen
developin
ng over the
summer months
m
with
h
the goal of
o making th
he
library ap
pp part of the incoming student
s
expeerience in Seeptember 2012.
 WPUN
NJ’s Public Relations Office supplieed a set of grraphics, view
wable at
https:///liberty.wpu
unj.edu/libraary/cheng-moobile-graphiics/index.htm
ml in order too
establlish a visual identity for the
t service aand to use ass a link and iidentifier in
variou
us media.
 The Library’s
L
mob
bile web pag
ge www.wpuunj.edu/libraary/mobile.ddot serves as the
main reference
r
po
oint for Chen
ng Library M
Mobile. WPU
UNJ itself haas not deployyed
an oveerall mobile strategy at this
t point, buut as this devvelops the Library will bbe
involv
ved.
 At preesent a searcch for “mobille” on the W
WPUNJ webssite (www.w
wpunj.edu)
displaays the Libraary’s mobile page (with Q
QR code) ass the second link.
 Search
h for “cheng
g library mob
bile” in Goo gle results inn first hit to iTunes App
Store (http://itunes.apple.com
m/us/app/wpuunj-cheng-libbrarymobille/id5323390
000?mt=8) and
a second hhit Android A
App Store
(http:///www.andro
oidzoom.com
m/android_aapplications/b
/books_and__reference/w
wpunjcheng
g-library-mob
bile_cjtul.htm
ml).
 1 pagee flyer for Cheng Library
y Mobile is displayed inn the Libraryy and at new
studen
nt orientation
ns (https://lib
berty.wpunj .edu/library//cheng-mobiile/mobileflyer.p
pdf).
 Brief article for WP
W Magazinee’s (http://ww
ww.wpunj.eedu/news/wppmagazine/) fall
issue is
i being prep
pared. A draaft can be fouund as the A
Appendix to tthis documennt.
 A Pub
blic Service Announcem
A
ment with info
formation about Cheng L
Library Mobile
will ru
un in Septem
mber on WPS
SC,
the Un
niversity’s sttudent-run radio
station
n (http://gob
brave.org/)
 Adverrtisements arre being
preparred for the tw
wo campus
newsp
papers: The Beacon,
B
and
d
The Pioneer
P
timess.
 Promo
otional graph
hic is runnin
ng
on LV
VIS (Library Video
Inform
mation Systeem), comprissed
of 3 42” monitors in the Libraary.
William
m Paterson Un
niversity – Ch
heng Library M
Mobile Projecct Report – Au
ugust 15, 201
12 ‐ Page 4 of 10 
The graphic will be submitted to run on other displays on campus in September.
Presentation as a poster session is planned for January 2013 at the VALE User
Conference and later in 2013 at the NJLA conference.
Financials
We received $2,297.00 from LibraryLinkNJ. The Cheng Library provided $2,448.00 and
we obtained the Boopsie Library Optimum Package 1-year annual subscription. The Cheng
Library budget will provide ongoing funding for the continuation of Boopsie for the year
following this pilot. Details of the disbursement of the LibraryLinkNJ funds and the Cheng
Library contribution can be seen in Appendix 3, pp. 9-10.
Evaluation Plan
Boopsie, Inc. supplies monthly usage statistics, which can be seen in Appendix 2. In
November we plan to deploy a brief 4-5 question survey (from Cheng Mobile, the Library web
page, and in print) to gather feedback about the use of and reactions to the app. Information
obtained from several months of statistics plus the survey results will form the basis of a report
to the Dean of Library Services, Anne C. Ciliberti which will discuss the early outcomes of the
pilot project. Regular reports, based on the monthly statistics, will be reported at Library
Council.In August 2013 a full assessment of the project and its impact will be included in the
Library Information Systems annual report. A mobile presence is part of both the University’s
and Library’s strategic plans and our evaluation will be used to improve the app itself and how it
is promoted and used at William Paterson University.
In sum, we have not yet assessed nor evaluated the efficacy of our mobile project and we
await the return of students through the academic year for this part of the project to commence.
Sustainability Plan
Boopsie’s elegant design and ease of maintenance were important factors in deciding on
this platform for Cheng Mobile. The physical upkeep of the app does not present a problem.
Library Information Systems requested an increase in funding for fiscal year 2013 to cover the
cost of a continuation of the use of the platform for the upcoming year, and this has been
approved and added to our budget.
Discussion
This project has proceeded relatively smoothly and without anything I would report as
significant problems. Our strategic goal is to project the Cheng Library’s services and
information into the most common and easily accessed venue of our user, namely, the
smartphone. In this we have already been completely successful. Our implementation this
summer has moved the Cheng Library farther ahead of any other unit on campus in providing
mobile access to our resources and has cast us as a leader in these efforts. We are most grateful
William Paterson University – Cheng Library Mobile Project Report – August 15, 2012 ‐ Page 5 of 10 to LibraryLinkNJ and its staff for making this opportunity available to us and spurring this
project along for the benefit of our users.
Kurt W. Wagner, Assistant Director Library Information Systems - Project Director
David and Lorraine Cheng Library, William Paterson University
wagnerk@wpunj.edu – 973-720-2285
William Paterson University – Cheng Library Mobile Project Report – August 15, 2012 ‐ Page 6 of 10 Appendix 1 - Cheng Library Launches Mobile App (Press Release)
(William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ).University library users who want to find or renew a
book, check on library hours, or chat with a reference librarian now have information at their
fingertips thanks to the newly launched Cheng Library mobile app.
Available for iPhone and Android devices, the free app allows users connected to any Internetcapable phone to instantly tap into library resources. “Everyone lives on their mobile phones
these days, so it’s important for the library to be easily accessible whenever and wherever people
need access to our staff and rich resources,” says Anne Ciliberti, Dean of Library services. “Our
mobile app puts library information just one click away with much faster access than going
through a browser.”
The app offers library catalog search, review and renewal of checked-out materials, the ability to
contact reference staff via Web-based chat, and access to library information and event
notifications. Users can also scan the ISBN barcode on any book and find out instantly if that
book is in the Cheng Library collection.
Partial funding for development of the mobile app was provided by the Mobile Pilot Project of
LibraryLink NJ-The New Jersey Library Cooperative, a multi-type library cooperative that is
funded by the New Jersey State Library. The app was developed by Boopsie, Inc., a developer
of mobile apps for public and academic libraries.
To access the Cheng Library’s mobile app, visit www.wpunj.edu/library/mobile.dot.
William Paterson University – Cheng Library Mobile Project Report – August 15, 2012 ‐ Page 7 of 10 Appendix 2 – Usage Statistics Sample
Jul. 2012 Users By Device
device
users
iPhone
43
55.84%
Android
16
20.78%
iPad
8
10.39%
iPod
5
6.49%
browser
4
5.19%
1
1.30%
77
100.00%
total users
Jul. 2012 Queries By Device
device
queries
iPhone
787
56.01%
iPad
312
22.21%
Android
134
9.54%
iPod
106
7.54%
56
3.99%
10
0.71%
1,405
100.00%
browser
total queries
Jul. 2012 By Channel
Channel
Users Queries
Main Menu
76
246
cheng_holdings
40
1,077
my account cheng summary
20
30
Library Locator
14
17
rss/chengextra.blogspot.com_feeds_posts_default
9
13
cheng_booklook
8
11
Ask Us
6
7
http://m.facebook.com/ChengLibrary
2
2
http://ezproxy.wpunj.edu:2048/login
1
1
my account cheng logout
1
1
William Paterson University – Cheng Library Mobile Project Report – August 15, 2012 ‐ Page 8 of 10 Appendix 3 – Financials
From WPUNJ’s Banner enterprise financial system -
(continued, next page)
William Paterson University – Cheng Library Mobile Project Report – August 15, 2012 ‐ Page 9 of 10 Appendix 3 – Financials (cont.)
William Paterson University – Cheng Library Mobile Project Report – August 15, 2012 ‐ Page 10 of 10