Emerging Trends in Mobile OPACs Options and Solutions in Creating Mobile Optimized Library Catalogues

Abstract

The proliferation of mobile phones had made providing library services through mobile phones a mandatory service in libraries. For any library its catalogue is the primary focus of material search for its patrons. Hence OPACs have been an integral part of libraries for a long time. With the mobile revolution the provision of OPAC services for mobile phones have been in the spotlight. Though many Integrated Library Systems (ILS) provide a separate OPAC application for mobile users it always comes as a standalone product. The common practice seems to be in linking the library OPAC to the mobile websites which provide a number of problems in terms of display and results. This paper is an attempt to look at the mobile OPAC standards and also the factors which determine the optimum mobile OPACS are discussed display. Various options and solutions to provide mobile OPAC has been discussed in this article. A flowchart to determine how to go about deciding on the mobile OPAC and the design considerations for mobile OPAC has also been provided.