Towards Mobile Enhanced Digital Collections

Tito Sierra and Markus WustNCSU Libraries

The Second International m-Libraries Conference

June 24, 2009

Outline

• Mobile Computing: Past and Present• Mobile Enhanced Digital Collections• The WolkWalk Project• Motivation• Demo• Implementation

• Future Directions

Mobile Computing: Past and Present

Source: Flickr user ted.sali

23rd Century Star Trek Tricorder

Source: Flickr user clarksworth

24th Century Star Trek Tricorder

Source: Flickr user jeffypoo

1960s Star Trek Tricorder

• Location scanners• Data communication (to/from starship)• Holographic messaging• Touch screen interface• Universal translator (alien languages)

1960s Star Trek Tricorder

• Location scanners• Data communication (to/from starship)• Holographic messaging• Touch screen interface• Universal translator (alien languages)

SCIENCE FICTION

1960s Star Trek Tricorder

• Location scanners• Data communication (to/from starship)• Holographic messaging• Touch screen interface• Universal translator (alien languages)

Early model for mobile computing?

fast forward 40 years…

2009 Apple iPhone 3G S

The Future is Now

Star Trek Tricorder• Location scanners• Data communication

(to/from starship)• Holographic messaging• Touch screen interface• Universal translator

(alien languages)

Apple iPhone 3G• Assisted GPS• Data communication

(3G and wifi)• MMS messaging• Touch screen interface• Multi-lingual support

(human languages)

iPhone 3G S

• Camera• Audio microphone• Digital Compass• Accelerometer• Photo and video

geotagging

iPhone 3G S

• Camera• Audio microphone• Digital Compass• Accelerometer• Photo and video

geotagging• Marketplace for 3rd

party apps

Today’s mobile computing technology provides a rich toolset for significantly enhancing the user experience with

library digital collections

Mobile Enhanced Digital Collections

Mobile Enhanced DCs

• More than just a small screen version of an existing digital collection

Mobile Enhanced DCs

• More than just a small screen version of an existing digital collection

• Leverages emerging mobile technology to create new and improved interfaces to digital collections

Mobile Enhanced DCs

• More than just a small screen version of an existing digital collection

• Leverages emerging mobile technology to create new and improved interfaces to digital collections

• Reduce the disconnect between user and object brought about by digitization

Two Basic Technologies

1. Touch-based Interfaces

2. Geotagging + Geolocation

Touch-based Interfaces

• “Swipe” gesture• Interact “directly”

with digital objects

Example: Classics

Source: iTunes App Store

Touch-based Interfaces

• “Swipe” gesture• Interact “directly”

with digital objects

Example: Classics

Source: iTunes App Store

Touch-based Interfaces

• “Pinch and zoom”• Fluid interface for

navigating image details

Example: Love Art: National Gallery, London

Source: iTunes App Store

Touch-based Interfaces

• “Pinch and zoom”• Fluid interface for

navigating image details

Example: Love Art: National Gallery, London

Source: iTunes App Store

DukeMobile Library Collections

Source: news.duke.com

Geotagging + Geolocation

• Geographic navigation of content

• Current location as as a content filter

Example: Zillow

Source: iTunes App Store

Geotagging + Geolocation

• Geographic navigation of content

• Current location as as a content filter

Example: Around Me

Source: iTunes App Store

The WolfWalk Project

WolfWalk in a Nutshell

• Our first attempt to create a geomobile digital collection

• Images sourced from university archives collection

• iPhone app to be released Fall 2009

WolfWalk Content

First freshman class posing in front of Holladay Hall (1890), NCSU University Archives Photo Collection

WolfWalk Content

View of card catalog in D.H. Hill Library (1972), NCSU University Archives Photo Collection

Motivation

Todd Kosmerick (University Archivist) and Adam Berenbak, NCSU Special Collections Research Center

Markus Wust, Content Lead for the WolfWalk Project

Jason Casden, Lead Developer for the WolfWalk Project

Demo

Implementation

Content Workflow

1. Select sites to be included

2. Select images from existing digital image collection to represent sites

3. Author site descriptions

4. Author image descriptions

5. Enter content in database

6. Generate image derivatives

Technology

• WolfWalk Database (MySQL)• WolfWalk Data Service (PHP/XHTML)• iPhone OS 3.0 (Objective-C)• MapKit Framework (Google Maps)• CoreLocation Framework (geolocation)

Geodata Processing

Lessons Learned

• Not easy to repurpose existing image metadata (dates, descriptions)

Lessons Learned

• Not easy to repurpose existing image metadata (dates, descriptions)

• Mobile application development is different from website development (installed vs. networked content)

Lessons Learned

• Not easy to repurpose existing image metadata (dates, descriptions)

• Mobile application development is different from website development (installed vs. networked content)

• Rapidly evolving development environment (maps)

Future Directions

Augmented Reality

• Live camera• Compass• Geotagged content

Example: Layar (Google Android)

Source: Layar.eu

Source: Layar.eu

Recent advances in mobile computing are truly amazing.

Experiment!

Thanks!

Tito SierraAssociate Head for Digital Library DevelopmentNCSU Librariestito_sierra@ncsu.edu

Markus WustDigital Collections and Preservation LibrarianNCSU Librariesmarkus_wust@ncsu.edu

More Information

The WolfWalk Project:http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/dli/projects/wolfwalk