I love reading and go to library frequently. I talked to librarians and heard some consistent questions and wishes — how to communicate and engage users (students, facilities, researchers, etc.) better and encourage them to use library resources more. Many, if not most students start their homework or research project through searching “Google” or “Google Scholar”. Sometimes, they don’t find what they want or don’t know where to start. Other timers, students “run into a wall” finding articles that they have to pay to access. When students try to find something else free, they may end up in a predator site (fake news or unreliable sources)or a pirate site, meanwhile, their library may have the subscription and can provide the article free and legally.
I also learned that, shockingly, the expensive course packs I had bought for classes, some of the articles or cases may be in library subscriptions and could be free accessed. However, neither students, professors, book store staffs, and librarians realize that without communicating with each other. This is not isolated case and I want to help…students, professors, and librarians…
I started to think of ideas how to bring information and resources to students, making the access convenient and easy so more people use more often. I started creating story board, paper prototype then skeleton.
I envisioned it to be an app that students can find out what’s available at library, both resources and events. Even better, the app notifies the users what’s happening, coming up, and new arrivals when they get close to the library. Together, I hope the app will make users aware and access easily, in return, increase the usage of library resources which are good for both librarians and users. I named the app “MyLib” (my library).
I asked friends to test “MyLib” prototype and gave me feedback. I adjusted the design several times and created an interactive e-prototype to test with more friends and online. The design is basic and created by free tools. The purpose of prototype is to show and discuss the idea, functions, and flow. People like its simplicity and ease of use. Students are excited that they can access to e-resources and register events on their phones without going to the library.
I want to bring “MyLib” to life to be your “knowledge partner” — bring library resources to users and values to all. I appreciate if you can take a few minutes to test the prototype and provide feedback.
Please click below links…
