FEATURE
Mobile information Meeting mobile needs
The role of mobile access to research information is growing. Siân Harris reports back from the SLA conference on what researchers and students want and what is being delivered today
O
ver recent years the idea of mobile access to information has gathered momentum. But what do researchers and students want from mobile tools, are they getting this today, and what is planned for the future? These questions were addressed in a series of talks at the Special Libraries Association (SLA) conference in San Diego, USA, in June.
First to speak was Neil Allison, an organic chemistry professor at the University of Arkansas, USA. He noted that mobile apps are ‘still in their infancy’ but that there are ‘some great products out there’.
For him, what makes a ‘great product’ is clear.
Top of his list: ‘Accuracy is key for everything. If it’s not accurate we won’t recommend students use it,’ he said. ‘The problem with a lot of the apps available is that there is no review process. That really worries me,’ he continued. He went on to show examples of mistakes that he has found in common chemistry apps. These include the use of the wrong terminology, compounds categorised wrongly and incorrect 3D representations of molecules. Great products also need to be easy to use and useful, he said. Allison, along with his son, has developed his own iPhone app for organic chemists. Tap OChem gives concepts, reactions and molecules. It includes animations to help students – particularly those who are visual learners, to see how chemical reactions occur. He said the app, which students can download for 99c, is an ongoing project and that new reactions are added regularly. To help ensure the accuracy he values so highly, he said he has a colleague who proof-reads everything.
22 Research Information AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013 Upwardly mobile... the scene at this year’s SLA conference in San Diego
Beyond his own app, he spoke about some of the other apps available for chemists at different stages in their careers. In the general chemistry space, he noted a range of chemistry drawing tools, including IMoleDraw, ChemJuice and ChemDoodle. However, he said that an app from ChemDraw, the ‘gold standard’ drawing tool for chemists, is currently missing and he noted that the usefulness of other drawing apps depends on their compatibility with ChemDraw. He also referred to a couple of periodic table apps for the iPhone: EMD PTE and ChemTouch. ‘Both interfaces are very nice. EMD PTE is probably the stronger of the two,’ he said.
At a graduate tool level, he said he was impressed with ACS Mobile, from the American Chemical Society, although he noted that not being able to download the full-text articles is a limitation. However, he described the app of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics as ‘a bit disappointing’, calling it ‘basically a mobile version of the print book, with some inaccuracies’. Similarly, Organic pKa was a ‘pretty good app but has some accuracy issues’.
For undergraduate chemistry, he noted that Organic Chemistry Essentials is a popular app but he has found inaccuracies with this as well. Mobile access changes things for librarians too, as Andrew Carlos, a librarian at California
State University East Bay, USA, revealed in his presentation.
‘I see students using mobile apps but not much of this use is for research,’ he observed. ‘I do a lot of my research on my phone but I don’t see a lot of other people using it.’ He thinks that many students are not aware of what mobile resources they could use and sees a role for librarians in doing more to build awareness with this. There is another challenge too: ‘I try to look at mobile more in my classes but not all students have smartphones,’ he said. ‘We serve a very wide community – some who can afford smartphones and some who can’t. This makes it hard to set assignments that are cutting-edge.’ Sara Rouhi, manager, library relations at ACS Publications made a similar observation: ‘We’ve found that lots of undergraduates have smartphones but fewer grad students have them – once Mom and Dad aren’t paying!’ Carlos identified two main types of mobile tools for research and education – database- specific and vendor-specific. He also noted the different approaches to access: ‘Some are IP based (personal account) and some use mobile pairing. I find personal accounts better because I can do things like access saved searches,’ he commented.
Another thing that he likes is the approach
that some information providers take, offering trial access on mobile devices. ‘I love that a lot
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