Chapter 4: Responsive Web Design, Discoverability, and Mobile Challenge
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5860/ltr.49n6Abstract
Responsive web design is one of the most recent trends that can help libraries meet their patrons’ high expectations in the mobile-first culture of information consumption. Chapter 4 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 49, no. 6) “The Library Mobile Experience: Practices and User Expectations” provides several examples of responsive library websites, discusses some of the pitfalls of responsive web design, and argues for better discoverability of libraries’ mobile (web or native) apps. Whether a library decides to develop a responsive site, a separate mobile site, or a native app, it is only part of the whole library mobile experience. Libraries’ active presence on the mobile Web is now a must, and libraries need to skillfully and creatively adapt themselves to the new information landscape characterized by the abundance of information and the scarcity of human attention.
References
Ethan Marcotte, “Responsive Web Design, ” A List Apart, May 25, 2010, http://alistapart.com/article/responsive-web-designnEthan Marcotte, Responsive Web Design (New York: A Book Apart, 2011), 9nIbidnMatthew Reidsma, “Responsive Web Design for Libraries: Beyond the Mobile Web, ” in Mobile Library Services: Best Practices, ed. Charles Harmon and Michael Messina (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2013), 79–94nFor more examples of responsive web design, see John Polacek, “What the Heck Is Responsive Web Design?” accessed June 5, 2013, http://johnpolacek.github.io/scrolldeck.js/decks/responsivenEric Rumsey, “Responsive Design Sites: Higher Ed, Libraries, Notables, ”
Seeing the Picture
(blog), May 3, 2012, http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2012/05/03/responsive-design-sites-higher-ed-libraries-notablesnMatthew Reidsma, '“Control Issues, ”' Matthew Reidsma (): (blog), April 25, 2012, http://matthew.reidsrow.com/articles/19nFor discussions on this issue and a few solutions presented, see Luke Charde, “Should Users Be Forced into a Responsive Design (without the Ability to Opt Out)?” User Experience Stack Exchange, May 1, 2012, http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/20824/should-users-be-forced-into-a-responsive-design-without-the-ability-to-opt-outnBrad Frost, “Separate Mobile Website vs. Responsive Website, ” Smashing Magazine, August 22, 2012, http://mobile.smashingmagazine.com/2012/08/22/separate-mobile-responsive-website-presidential-smackdownnGuy Podjarny, '“Performance Implications of Responsive Design—Book Contribution, ”' Guy’s Pod (blog) (): July 11, 2012, www.guypo.com/mobile/performance-implications-of-responsive-design-book-contributionnTammy Everts, '“How I Learned That 3G Mobile Performance Is up to 10X Slower Than Throttled Broadband Service, ”' Web Performance Today (): (blog), October 26, 2011, www.webperformancetoday.com/2011/10/26/interesting-findings-3g-mobile-performance-is-up-to-10x-slower-than-throttled-broadband-servicenJake Brutlag, '“Speed Matters, ”' Google Research Blog (): June 23, 2009, http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2009/06/speed-matters.htmlnJeremy Keith, “Conditional Loading for Responsive Designs, ” 24 Ways, December 2, 2011, http://24ways.org/2011/conditional-loading-for-responsive-designsnFor more examples of responsive web design themes for WordPress, see Kan Tan, “40+ Free Responsive WordPress Themes, ”
Hongkiat.com
(blog), 2012, www.hongkiat.com/blog/free-responsive-wordpress-themesnFor more examples of responsive themes, see Danny Sipos, “6 Free Responsive Themes for Drupal 7, ”
Web Omelette
(blog), November 19, 2012, www.webomelette.com/6-free-responsive-drupal-themesnDenise Jacobs, Peter Gasston, '“50 Fantastic Tools for Responsive Web Design, ”' .Net Magazine (): April 24, 2012, www.netmagazine.com/features/50-fantastic-tools-responsive-web-designnJakob Nielsen, “Optimizing a Screen for Mobile Use, ” Nielsen Norman Group, March 28, 2011, www.nngroup.com/articles/optimizing-a-screen-for-mobile-usenKathryn Zickuhr, Lee Rainie, and Kristen Purcell,
Library Services in the Digital Age
(Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, January 22, 2013), http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/01/22/library-servicesnJason A. Clark, “Building the Montana State University Library Mobile Web App, ” in
Mobile Library Services: Best Practices
, ed. Charles Harmon and Michael Messina (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2013, 128, 131)nIbid, 131nFor a related discussion on this topic, see Bohyun Kim, Patrick T. Colegrove, and Jason Clark, “I Can Do It All By Myself: Exploring New Roles for Libraries and Mediating Technologies in Addressing the DIY Mindset of Library Patrons” (presentation, American Library Association Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, June 23, 2012), www.slideshare.net/bohyunkim/i-can-do-it-all-by-mysef-exploring-new-roles-for-libraries-and-mediating-technologies-in-addressing-the-diy-mindset-of-library-patronsnThis is a major trend on the Web that has been accelerated by the increased use of mobile devices and is highly relevant to the library context. For a discussion more focused on the Web, see Cameron Koczon, “Orbital Content, ” A List Apart, April 29, 2011, http://alistapart.com/article/orbital-contentnLarry Johnson, Samantha Adams, and Michele Cummins,
The NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition
(Austin, TX: New Media Consortium, 2012), www.nmc.org/publications/horizon-report-2012-higher-ed-editionnLarry Johnson, Samantha Adams Becker, Michele Cummins, Victoria Estrada, Alex Freeman, and Holly Ludgate,
The NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition
(Austin, TX: New Media Consortium, 2013), www.nmc.org/publications/2013-horizon-report-higher-ednStephen Hay, “There Is No Mobile Web, ”
The Haystack
(blog), January 7, 2011, www.the-haystack.com/2011/01/07/there-is-no-mobile-webn
