OCLC has two different Worldcat mobile projects underway; here are a few first impressions. Caveat: my testing was brief and limited to the iPhone so YMMV.
I. http://mobileworldcat.org/
This is a mobile-optimized web interface developed by Bruce Washburn at OCLC and it works like a dream on the iPhone's Safari browser. I did a couple of keyword and author searches, results came up with a prompt for finding a library that owns the item, I entered my zip code and my library came up first in the list, etc; all with good speed on the AT&T 3G network. For more info, see Apple Computer's site This is the pilot that OCLC announced in a January 21, 2009 press release. I tried to use it and the experience was quite frustrating, at least on the iPhone.
1. The title of the site (for bookmarking) is "Boopsie." The user has to manually change the bookmark to "Worldcat" unless you think it will be easy to remember that Boopsie=Worldcat. This seems like a bad idea in terms of OCLC's branding.
2. It isn't clear where to start entering the search. The only dialogue box is at the top of the screen, confusingly like a browser address box. The instructions "start typing..." are separated from this dialogue box by a graphic title bar and a horizontal rule, with two horizontal rules below that look almost but not quite like a text entry box.
3. Still at the top of the screen, there is a menu icon next to the search box that looks like it might offer help, but instead it opens a pop-up called "Channel Menu." Menu items are Home, All Channels, Change Location, Clear Location, & Cancel). The "all channels" appears to be dozens if not hundreds of commercial sites including horoscopes, restaurant guides, home improvement stores, etc. I have no idea why these are here unless Boopsie.com is giving the service to OCLC for free, with the idea that commercial channels will pay them for Worldcat users who happen to stumble into this part of the site.
4. Further down on the screen there is the instruction to "start typing..." mentioned above, plus "set location" and "Find a library" options with right arrows. By tapping the text "set location," a prompt for city or zip code appears. I put my zip code in the dialogue box at the top of the screen. Then I tapped the word "library" and a lot of library-related mailing addresses came up. The list includes publishers, branch libraries, microfilm projects, etc. so it looks like the database is mapping every location with an OCLC symbol.The main university library I expected to see first was 12th on the list. When I tried to select it, there was an internal server error at worldcat.boopsie.com so I can't tell you what happens at that point.
Bottom line, maybe http://worldcat.boopsie.com works well enough on other devices, but the "OCLC native" mobile web experience at http://mobileworldcat.org/ was more intuitive with an iPhone, and never made me feel like I was leaving the Worldcat environment or being directed to places unrelated to my search. I hope OCLC doesn't abandon development of http://mobileworldcat.org/ because of the boopsie project.Labels: iphone, libraries, library, mobile, OCLC, worldcat
