Carlson, Jeff. The iPad Air and iPad Mini Pocket Guide. San Francisco, Peachpit Press, 2014.²¹ Good book for beginners for an overview of the basic functions of your iPad. The author has written many helpful technology books over the years.

Pogue, David. iPhone: The Missing Manual, 7th edition. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2013.²² An easy reference for those new to the iPhone. Full of practical tips. Look for possible newer editions that match your iPhone at the time you read this.

Brady, Lois Jean. Apps for Autism: An Essential Guide to Over 200 Effective Apps for Improving Communication, Behavior, Social Skills, and More! Arlington, TX: Future Horizons, 2012.²³ Written by a speech-language pathologist who specializes in autism spectrum disorders, this book discusses over 200 apps that help with communication, behavior, and social skills. Includes success stories showing how these apps are helping those with autism.

Brisbin, Shelly. iOS Access for All: Your Comprehensive Guide to Accessibility for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Self-published, 2014.²⁴ This book is a comprehensive look at the accessibility features of iOS devices. It’s available in EPUB format optimized for Apple’s iBooks reader and tagged to provide maximum accessibility for screen readers. It includes detailed descriptions of how to use all the built-in accessibility features, information on how they work in Apple’s apps, and a chapter on the best third-party apps that are accessible.

Smith, Kei. Digital Outcasts: Moving Technology Forward without Leaving People Behind. Waltham, MA: Morgan Kaufmann, 2013.²⁵Digital outcast is a term for a person who is left behind the innovation curve of new technology for any of multiple reasons. This is an excellent book for gaining a nuanced approach to how we define and view people with “disabilities” and makes the point that we are all disabled (or will be) in one way or another at different points in our lives. It includes a detailed overview of how people with disabilities use technology, and it shows how creating accessible interfaces benefits everyone.

Harvell, Ben. iConnected: Use AirPlay, iCloud, Apps, and More to Bring Your Apple Devices Together. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley, 2013.²⁶ This book contains useful instructions for using your devices together, such as displaying your iPhone on an HDTV and effectively using iCloud for synchronization.

Levin, Michal. Designing Multi-Device Experiences: An Ecosystem Approach to Creating User Experiences across Devices. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2014.²⁷ This book is written for product managers, designers, and entrepreneurs, but it is a useful read for anyone interested in excellent user experience. In our multi-device world, people often switch between smartphones, tablets, computers, wearables, and televisions to accomplish a task. The book combines theory and practice, offering many real-world examples in a highly readable way. These principles can be applied to designing better experiences for library users.

Lankes, R. David. Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World. Self-published, 2012.²⁸ This excellent book is written for library users and stakeholders to get them thinking about the potential of libraries. Use with your communities to encourage discussions about how libraries are more than storehouses of books. This book is also available for free on the web: http://medium.com/p/c9efcfa6bd24.

Miller, Rebecca K., Heather Moorefield-Lang, and Carolyn Meier. Rethinking Reference and Instruction with Tablets, eEditions e-book. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions, 2013.²⁹ Firsthand accounts of library projects using tablets for reference and instruction.

Miller, Rebecca K., Heather Moorefield-Lang, and Carolyn Meier. Tablet Computers in the Academic Library, eEditions e-book. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions, 2014.³⁰ Case studies and best practices for using tablets in the academic library and classroom.

Nichols, Joel A. iPads in the Library: Using Tablet Technology to Enhance Programs for All Ages. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2013.³¹ A book full of specific programs and projects for use with iPads or other tablets in the library. Includes projects for children, teens, and adults. Each project lists the apps needed, planning notes, and detailed instructions for the activity.

Walsh, Andrew. Using Mobile Technology to Deliver Library Services: A Handbook. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2012.³² Examples and case studies of using mobile technology in academic libraries.

Hennig, Nicole. Apps for Librarians: Using the Best Mobile Technology to Educate, Create, and Engage. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, September 2014.³³ A guide to the best apps for librarians to recommend to their communities and for use in their own professional work. This book contains descriptions and use cases for over 100 apps. See the full table of contents: http://apps4librarians.com/thebook.

Hennig, Nicole, and Pam Nicholas. Best Apps for Academics: A Guide to the Best Apps for Education and Research. Self-published, 2014. http://bestappsforacademics.com. A guide to the best apps for students and professors in the categories of productivity; reading and annotating; research and reference; taking notes, writing, and studying; collaboration and sharing; and presenting, lecturing, and publishing. It includes discipline-specific examples and guides and a list of further resources.

Clark, Wilma, and Rosemary Luckin. What the Research Says: iPads in the Classroom. London Knowledge Lab, 2013. http://digitalteachingandlearning.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ipads-in-the-classroom-report-lkl.pdf. Useful research report from the United Kingdom with implications for decision makers and different user groups.

Columbus, Louis. “IDC: 87% of Connected Devices Sales by 2017 Will Be Tablets and Smartphones.” Forbes, September 12, 2013. www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2013/09/12/idc-87-of-connected-devices-by-2017-will-be-tablets-and-smartphones. Summary of statistics from IDC, including the prediction that tablets will outsell desktop and laptop PCs later this year.

Common Sense Media. Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America 2013. San Francisco: Common Sense Media, Fall 2013. www.commonsensemedia.org/research/zero-to-eight-childrens-media-use-in-america-2013. Based on surveys of parents of children ages 0–8 in the United States, study showing how children’s behavior has changed in relation to books and reading, music, and the use of smartphones and tablets.

comScore. “comScore Introduces Mobile Metrix 2.0, Revealing That Social Media Brands Experience Heavy Engagement on Smartphones.” News release, comScore, May 7, 2012. www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2012/5/Introducing_Mobile_Metrix_2_Insight_into_Mobile_Behavior. A report with many statistics about mobile use, including the fact that approximately 82 percent of time spent with mobile media happens via apps.

Digital Book World. “Pew: More Americans Using Smartphones for Internet.” Digital Book World, September 16, 2013. www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/pew-more-americans-using-smartphones-for-internet. Summary of Pew statistics, including the fact that the proportion of US adults who use smartphones to access the Internet has doubled since 2009 to 63 percent.

Dunn, Jeff. “Why Mobile Learning Is Inevitable.” Edudemic, June 5, 2013. www.edudemic.com/why-mobile-learning-is-inevitable. Summary of a presentation called “Mobile Is Eating the World,” by Benedict Evans (slides included), with many useful statistics that show why the future is mobile.

Johnson, Larry, Samantha Adams Becker, Victoria Estrada, and Alex Freeman, NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition (Austin, TX: New Media Consortium, 2014), www.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-report-higher-ed. Useful in-depth report that comes out every year. In the 2014 edition, read about the “Shift from Students as Consumers to Students as Creators,” the “Growing Ubiquity of Social Media,” and more. The 2013 report (www.nmc.org/publications/2013-horizon-report-higher-ed) included information on the rise of tablet computing.

May, Kevin. “Mobile Web Accounts for Just a Fifth of Time Spent on Devices, Apps Reign Supreme.” TNooz, May 10, 2012. www.tnooz.com/article/mobile-web-accounts-for-just-a-fifth-of-time-spent-on-devices-apps-reign-supreme. Useful summary of ComScore statistics, focusing on how users tend to stick with the app instead of the web version of popular sites like Facebook.

Purcell, Kristen, Alan Heaps, Judy Buchanan, and Linda Friedrich. “How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms.” Pew Research Internet Project, February 28, 2013. www.pewinternet.org/2013/02/28/how-teachers-are-using-technology-at-home-and-in-their-classrooms. Report includes information about the use of mobile devices in the classroom, including the fact that 73 percent of teachers surveyed said that they or their students use mobile phones in the classroom to complete assignments. Discusses benefits and challenges of these technologies.

Youth and Media. “Report: Teens and Technology 2013.” Youth and Media, March 13, 2013. http://youthandmedia.org/report-teens-and-tech. Summary of latest findings from Pew Research about teens and technology, including the fact that 78 percent of teens now have a cellphone and 47 percent of those with cellphones own smartphones.

AppsGoneFree. “Apps for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired.” AppAdvice, accessed July 8, 2014. http://appadvice.com/applists/show/apps-for-the-deaf. Annotated list of several useful apps for the hearing impaired and how they work.

Aquino, Steven. “Re-Enabled: iOS’s Impact on Those with Impairments Isn’t Just a Marketing Slide; It’s Profound.” The Magazine, no. 9 (January 31, 2013). http://the-magazine.org/9/re-enabled. Article by an author, who is legally blind, and who works with preschool children with special needs. He discusses how and why the iPad is extremely empowering for students and staff and how it keeps the kids engaged far more effectively than conventional tools.

Cameron, Jenna. “Winnipeg Student Uses iPad to Speak First Words.” CBC News September 23, 2013. www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/manitoba/story/1.1864750. Story of a seven-year-old girl with a congenital disorder that prevents speaking, showing how she’s communicating via her iPad using apps such as TouchChat.

Hendren, Sara. “All Technology Is Assistive: Six Design Rules on ‘Disability.’” Medium, October 16, 2014. http://medium.com/backchannel/all-technology-is-assistive-ac9f7183c8cd. Article makes the case that it’s wrong to divide the world into disabled and not disabled and that we are all disabled in different ways and times in our lives. Encourages designers and everyone to pay more attention to disability matters, with six principles for designers.

“iOS. A Wide Range of Features for a Wide Range of Needs.” Apple, accessed July 8, 2014. www.apple.com/accessibility/ios. Apple’s pages explaining accessibility features—a helpful illustrated guide.

Kornowski, Liat. “How the Blind Are Reinventing the iPhone.” The Atlantic, May 2, 2012. www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/how-the-blind-are-reinventing-the-iphone/256589. Inspiring article about how the iPhone has turned out to be as revolutionary as Braille for blind users. Specific stories with details of how and why the iPhone works so well.

Batykefer, Erinn, Laura Damon-Moore, and Christina Jones. The Library as Incubator Project, accessed July 8, 2014. www.libraryasincubatorproject.org. A site that advocates for libraries as incubators of the arts.

Chant, Ian. “Opening Up: Next Steps for MOOCs and Libraries.” Library Journal. December 10, 2013. http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/12/digital-content/opening-up. Article discussing an academic library offering its own MOOCs and a public library using a MOOC as the foundation of a summer reading program. Makes the case that libraries are well placed to be part of experiments with MOOCs.

Creative Making for Libraries and Museums. Dysart and Jones, accessed July 8, 2014. www.creativemaking.org/2013-toronto-program.html. Website for a symposium held in July 2013 that focused on creative making in libraries and museums, with examples of makerspaces, fab labs, and more.

Digital Book World. “Four Local Libraries Honored for Offering Cutting-Edge Services.” Digital Book World. February 4, 2014. www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/four-libraries-offering-cutting-edge-digital-services. Story of four libraries honored by ALA for offering cutting-edge technology services, including services for easy video creation by faculty and students and using Instagram’s API to capture photos tagged with the library’s hashtag and displaying them online and in the library.

Farkas, Meredith. “Libraries as Publishers: Our Push to Change the Publishing Landscape.” American Libraries, September 17, 2013. www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/article/libraries-publishers. Article exploring the role of libraries in enabling publishing—in the case of public libraries, through publishing the work of the library’s constituencies, and in the case of academic libraries, through publishing open-access work.

Godin, Seth. “The Future of the Library.” Seth Godin (blog), May 16, 2011. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/05/the-future-of-the-library.html. Blog post describing librarians as people who can bring domain knowledge and access to information, helping users create and invent.

Morozov, Evgeny. “Making It: Pick Up a Spot Welder and Join the Revolution.” New Yorker. January 13, 2014. www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2014/01/13/140113crat_atlarge_morozov. Essay about the “maker movement,” its history, and where it could go.

Nawotka, Edward. “A Visit to BibiloTech: The 21st Century All-Digital Library.” Publishing Perspectives, January 22, 2014. http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/01/a-visit-to-bibliotech-the-21st-century-all-digital-library. The story of an all-digital public library in San Antonio, Texas. It loans out e-readers for home use. Discusses how economical the library was to build compared to other public libraries with print collections.

Peterson, Andrea. “Digital Age Is Forcing Libraries to Change.” Washington Post, August 7, 2013. www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/07/the-digital-age-is-forcing-libraries-to-change-heres-what-that-looks-like. Article all about the digital commons at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC. Users may try out e-book readers, a 3-D printer, the Skype station, a co-working space, and more.

Peterson, Andrea. “Need to Use a 3-D printer? Try Your Local Library.” Washington Post, August 1, 2013. www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/01/need-to-use-a-3-d-printer-try-your-local-library. A story on library 3-D printing services, focusing on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC.

Rendon, Frankie. “The Changing Landscape for Libraries and Librarians in the Digital Age.” TeachThought, November 16, 2013. www.teachthought.com/literacy-2/changing-landscape-libraries-librarians-digital-age. Article discussing why libraries are more relevant than ever, with librarians offering digital services, technology training, and serving as key partners in community relations.

Resnick, Brian. “The Library of the Future Is Here.” Business Insider, January 25, 2014. www.businessinsider.com/library-of-the-future-2014-1. Article describing libraries not as warehouses of books, but as services and tools for the commons.

Sipley, Gina. “Surprise! It’s the Golden Age of Libraries.” Mic.com, October 11, 2013. www.policymic.com/articles/67457/surprise-it-s-the-golden-age-of-libraries. Article on re-imagining the library as digital space, with books no longer the focal point.

Stinson, Susan. “Writers in Residence at Forbes Library: Three Programs.” Library as Incubator Project, December 5, 2013. www.libraryasincubatorproject.org/?p=12843 (accessed July 8, 2014). Article by a writer describing her experience as writer-in-residence at Forbes Library in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Tennant, Roy. “The Mission of Librarians Is to Empower.” The Digital Shift, January 15, 2014. www.thedigitalshift.com/2014/01/roy-tennant-digital-libraries/mission-librarians-empowerment. Opinion piece discussing many of the ways we empower our users and communities—increasing knowledge, providing access to tools, and more.

Anderson, Chris, and Michael Wolff. “The Web Is Dead: Long Live the Internet.” Wired, August 17, 2010. www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/all. Interesting discussion of the move from the Web to apps.

Brownlee, John. “How Flat Design Is Preparing iOS for the Gadgets of Tomorrow.” Fast Company, October 24, 2013. www.fastcodesign.com/3020586/how-flat-design-is-preparing-ios-for-the-gadgets-of-tomorrow. A look at how Apple’s flat design that began with iOS 7 is going to work well with the design of car systems and watches since flat design icons can be resized by just expanding the colors at their edges and filling the remaining space. This will work well on curved displays, such as watches that wrap around your wrist. Flat design will also make it easier to move to 3-D displays.

Colliander, James, Ian Fordham, and Aron Solomon. “Ten Themes That Will Define the Next Decade of EdTech.” Betakit, October 15, 2013. www.betakit.com/ten-themes-that-will-define-the-next-decade-of-edtech. A prediction of themes defining the next decade in educational technology, including collaboration, mobile, open data, and more.

della Cava, Marco. “Beyond a Gadget: Google Glass Is a Boon to the Disabled.” USA Today, October 23, 2013. www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/10/22/google-glass-aids-disabled/3006827. Interesting story of how Google Glass is used by people with various disabilities and how it reduces the time between intention and action, something useful to all users. Being hands-free and voice-activated, it’s a very helpful device for many situations.

Holland, Beth. “5 Myths about Writing with Mobile Devices.” Edudemic, April 26, 2013. www.edudemic.com/5-myths-about-writing-with-mobile-devices. Excellent article about how writing is not just keyboarding and word processing, but is much more, including the process of creating blogs, e-books, and curated digital magazines, all of which are done easily with apps and mobile devices.

Lenaerts, Sven. “The Future of User Interfaces.” Tuts+, June 24, 2013. http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/the-future-of-user-interfaces--webdesign-13246. An article for web designers (and interesting for all) about the move away from graphical user interfaces towards natural user interfaces and away from metaphors like desktops towards direct manipulation.

Louis, Tristan. “Your Body Is the Computer.” Forbes, July 27, 2013. www.forbes.com/sites/tristanlouis/2013/07/27/after-mobile-your-body-is-the-computer. Article looking at the trend toward glasses and watches as technology devices and how we’re moving away from PCs toward smartphones and then toward other smart devices more integrated with our bodies.

Mims, Christopher. “Why Every Gadget You Own Could Soon Take Voice Commands, Just Like Siri.” Quartz, January 10, 2014. http://qz.com/165767/nuance-every-gadget-you-own-could-soon-take-voice-commands-just-like-siri. The story of how Nuance (the company that currently powers Apple’s Siri) is offering licensing of its voice-control system to consumer electronics manufacturers, which could affect everything from smart thermostats to cars.

Quintal, Ryan. “The End of Keyboards: A Question of ‘When?’” Design Shack, April 17, 2013. http://designshack.net/articles/business-articles/the-end-of-keyboards-a-question-of-when. An article predicting that the keyboard era is coming to an end with the prevalence of pen inputs, touch screens, voice commands, and more.

Sawers, Paul. “The Future of Handwriting.” The Next Web, August 30, 2013. http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/08/30/the-future-of-handwriting. An article asking whether handwriting is going away in favor of keyboarding. Yes and no, according to this article, which discusses several interesting apps that use handwriting.

Vanhemert, Kyle. “Why Her will dominate UI design even more than Minority Report.” Wired, January 13, 2014. www.wired.com/design/2014/01/will-influential-ui-design-minority-report. Article making the case that the way technology is portrayed in the movie Her—discrete, subtle, and human-centered—is where technology is headed and that this is a new era of personalized, intelligent apps.

http://apps4librarians.com

This course covers the best apps in several categories, such as reading, productivity, reference, and multimedia. Each week’s lesson includes screencast demos of apps, provocative readings, discussion questions, and an optional live chat. You’ll learn how to write app reviews, and you’ll share them with your colleagues in a private class blog.

It’s available as a five-week course via ALA e-learning or in a self-study version that you can purchase anytime and complete at your own pace.³⁴

Some testimonials:

Before taking Apps4Librarians, I didn’t realize there were so many apps that could be useful in educational settings. I look forward to sharing information about some of the apps I learned about in this course with my colleagues and possibly lead some workshops on specific apps.—Ellen Lutz, Research Services Librarian in the Sciences, University of Texas at San Antonio

Excellent course. This class exceeded my expectations. It provided a good mix of the practical and theoretical components of iOS and Android applications. Nicole is enthusiastic, encouraging, engaging and very knowledgeable.—Maryjane Canavan, Head of Library Systems, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

http://apps4librarians.com/bookapps

This course covers multimedia, multi-touch e-books—the kind that are published as individual apps. We look at fiction, nonfiction, reference, children’s books, and graphic novels. These book apps include many features that are useful for education, such as embedded videos, slideshows, quizzes, and more.

Each week’s lesson includes screencast demos of apps, provocative readings, discussion questions, and an optional live chat. You’ll learn how to write app reviews, and you’ll participate in brainstorming sessions about how these apps can be used in library programs and services. By the end, you’ll be familiar with what makes the best interactive reading experience and you’ll be inspired with ideas for library programs using these apps.

This course is useful for anyone who cares about the future of the book and the blurring boundaries between book and app.

Available via Simmons GSLIS continuing education online or in a self-study version that you can purchase anytime and complete at your own pace.³⁵

A testimonial:

This course gets five stars not only for the information it contains, but also for the level of empowerment it provides. I signed up not knowing a thing about book apps, and in a month’s time I am using them at work and collaborating with a library colleague to create a book app of our own for use in story times. The topic is timely, relevant and fun! I couldn’t ask for more.—Susan Hansen, Branch Manager, West Hartford Public Library, Hartford, CT

Rebecca Miller, Carolyn Meier, and Heather Moorefield-Lang, www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=3819

This online course, created by three librarians from Virginia Tech and published by ALA, covers practical topics such as doing a needs assessment of your community, getting funding, writing policies, training staff, case studies, and how to stay current. See their blog for their current offerings: http://tabletsinlibraries.tumblr.com.

See http://nicolehennig.com/courses for my upcoming courses.

To keep up with new courses, along with news about mobile apps for education, join the community of librarians who read Mobile Apps News: http://nicolehennig.com/mobile-apps-news, my twice-monthly e-mail newsletter.