BYOD – Bring Your Own Device… to the library!

Hello, it’s Carly again bringing you some information about BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device.

Many public libraries are embracing new ways of cultivating their collections, including adding devices such as laptops, Kindles, and more for patrons to use either on-site or check out to take home (like hotspots.) But not all libraries have the funding for such items, or enough of them to meet the demand. But what if the patrons have their own devices? How can libraries better serve them?

Offering Wi-Fi is a great way to allow patrons to use their own devices on-site. Leaving the internet turned on for the evening after the library closes allows those with nowhere else to go a chance to use their phones on Wi-Fi and still remain connected to the world.

While perusing LISTA via the Palomar College library website, I found the following article: Will Smart Phones and Other Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) Dominate How AcademicLibrary Services are Developed and Delivered for the Foreseeable Future? by Graham Walton. In it, the author brings up a few key questions that libraries should ask themselves when considering the rise in the popularity of BYOD. 

“There are some key questions libraries have to ask themselves: Does the library need to continue providing access to fixed PCs for students? Should library staff be equipped with BYODs as part of their job? Should the library provide a laptop loan service to students? How are information literacy programs changed to reflect the BYOD with students becoming M Learners? How are library services developed so they can be accessed via BYOD?”

Personally, I think that computers should be provided for the public and the library should also lend out laptops and other devices to students. The library website and databases should be friendly to all types of devices to accommodate the students’ needs.

Another article I found explores the needs of students at a particular university. Through this project, they discovered that alterations needed to be made to the university websites to allow access on multiple devices. That article is Expanding Access to Library Collections and Services Using Small-Screen Devices by West, Hafner, and Faust. It’s a bit older, from 2006, but they cover some interesting ground in discovering ways to facilitate the use of all library resources on all devices.

In short, libraries and library workers are always trying to gain insight into the habits of our patrons and students so that they may better serve them. By offering Wi-Fi and checking out laptops and other devices and making sure that their resources are available on said devices, they have bridged many gaps in access. Keeping an eye to the future, we should continue to monitor technology trends and habits and see how to further streamline access to vital library resources.

Carly Janine Gutierrez

4/29/20

Works Cited

Walton, G. (2014). Will Smart Phones and Other Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) Dominate How Academic Library Services are Developed and Delivered for the Foreseeable Future? New Review of Academic Librarianship, 20(1), 1–3. https://doi-org.ezproxy.palomar.edu/10.1080/13614533.2014.875294

 

West, M. A., Hafner, A. W., & Faust, B. D. (2006). Expanding Access to Library Collections and Services Using Small-Screen Devices. Information Technology & Libraries, 25(2), 103–107.

 

BYOD and Technology Access in Libraries

In my opinion, the “bring your own device” issue is a nonissue. It is not particularly difficult to plan for patrons to bring their own devices and access library services while also providing devices for those who cannot afford or have visited the library without their own devices. Libraries do not need to provide every device imaginable, nor should they. As Walton states, “There is a real danger libraries will continue supplying services not required by users and also not develop new services that will be valued” (2). Unless a library is specifically providing for a unique program that requires specific devices, libraries should not waste their precious funding providing tablets, phones, or other rapidly-obsolete devices. 

Libraries should stick to spending their money on reliable, cost-effective, up-gradable, longer-lived technology. Desktop computers can do most of everything that patrons need, and upgrades to software are available throughout their longer life-spans, while maintenance is easier to perform as well. Patrons who choose to bring their own devices can access computers with them; libraries need only stock and provide a few types of cable connectors and adapters. Libraries with larger budgets can afford to be more generous with their offerings, but no one will suffer for lack of an iPad when a computer will do just fine or better. 

On the opposite side, libraries do need to provide some technology access. A study performed by Brewerton et al. and cited by Walton determined that “. . . Library fixed PCs were used primarily for academic work whereas smart phones had more of a social function. Students’ laptops were more likely to fulfill both functions. . . WiFi was expected to be provided. . .” (2). Computers are the minimum and most necessary. Patrons who cannot afford their own technology or who just need to use what the library has for a short time, whatever the reason, need a way to access libraries’ digital resources. Libraries have a responsibility to make their resources available to users, at least while users are on library grounds. This is already largely done by providing computer access.

From my perspective, BYOD is a nonissue, as in my experience the majority of patrons, even those experiencing homelessness will bring their own devices, and so official policies only need to address the issues with library staff assisting with patrons' personal devices and providing enough WiFi and ethernet coverage for patron use. Libraries merely need to provide WiFi and computer access, and all of the bases will be covered.

Works Cited

Walton, Graham. “Will Smart Phones and Other Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) Dominate How Academic Library Services Are Developed and Delivered for the Foreseeable Future?” New Review of Academic Librarianship, vol. 20, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 1–3. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/13614533.2014.875294.