The Rutgers University Libraries are pleased to introduce a new service for our users on the go - a mobile website, easily accessible from all smart phones.

The new website at m.libraries.rutgers.edu allows users to perform essential functions like search the library catalog, look up hours and directions, and chat with a librarian. The library catalog on m.libraries.rutgers.edu is a highly streamlined version of the one that is available on the regular website (www.libraries.rutgers.edu), and has been carefully designed to include the most essential keyword and browse searching options.

The mobile site provides maps and current building hours for all libraries across the New Brunswick, Camden and Newark campuses. Users can dial out to reference librarians or email and chat with them. The mobile website will also be available from the Rutgers Mobile App that is scheduled for release by the university's Office of Information Technology.

The mobile library website's catalog began as a project of the Libraries' Web Board. It utilized an independent study undertaken by Antonio Barrera, a student at the School of Communications and Information (SC&I), under Dr. Jacek Gwizdka - a faculty member at SC&I and a member of the Web Board. Barrera designed a first iteration of the catalog for mobile devices, which became the basis for what is currently offered on the Libraries' mobile website.

The mobile website comes at a time when the number of people choosing a smart phone over an ordinary mobile device is rapidly increasing. Earlier this year The New York Times reported on a study conducted by The Pew Research Center, which found that smart phones are increasingly being used to access web and email; this trend is expected to continue.

The Libraries are proud to have tapped into this trend and invites feedback. Please write to rulweb@rulmail.rutgers.edu with your comments and suggestions. The website will continue to evolve as future releases of the mobile library site will provide greater functionality.

The core developers of the new mobile website were Yuhwei Ling, Mary Ann Koruth, Sam McDonald, and Bob Warwick of the Libraries' Integrated Information Services (IIS). Christopher Sterback (IIS) and Joseph Deodato (Digital User Services Librarian) contributed to the design and testing of the site.