Mobile technologies in library work: foreign experience

Abstract

The current foreign trends of library informatization based on mobile technologies, radical information personalization and diversification of user auditorium are examined. The study is novel in that the author investigates into the current trends in foreign librarianship like advance of mobile sites, services based on augmented reality interfaces and RFID method. The author emphasizes that optimization based on mobile technologies is being accomplished in scientific and public libraries – leaders of the digital revolution but also in the major libraries of the developing states. The modern library practice abroad is analyzed: the mobile versions of www-sites and catalogs and applications; resources for mobile devices are being designed and implemented; new services with mobile interfaces are offered. Mobile-based service features, like trans-border and instant access, time saving, absence of spatial constraints are discussed. The role of mobile technologies in transforming library services in the developing states as the chance to overcome the increasing digital gap is emphasized.