We've covered a wide range of subjects in this book. We've discussed what mobile services students might want. We've talked a little about how information literacy may vary between ‘fixed’ and ‘mobile’ information use. We've shown a range of ways that you could consider of introducing mobile services in your libraries, from text messaging to Augmented Reality, including making your library staff more mobile along the way. But now that you are reaching the end of the book it is time to consider what you should be doing next. Where could you start when thinking about using some of these ideas in your own library?

This final chapter provides an outline for you to use in introducing mobile services into your own library. By the end of this short chapter you should be in a position to decide what steps you should be taking next.

Consider what your users want … and what your staff can Deliver

The worst thing you could do as a result of reading this book would be to pick an idea that seemed exciting to you and immediately try to implement it. Even doing nothing could be preferable, as at least this would not use up any goodwill amongst your staff or users. Instead, the first step should always be to consider your users’ needs. Consider how they use your services at present and how they may want to use your services in future. This could be done by looking at existing feedback they have given you, or by running focus groups, surveys or questionnaires. It could even be done by comparing your service to other, similar library services that have implemented mobilefriendly services and seeing how their users reacted. Choose the route that suits you, your library and your users. The key thing is to consider your users’ needs before acting.

New mobile services need to be viewed as useful by your users from the start, especially if there is some barrier to their use, such as downloading an app or learning how to use a new tool. By making sure that you know what your users want you can also make sure that any new service will be welcomed and used by them. This will also help you in promoting any new service.