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It's perhaps a little bit outdated by now, since things change so fast, but there is a Code4Lib Journal article on one library's approach a few years ago, which you may find useful. http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/5014 And, actually, googling for that one, I found several other ones too on library app mobile development, which I haven't actually read myself yet: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/7336 http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/2055 http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/2947 On 10/7/14 2:51 PM, Will Martin wrote: > My boss has directed me to start looking into producing a phone app for > the library, or better yet finding a way to integrate with the existing > campus-wide app. Could I pick the list's brains? > > 1) Is there some tolerably decent cross-platform app language, or am I > going to be learning 3 different languages for iOS, Android, and Windows > phone? I've dabbled in all kinds of things, but my bread-and-butter > work has been PHP on a LAMP stack. Apps aren't written in that, so new > language time. > > 2) The library's selection of mobile devices consists of 2 iPads and a > Galaxy tablet. We don't have phones for testing. My personal phone is > a 12-year-old flip phone which doesn't run apps. Can I get by with > emulators? What are some good ones? The budget for the project is > zero, so I don't think dedicated testing devices are in the cards unless > I upgrade my own phone, which I probably ought to anyway. > > 3) What are some best practices for library app design? We were > thinking the key functionality would be personal account management > (what have I got checked out, renew my stuff, etc), hours, lab > availability, search the catalog, and ask a librarian. Anything > missing? Too much stuff? > > Will Martin > > Web Services Librarian > Chester Fritz Library > > P.S. I sent this a couple days ago and wondered why it hadn't shown up > -- only to realize I accidently sent it to [log in to unmask] rather than > the actual list serv address. Whoops, embarrassing! > >