Lender (Tinder meets Books)
Submitted by kdelaney on Mon, 07/11/2016 - 09:56
Type of Pilot Project:
Public Service
Additional Contributors:
Jon Rollman
Describe Project and Impact:
Create a web application that randomizes books within our collection and displays them in a Tinder-like fashion. Allowing users to swipe right if they like the book and swipe left if they aren’t interested in the book.
Project Description and Expected Outcomes:
Utilizing EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) & TLC APIs, we would create a web application that pulls in our catalog and randomizes the books displayed using the popular Tinder platform model of swiping right for “Yes” or “interested” or swiping left for “no” and “not-interested.” Books would be displayed similar to the Tinder app with a quick note/description of the book and a book jacket thumbnail. Making this in a web application, we can embed into any mobile app we create in the future and it would be device and platform agonistic. Members can login with their library card and anytime a right swipe is triggered it will automatically place a Hold for that member. As the service develops, additional parameters can be established to limit based on availability. This service also has the potential to evolve by building a recommendation engine surrounding favorable swipes.
Why should we select this project?:
Libraries are constantly struggling to stay relevant and provide services and experiences that appeal to multiple generations. While most members are comfortable using our catalog to search for materials, there is another group of members who are not as comfortable and seek instant gratification when searching for materials. While this process may take some time to find the right title, it is a technological experience most of those latter members are familiar. The simple swiping motion is now becoming more and more popular on leading consumer websites, making it easy to swipe left and right to retrieve the next item in queue. Tooks also has the potential to grow and evolve by developing additional features such as a recommendation engine and search parameter filters. Plus this particular project encompasses several member experiences such as Collection Anywhere, Playful Learning and TechXperiences.
Constraints, Limitations, or Dependencies:
With the ease of swiping, discovery and checkouts will increase, but so may holds. This service could also create a huge log associated with left-swipes that filter out that title from future displays. We would also have to have agreements with TLC and EBSCO granting us access to the necessary APIs.
Source of Inspiration:
Partner/Supporting Departments:
Information Technology
Materials Selection
Performance Indicators:
Market Penetration
Member Retention
Other
Other Indicator:
increased circulation and downloads
Environment:
Virtual
Relationship:
Spark
Experience:
TeXperiences
Cluster:
Digitarians
New Members
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