I downloaded the Hennepin County Library App for ipad today. Since I often use the library to look for and check out books, I used the search feature first. I checked to see what titles the library had by famous science fiction author Philip K. Dick - the library had many titles, which could be clicked on and reserved. I couldn't find a way, however, to find the bibliographic information of the books, which seemed very odd. It was hard to believe that information couldn't be accessed using the app, especially since this information was readily available for new and upcoming titles.
The "Events and Classes" tab was much more helpful and user-friendly. Users can search "events by library," "events by type," "events today," or "events by audience." The individual entries for events have dates and times along with descriptions. It's important to have these easily readable for people "on-the-go" so people can see what is going on at their local library when they are "out and about." This may increase traffic into the library since people may decide to stop at some events if they are already driving around.
The other features all seem to work nicely on an ipad or phone. eBooks and eAudiobooks can easily be downloaded on the device and there is a BookLook feature that allows the user to scan the barcode of a book to see if the Hennepin County Library owns a copy. This is a useful feature if the user is in a store and finds a book they think would be interesting - if the library has the book, they could check it out instead of buying it. The options to also follow the Hennepin County Library by Facebook or Twitter are also a handy way of keeping tabs on what is going on at the library without going to the website to check. All-in-all, this app is pretty useful for ipad users.
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