The Free Library Mobile Services page has recently been updated!

There are new step-by-step instructions and screenshots illustrating how to access and bookmark the Free Library's mobile website on your mobile device of choice. By adding our mobile app icon to your mobile device's home screen, you can access all the great books, music, movies, information, resources, and services available to you from the Free Library with a tap of your finger!

You can sign in and manage your library account, search our vast catalog and databases, download ebooks and podcasts, browse through thousands of images in our extensive digital collections, view the calendar of events at your neighborhood library, and even access and read this very blog.

Leave a comment below and let us know how you use our mobile website and any features you might like to see in a future update!

Tags: How To, mobile, tech, website

If you haven't viewed our Extras page in a while, we've recently updated it with some new spring-themed photos from our various digital collections.
Add a touch of spring to your desktop, tablet, phone, e-reader, or mobile device by downloading a new wallpaper or screensaver!

Speaking of digital images, have you visited the Free Library of Philadelphia's Pinterest page?
Pinterest is a social photo-sharing and bookmarking site that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections of events, interests, and hobbies. You can view, re-pin, and comment on hundreds of images that we've uploaded from our collections, Free Library events, What We're Reading book recommendations, and miscellaneous photos that we have found interesting on the web and on other Pinterest pages.

You can always find the Extras page link at the top-right of our website.
We will continue to add more features and images to this page so check back often.
Have a suggestion for our Extras page? Share your thoughts in the comments!

 

Tags: digital collections, mobile, tech, website

Some sad news came across the internet last week as Google posted on their official blog that as of July 1st, 2013 they would be shutting down their Google Reader service. Google Reader is--or rather was--one of the easiest to use and best RSS web-based readers out there, so there was definitely a certain amount of shock and confusion that has spread through the internet since Google's announcement.

There are of course other RSS reader options out there, the Lifehacker website has a good rundown of a number of current readers that may be good candidates to transition to from Google Reader.

In the meantime, you can retain your Google Reader data, including all of your RSS subscriptions, by downloading it through Google Takeout. You can then import that data into a new RSS reader.

The Free Library currently lists Google Reader as an RSS reader option on our website to access our RSS news feeds, such as our Author Events, Podcasts, Book Reviews, Digital Collections, and this blog. We'll be testing out some of the Google Reader replacement options currently available and make a blog announcement with recommendations before Google Reader shuts down in July.

Google Reader 2005 - 2013 R.I.P.  : (

Tags: Community Events, Events at the Library, mobile, podcasts, tech, website

Back in November 2012, Google updated its Maps service for browsers, as well as Android powered mobile phones and tablets, with indoor maps and floor plans of over 10,000 locations inlcuding airports, shopping malls, train stations, and museums.
You can now add Free Library of Philadelphia to that growing list of institutions, joining our Parkway neighbors the Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, that are now available on Google Indoor Maps.

Google representatives visited the library back in August 2012 to survey the building and record GPS coordinates. Working together with Google's representatives, Web Development's Graphic Designer Kristin Crawford created detailed graphics of Parkway Central floor plans and uploaded them to the Google Maps Floor Plans interface.

To explore the library with Google Indoor Maps via your Android mobile device, you just have to search for "Free Library of Philadelphia" and / or type in the street address, then zoom in on the map to access the detailed floor plans.

With you GPS activated, you can also access Indoor Maps via Google Maps’ My Location feature. Your location is represented by a blue icon, and when you move up or down a level in a building with multiple floors, the interface will automatically update to display which floor you’re on.

Google Indoor Maps is currently available via desktop browsers and Android mobile devices.
An iPhone update to the Google Maps app that includes access to Indoor Maps is still forthcoming.

We hope to have indoor maps available for other branches of the Free Library system in the future!

Tags: Parkway Central, maps, mobile, tech, website

The Free Library of Philadelphia yesterday released its first batch of raw data to the OpenDataPhilly project.

As discussed in previous blog posts, the "Open Data" initative's goal is to provide people with free and easy access to all kinds of data and information for the betterment of our lives and communities.

In Philadelphia, the focus had primarily been on government transparency and data for city services and GIS mapping, with the culmination of all of those elements being the Philly311 app, but there are now a lot more data sets being published by non-municipal entities such as non-profits, universities, and commercial organizations in the Philadelphia region.

The data released by Free Library primarily concerns our RSS feeds for Author Events, Free Library Blogs, Free Library Podcasts, Book Reviews, and Digital Collections.
http://opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/223/free-library-of-philadelphia-rss-feeds

While this data was already public, the OpenDataPhilly website will help give it a wider audience, and also be a repository for developers to access and create mobile applications and APIs with that data. The Free Library of Philadelphia will continue to work with OpenDataPhilly to cultivate ideas around how our data can meet the growing interest, demand and utility for openness and transparency of information.

Tags: Events at the Library, databases, mobile, tech, website