What is that barcode thingy? Bear with me; I'll explain. This morning started out, like most mornings for me, with a cup of coffee and my feed reader. One of the items that dropped into my reader this morning was iLibrarian's 7 Things You Should Know About QR Codes. You guessed it; that barcode thingy is a QR code. And it really is a kind of barcode. The QR code (QR stands for "quick response") contains information, in this case, a URL and, when you use your phone's camera to look at the code, you can jump right to the webpage where the URL points.
If you don't believe me, try it. It is too easy. All you need is a QR reader on your web-enabled phone. On my phone, I went to www.i-nigma.mobi and my phone automatically downloaded the app. It's free and took about 10 seconds. There are lots of other readers out there, too. Once you've downloaded the reader to your phone, just open the program and point your camera at the QR code above and you'll be directed to the URL that's encoded.
QR codes are already heavily in use in Japan and some European countries for marketing purposes and are making some inroads in the States, too. As far as I can tell, Brooklyn Public Library is the only U.S. public library making use of QR codes (if I'm wrong, please let me know!) but it seems as though there ought to be all kinds of useful applications for this technology in libraries.
Some obvious uses include QR codes on printed handouts that lead to basic information such as upcoming events or maps to physical locations. How about QR codes posted in your New Books area to add yourself to the wait list for the latest bestseller? Other ideas that could make our services more accessible to our users from anywhere?
2 comments:
VERY cool! I have inigma, but have had nothing to point it at! You've identified some great uses of the QR codes - we should do a demo and talk it up!
The Dover Town Library is using them ~ and QRcodes are part of the Massachusetts statewide summer reading program ~ lots of great qrcode stuff!
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