Update On My Next Book

Today is the first time in several weeks that I have a day off from basically everywhere I work (FYI, on top of working for a public library, I also work P/T at a college library, freelance gigs, and teaching writing through the Gotham Writers’ Workshop). Seems like a good time to update this blog regarding information about my next book.

I officially signed a contract last month with ALA Editions to write a guide on mobile app development for libraries. The book is tentatively called “Going Mobile” and it will be due out, assuming all timetables are meant, sometime in 2011.

As some of you know, I published my first iPhone app back in May; this was essentially prep work for this book. I have believe for quite some time that libraries needed to get into the mobile app game, and I wanted to see how easy (or hard) it is.

The goal of the book is to show that mobile apps aren’t as hard as you may think; new software is making mobile development both easy and practical with people with only HTML skills.

Washington DC is the only library that has kind of experimented in getting the library online (they have a free app on the iPhone store); there are a handful of library related apps (like WorldCat), but it is extremely limited. I’m excited for the opportunity to write about a topic that has yet to be thoroughly covered.

So stay tuned, and I’ll keep you updated on its progress. And if any librarians are currently working on apps for their libraries, I’d be interested in hearing from you…leave a comment below or email me scottdouglas  at scottdouglas.org.