Europeana: Culture on the go
2012-01-05
Europeana published a report, Culture on the Go, from web analysts CIBER. It shows how access to information is changing as more web browsing happens on smartphones and tablets. This shift will have a radical impact on the design and functionality of Europeana and other websites.
The CIBER group has developed a bespoke deep log analysis technique for monitoring behaviours online, and have shown that differences in the use of Europeana can be device-dependent. Mobile visits are typically shorter, less interactive, and less content is viewed per visit. The variation between different mobile devices is huge, with information seeking on smartphones substantially different from that associated with PCs and laptops, whereas from iPads the behaviour tends more towards PC-based browsing.
‘Culture on the Go' was part of CIBER's work for Europeana Connect. Europeana's mobile interface was also developed as part of the same project. The Report recognises that the mobile screen may be too small to get the best experience of the portal, whereas the high-resolution capabilities of leading tablets makes it the perfect device for exploring Europeana. This report shows us that we must speed up our development of new mobile and tablet interfaces, to meet the expectations of our fastest-growing audience.
Press release: http://pro.europeana.eu/web/guest/news/press-releases
Full report: http://pro.europeana.eu/web/guest/publications
