EconBiz to go: Mobile search options for business and economics – developing a library app for researchers

Abstract

Purpose – The author developed a specialized app to cater to the needs of researchers in business and economics. At the same time the number of library apps in general increased dramatically. This article intends to put the author's efforts in developing a specialized app into the context of the development of mobile apps for library users in general. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews a number of seminal papers on the development of library apps and sets the description of the development of the EconBiz app against the developments in general. Users' needs in relation to library apps seem mostly pretty basic, yet some of these needs are still hard to meet. Research limitations/implications – The use of mobile phones, the services available on mobile devices and the availability of library apps are changing rapidly, so some findings might be outdated by the time the respective papers were published. Originality/value – This paper brings together the findings of a number of studies and surveys against the practical implications of developing an individual app.