Thing 18 : QR Codes

Before beginning this exercise I must admit that I had little time for QR codes. I saw them purely as a consumer advertising ploy and am of the opinion it is just quicker to enter the URL into your browser and go straight to a web page this way, rather than faff around with opening a QR reader and then getting the code to scan correctly. I was however quite intrigued at designing my own, so as instructed,  I went to the following generator and set about creating my code. I started with something basic and produced a code which links to this blog. However, since QR codes are designed to be used on printed materials and largely as marketing tools, I got thinking about how they might be used in the library.

My very boring looking QR Code.

My colleague had the very good idea to make a code for the WSA Library blog posts relating to our new acquisitions, which could be printed on a poster and placed at the loans desk. This would have the dual effect of getting more users to access our blog, and also provide a quick and easy route to seeing what new books we have in the library, rather than accessing this information through WebCat. In other words, the QR code can provide a quick and direct route to a particular website, rather than clicking through more than one link which is obviously more time consuming. I really like this idea and think that other QR codes could be dotted about the library for various purposes (by the MFDs for example with a link to isolutions troubleshooting pages). However, from a widening access to resources perspective, QR codes are problematic. Not everyone has or uses a smartphone or tablet device, so if we were to rely too heavily on QR codes, a number of users would be at a disadvantage. 

The more I look into QR codes though and recognise their value as a marketing tool, the more positive I feel about them. The following page featuring some creative uses of QR codes (including edible QR cookies!) has confirmed that they can be used in unique and innovative ways, and do not need to look like my very ordinary example above.