Tuesday, October 17, 2006

QR: The next big thing?

[photo from SlashPhone]

Wireless: Mobile Marketing in an Ink Blot discusses a technology already commonplace in Japan and South Korea - QR codes. QR stands for "Quick Response." These codes are like bar codes, but they look more like ink blots and they contain a lot more information. Customers read the codes by taking snapshots of them with Internet-enabled cell phones. For example, the article mentions that grocery shoppers can take pictures of QR coded meat packages and learn where the meat came from, what the cow ate, and where the meat was processed. The codes are also finding their way onto business cards and McDonald's food packaging.

I can only begin to imagine the potential uses for this in libraries. We could code signs, exhibits, promotional materials, and on and on. What I like is that the codes are interactive and that they add value and layers of meaning to objects. Consider how even the simple act of consuming hamburgers is changed just by knowing all about the cow they came from! I'm enthusiastic about marketing applications for tools like these that allow us to provide a richer experience for patrons.

What do you think about QR and it's possible applications?

Categories: technology_tools

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