Mobile Monday – NARA Goes Mobile

Last week I saw an interesting blog post that I wanted to share today for this weeks Mobile Monday post.

Attention smartphone users:  The National Archives has released our first mobile application called “Today’s Document,” based on the popular feature on Archives.gov.

This app pulls documents and information from the Archives.gov website. It appears that each day there will be a featured document, person, place etc. that you can learn more about by using your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Below are some more screenshots of the app. Features:

• Pinch to zoom and inspect individual documents and photos - each rendered as stunning high resolution images.
• Swipe a document left or right to view the previous or next day's document.
• Use the calendar icon to select a specific date or just browse documents at random.
• Tap the info icon to read fascinating background information.
• Add a document to your favorites list by tappin the star icon.

You can simply navigate your way through the app learning more about the featured item by clicking on the little "info" button on the top of the screen. On the iPhone, the app brings up a completely new screen giving a brief description of the item, while on the iPad it brings up a little window showing the same info. After the descriptions there are two links. The first link will take you to a page in Safari (mobile web browser) to give you more information and pictures. The second link will take you to a page to view the document on Archives.gov, giving more information as well. You can also select the featured item and make if a favorite. This will give you the option of quickly referring back to the item at a later time with easy access. You can search for various items according to:

• Yesterday's Document
• Today's Document
• Tomorrow's Document
• Select a Date
• Surprise Me!

This fun app is a great way to learn more about the various records and documents stored at the National Archives and Records Administration. When I started playing around with this app it reminded me of the other historical app I reviewed last year, On This Day... Of course another great feature of this app is that it is free! Be sure to check it out. Download it now in the iTunes App Store.