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Student attitudes towards mobile library services for smartphones

Student attitudes towards mobile library services for smartphones Purpose – This paper aims to provide quantitative and qualitative data on students' use of mobile devices and to consider the benefit of academic mobile library services to students. Design/methodology/approach – Initial mobile library research included an online survey that attracted 1,716 participants. This was followed up with two discussion groups of six undergraduate and five postgraduate students. The survey followed‐on from an earlier survey conducted by the University of Edinburgh's Information Services (IS) in March 2010. Findings – The dramatic growth of smartphone ownership among students in an eight‐month period was surprising: a 17 per cent increase between March and November 2010. In addition, 68 per cent of students who plan to change their mobile handset would upgrade to a smartphone. Research limitations/implications – As students were unable to provide feedback on University of Edinburgh's own mobile library services, their feedback is speculative and subject to change. Practical implications – The paper provides evidence for libraries to determine the value of developing their own mobile services. It also demonstrates the proliferation of mobile device usage within the university and library context and indicates which services students would find most useful on a mobile device. Originality/value – The paper provides insight into a rapidly moving area of technology as demonstrated through the research. The increasing use of mobile devices among students is important to acknowledge. The role of the academic library is to embrace changing student behaviour by providing services optimised for mobile devices. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Library Hi Tech Emerald Publishing

Student attitudes towards mobile library services for smartphones

Lorraine Paterson; Boon Low
Library Hi Tech , Volume 29 (3): 12 – Sep 6, 2011
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References (12)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0737-8831
DOI
10.1108/07378831111174387
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to provide quantitative and qualitative data on students' use of mobile devices and to consider the benefit of academic mobile library services to students. Design/methodology/approach – Initial mobile library research included an online survey that attracted 1,716 participants. This was followed up with two discussion groups of six undergraduate and five postgraduate students. The survey followed‐on from an earlier survey conducted by the University of Edinburgh's Information Services (IS) in March 2010. Findings – The dramatic growth of smartphone ownership among students in an eight‐month period was surprising: a 17 per cent increase between March and November 2010. In addition, 68 per cent of students who plan to change their mobile handset would upgrade to a smartphone. Research limitations/implications – As students were unable to provide feedback on University of Edinburgh's own mobile library services, their feedback is speculative and subject to change. Practical implications – The paper provides evidence for libraries to determine the value of developing their own mobile services. It also demonstrates the proliferation of mobile device usage within the university and library context and indicates which services students would find most useful on a mobile device. Originality/value – The paper provides insight into a rapidly moving area of technology as demonstrated through the research. The increasing use of mobile devices among students is important to acknowledge. The role of the academic library is to embrace changing student behaviour by providing services optimised for mobile devices.

Journal

Library Hi Tech – Emerald Publishing

Published: Sep 6, 2011

Keywords: User research; Smartphones; Academic libraries; Mobile library services; Mobile communication systems; Information technology

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