Purpose: A survey was undertaken to better understand the nature of handheld mobile computing use by academic library users and whether there is a significant demand and demand for using the library services with these small screen devices.
Design/Methodology/Approach: A survey was created to measure whether people want to access an OPAC with a small screen. Additionally through with open ended questions, the survey attempted to gain a broader understanding of handheld mobile computing’s impact on and implications for the services provided by academic libraries.
Findings: 58.4% of respondents who owned a web enabled handheld device indicated that they would use small screen devices, such as PDAs or web enabled cellphones to search a library OPAC.
Originality/Value: The increasing prevalence of handheld mobile computing devices such as PDAs and web enabled cell phones warrants investigation as to its impact on libraries. This study examines an academic library user population and the potential demand for using the library’s catalog with handheld mobile computing devices
Sources: Library Hi-Tech (via Spectrum Blog and Twitter)
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