Communication model of mobile library services in the academic libraries

Pažur, Ivana. (2019). Communication model of mobile library services in the academic libraries. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Information Science.
(PDS Informacijskih i komunikacijskih znanosti) [mentor Hebrang Grgić, Ivana].

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Abstract

Mobile devices have brought a distinct mobility in space and thus influenced the behavior and users expectations who want to get the information at any time and place. Libraries have recognized the importance of the global trend of ubiquitous mobile devices and began to adapt them to meet the needs of mobile users so in the second decade of the 21st century the majority of libraries provide mobile adjusted resources and services. Given that students are at the forefront of mobile devices accepting and using, this research includes student population at the University of Zagreb in order to explore information interaction between users and librarians and to develop a communication model of information exchange in the mobile environment. In addition faculty members and librarians are included as they are link between students and information sources. Taking into account mobile trend, this thesis deals with the influence and changes that the mobile environment brings to communication between librarians and users in the form of academic mobile library resources and services. In the first chapter Development, expansion and use of mobile devices the terminological ambiguities in the Croatian language related to the appearance of mobile devices and trends in the context of libraries have been clarified. Given the widespread use of mobile phones and smartphones, their development, expansion and factors of mobile devices using are shown. Theoretical framework chapter provides a theoretical framework with a review of the theoretical directions and perspectives of computer mediated communication, information behavioral models and information-communication competences and skills that are essential part of the communication model of mobile library services in academic libraries. The chapter Mobile devices and libraries describes the application of mobile devices in education, the educational role of librarians in academic libraries and the experience of users and librarians with mobile library resources and services that have shown the user's interest in accessing all library resources and services through mobile devices as well as librarian readiness to adapt to such user requirements. In the chapter Mobile library resources and services mobile web pages, library applications, mobile catalogues, academic databases, text messages, social networks and media, new technologies and services were presented as they are important for mobile users and they are included in the communication model of mobile library services in the academic libraries. In the chapter Research on using mobile library resources and services in academic libraries the aim and hypotheses of research, methodology and the results of the research were presented and interpreted. Research has showed that mobile devices are not accepted as a communication channel for the transfer of library information between academic librarians at the University of Zagreb and their users and that academic libraries did not adapt their communication regarding using their resources through mobile devices. Librarians as well as their users are not educated enough to use the new ways of communication by mobile devices and, although they in general possess sufficient knowledge and information-communication competences and skills, there is a need for additional education of librarians on mobile library resources and services as well as the need of users for librarians to educate them in this regard. The proposed communication model of information exchange in the mobile environment presumes the academic library as a sender of information ie. mobile library resources and services which mobile devices channel to the information recipient/user, and the same channel is used for the feedback. The key communication component of the model is education as an activity by which the information sender/library is directed towards the user in order to adopt and improve the information-communication competences and skills needed to manage the mobile environment and to apply those skills (creation and content sharing, security and privacy protection, device synchronization and „cloud” usage, finding applications), to the use of mobile library resources and services. In the closing chapter, scientific contribution, general conclusions and thoughts on Croatian academic libraries mobile resources and services were presented.

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