Perceptions toward academic library app implementation

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of Kuwait University students majoring in the social sciences, faculty members and academic librarians toward mobile library applications (apps), which are not currently available. These technologies are highly desirable for students, but many libraries struggle to properly implement them. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative survey questionnaires were distributed to 400 undergraduate students, of which 184 valid and completed questionnaires were collected. In addition, three focus groups were conducted with social sciences graduate students, academics and librarians to further explore attitudes and perspectives toward library apps. Findings A majority of respondents (62 per cent) visited the academic library less than five times per month or never, but a smaller majority (57 per cent) also preferred to use a combination of computers and mobile devices to access library information. The most desirable student uses for library apps involved access to basic information or services such as library hours, book renewal or catalog searches. Most potential barriers to student use of library apps received low scores; only slow internet speed was considered a significant problem. Focus group discussions clarified that major concerns regarding the implementation of library apps included the potential cost, knowledge, training and administrator support for these efforts. Originality/value This study highlights the unique interest in, and barriers to, library app implementation at Kuwait University, while providing an informative structure for similar studies and considerations elsewhere.

Anytime, anywhere access to information resources: a case study from Kuwait

“…The biggest obstacle faced by the respondents was 'no mobile Apps' signified by 97 (41) respondents. The next barrier that was recognized by a substantial number of respondents was 'poor Wi-Fi access' signified by 90 (38) respondents, this complies to the finding of Al-Daihani et al (2018b). 'download files/incompatible formats' 87 (37), and 'no mobile responsive web' 80 (34) were also reported.…”

Research Support Services in Indonesian Academic Digital Libraries A Proposed Business Model and Prototype Design

“…Moreover, digital libraries have adopted mobile and Web applications to provide easy access to traditional library services. Some studies have revealed the benefits of adopting mobile applications in library services, foremost of which is that doing so can provide service improvement opportunities [9][10] . The National University of Tainan Library claims that the mobile applications it has adopted have increased the research convenience and have enabled it to offer more practical services 11 .…”

“…The results were encoded based on the type of service, the actor, and the practice of organizing the digital library. The literature review provided evidence of research support services that have been developed in digital libraries, which are divided into six groups: scholarly publishing access, research result dissemination, research data management, research consultation, and capacity building, repository, and research tool and research guide 3,22,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] . Research funding and collaboration services have not been developed in digital libraries.…”