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Globally, mobile technology is a significant factor influencing how libraries are changing the ways of delivering services to today’s users. This paper aims to explore academic librarians’ perceptions of the usefulness of mobile technology in delivering library services and the efforts required for its successful adoption.

The study was conducted within an interpretive paradigm. The research objectives were underpinned by the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology as a theoretical framework. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyses using NVIVO for thematic analysis.

Results show that, in general, academic librarians support the use of mobile technology to provide services such as access to eBooks and Journals, Online Public Access Catalogue, Bookmyne application, information literacy consultations and training. Library managers, fellow librarians and users were identified as encouraging the adoption of mobile technology to enhance library services. The paper further confirms that the successful adoption of mobile technology requires some effort. However, due to some of the challenges presented in the study, a majority of respondents felt that their libraries are not yet ready to fully embrace mobile technology the way it is envisioned in today’s world.

The study endeavours to address the divergence between students and academic librarians’ viewpoints regarding the application of mobile technology in the provision of library services.

This paper highlights numerous ways that academic librarians could adopt and embrace mobile technology, which can benefit both academic libraries and other institutions of higher learning. The knowledge presented in this paper could assist academic librarians in assessing their institutions’ vulnerabilities, challenges and strengths in using mobile technologies to provide library services.

This study aims to investigate the factors that affect the intention to use public mobile libraries and enhance the quality of mobile library services to attract and retain users.

A questionnaire survey was conducted with 391 valid users in China. Based on the stimulus–response theory and user individual characteristics, a model was developed to examine the factors influencing the intention to use public mobile libraries. The model was tested using statistical software, such as SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 24.0.

The results indicate that technological factors, content factors, individual factors and psychological factors significantly influence the intention to use public mobile libraries. The impact of system quality and perceived ease of use in technological factors is relatively balanced. Among content factors, information quality is the most significant, while information literacy has a greater influence compared to subjective norms in individual factors. In psychological factors, perceived matching and perceived pleasure both positively influence usage intention, while perceived cost has a negative impact.

Firstly, this study only investigates users’ intention to use, but intention does not necessarily equate to actual usage behaviour (King and He,2006). Future research can introduce new variables to explore users’ adoption and continuous usage behaviours. Secondly, this study does not differentiate between different types of mobile library users. Future research can consider different user types, such as potential users and current users, to investigate the similarities and differences in their willingness to adopt mobile library services. Thirdly, this study is primarily cross-sectional. Future research can consider longitudinal studies to provide more in-depth insights into user behaviour.

This paper identifies external and internal stimulus factors and conducts a comprehensive investigation into the factors influencing the intention to use public mobile libraries, thus providing generalizable research findings. Unlike previous studies, this research introduces the information literacy variable, enriching the model of factors affecting users' intention to use mobile libraries and yielding more comprehensive conclusions. Consequently, the study aims to be grounded in the actual usage ideas and intentions of diverse user groups, constructing a model that highlights factors influencing the intention to use public mobile library services.

From a social perspective, this study offers four implications for improving the utilization of public mobile libraries. Firstly, it is crucial to integrate digital resources, enhance information quality in public mobile libraries and improve platform usability. Secondly, adopting a user-oriented approach is essential to improve the service level of public mobile libraries and stimulate residents’ participation. Thirdly, efforts should be made to strengthen user information literacy and increase information utilization. Fourthly, top-level design improvements, effective promotion efforts and user behaviour guidance are essential for the success of public mobile libraries.

This study contributes to the improvement of public mobile library services and the advancement of modern public cultural services by identifying the key factors that drive the intention to use such services. The findings have practical implications for promoting high-quality development and enhancing the popularity of public mobile libraries.

The use of mobile technologies and learning devices has been increasing in every field of life, and library and information sciences are no exception. This study aims to explore the perceptions of library and information science (LIS) students regarding mobile learning (m-learning) along with their primary purposes, social media applications, advantages, disadvantages, barriers, impact and overall satisfaction with using these devices.

A survey method was used, and data was collected from the students of 12 library schools in Pakistan for a total sample of 250 students.

Their main purposes of usage, their needs, advantages, disadvantages, barriers, impacts and the level of overall satisfaction were also identified. The inferential statistics (t-test and ANOVA) also identified the difference of opinion on the basis of gender, programs, types and number of m-learning devices. Overall, the findings highlight the need for academic libraries to give mobile access (launching mobile applications) to better use library services. To ensure this, libraries must keep an eye on new advances in mobile technology, researchers’ needs and related electronic library services and observe how these services are being used.

Theoretical and practical implications have been highlighted to understand the perceptions of LIS students about m-learning devices.

The mobile library service providers and management need to improve their services by offering services that fit the diverse needs of their users and should know how to attract modern library users.

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on factors that contribute to the successful development and use of the mobile digital library (DL). This aim will be achieved by reviewing selected journal articles on mobile DLs' successful development and use. This paper argues that the concept of DLs is evolving because of the dynamic nature of knowledge and technological developments in the infosphere.

A systematic literature search of journal article factors that contribute to the successful development and use of the mobile DL was accomplished by searching the following databases: Emerald insight, Science directory and Google Scholar. The systematic review was conducted following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines. This study applied Rogers's (1965) Diffusion of innovation theory to unpack the attributes of innovation to unpack contextual factors shaping African conceptions of mobile libraries (m-libraries). The studies reviewed were published from 2016 to 2021. This paper is based on a systematic literature review. This paper uses publicly available literature on the theme of DLs concerning m-libraries. Among the search terms used for the study were: “digital libraries”, “Africa and digital libraries”, “electronic libraries”, “information communication technologies”, “access to information” and “mobile digital libraries”.

Reviewed literature indicates that myriad factors can contribute positively or negatively to the successful development and use of the mobile DL. These factors include the degree of staff awareness and understanding of the potential of mobile technologies in enhancing the provision of library services, the availability of relevant digital content, library staff and users’ level of digital and information literacy competencies to navigate digital platforms, user friendliness of DL platforms, material and financial support to access m-libraries, power supply and access to internet connectivity.

The results from this study will generate knowledge and insight into the factors that affect the development and optimal use of mobile DLs to enhance and widen access to scholarly databases irrespective of time and space. This study will make recommendations that will enable South African policymakers to make informed decisions relating to the factors affecting the development and usage of mobile DLs for enhanced learning, teaching and education.

Given the growing number of scholarly publications on mobile DLs, this study seeks to discover how such technologies can help enhance learning, teaching and research in higher education. This study’s findings will provide a scientific basis for policymakers and researchers with evidence-based knowledge that raises the value of mobile DLs. It was discovered that if the identified factors are handled well, users can easily access tools, such as databases, electronic journals and online reference tools, and this could improve the quality of teaching and learning.

This study aims to determine college/university students’ mobile phone practices to understand key user preferences and set a baseline understanding for the development of prospective library informational mobile services.

This study is based on the results of an online-survey method. The authors recruited students majoring in the Information Science program in School of Information at Pratt Institute (USA) (74 participants) and in Kyiv National University of Cultural and Arts (Ukraine) (89 participants).

The general trends in the use of mobile technologies by American and Ukrainian students were identified. Key components of library mobile services are offered. Such services may include information and reference service via messengers; development of library mobile applications of audio and video content; access to educational, scientific, popular science literature and fiction; and supplementing online services with library chatbots.

This study was limited to only students majoring in information science at university; however, the data obtained helps outline several general trends common to student youth who are actively working with information.

The obtained results will be useful in the practical activities of libraries and other information institutions for the development of a comprehensive information service based on mobile technology.

This study contributes to understanding how to improve library informational service considering users habits and preferences. Libraries management and librarians can use the findings as a basis for prioritizing the improvement of library informational mobile service.

This study aims to examine the effects of the proposed mobile Web library application (MWLA) on the search experience and its impact on learners’ engagement, interaction and overall learning outcomes within an institutional repository. Furthermore, the study investigates learners’ acceptance of the MWLA system.

The study suggests implementing an MWLA with Algolia’s search service to improve the institutional repository and enhance learners’ access to reliable information. It involved an experiment with 85 undergraduate students divided into experimental and control groups (CGs), where the experimental group (EG) used MWLA for search tasks, and the CG used the traditional library website. The study evaluated the acceptance and learning behaviours of the EG towards MWLA, considering factors such as usefulness, ease of use, mobility, accessibility, satisfaction and intention to use.

The findings of this study provide empirical evidence that the EG, which used the MWLA, demonstrated superior performance compared to the CG across all institutional repository collections, resulting in improved learning outcomes. Participants were highly satisfied with MWLA and found it user-friendly and beneficial for improving search skills. MWLA’s portability and accessibility motivated active learner engagement.

The powerful search bar of MWLA significantly enhanced learners’ search efficiency, resulting in more effective retrieval of relevant materials. Moreover, learners who actively engaged with previews and full-text content, using appropriate keywords and syntax, achieved higher scores and were more likely to access previews, abstracts and full texts of documents using the sorting-by-year or by-advisor feature.

Reading represents a basic way by which humans understand the world and acquire knowledge; it is also central to learning and communicating. However, with the rapid development of mobile reading, an individual's cognition of objective facts may be affected by the reading environment and text genre, resulting in limited memorization and understanding of the reading material. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the influence of the reading environment and text genre on individuals' cognitive activities from the perspective of motivational activation level using evidence from electroencephalography (EEG) signals.

The study employed a mixed design experiment with two reading environments (quiet and distracting) between subjects, two text genres (entertaining and scientific) within subjects and two reading tasks (memory recall and comprehension) within subjects. There were 50 participants in the experiment, and the data obtained from 44 participants while they read the materials and completed the reading tasks were analyzed.

The results showed that readers are more positively motivated to read in a quiet reading environment than in a distracting reading environment when facing the memory recall tasks of entertaining genre passages and comprehension tasks of scientific genre passages. Entertaining genres are more likely to arouse readers' reading interest but hinder the memory recall of the content details. While scientific genres are not easy to understand, they are helpful for working memory.

This study not only applies a new technology to mobile reading research in the field of library science and addresses the limitations of self-report data, but also provides suggestions for the further improvement of mobile reading service providers. Additionally, the results may provide useful information for learners with different learning demands.

This study aims to determine the requirements and find out the challenges for the use of digital library services for rural areas of Capricorn District Municipality, Limpopo province. The research questions of the study are: What are the requirements for the use of digital library services in rural areas of Capricorn District Municipality? What are the challenges of accessing digital library services in rural areas?

Data was analysed thematically and deductively in this study, as researcher required to accomplish the purpose of the study through consistent structure (Zalaghi and Khazaei, 2016). In deductive analysis, the researcher starts with a set of categories, which are then used to categorize and organize data (Bertram and Christiansen, 2020). The researcher got familiar with data from the interviewing process and when transcribing data from audio tape. The transcription process was done for the coding purposes. Coding allows the researcher to simplify and focus on specific characteristics of data.

The study findings advocate for the establishment of digital libraries in rural areas. The library authorities are challenged to adapt digital ways of information provision. Since librarians have been providing digital content in libraries for use on users’ laptops and other gadgets, this implies that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has been lagging behind in finding innovative ways to provide information, especially in rural areas. To successfully keep libraries as sources of information, transformative measures have to be taken, and where possible, revisit the policies and keep drifting with the societal changes. The library authorities have to delve into new ways of providing LIS to the communities. Unquestionably, information and communication technologies have penetrated our societies and became a way of life. In addition, there are unlimited benefits which can be derived from digital technologies, especially given the lack of physical libraries in rural areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the academic research is original and has not been published anywhere before.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between the information system success model constructs including information quality (IQ), system quality (SysQ) and service quality (ServQ) with user satisfaction (US) and intention to use (IU).

A meta-analysis approach was used to achieve the objectives. For this purpose, the PRISMA-P guideline was used, and a search strategy was designed to search in three indexing databases including Google Scholar, Scopus and LISTA.

The findings of this research revealed that IQ, SysQ and ServQ are positively related to US and IU regarding library systems. The strength of the relationship between IQ and IU, IQ and US, ServQ and US and SysQ and US was high.

This study is a unique addition to the literature, as it provides a collective and comprehensive conclusion regarding different information systems’ (ISs) success in libraries. Therefore, it fills the literature gap. The findings also work as guidelines for system developers, designers and library high-ups to consider IQ, SysQ and ServQ while designing and developing ISs for libraries.

Public libraries have been making various efforts and innovations to adapt to changes. The purpose of this study is to analyze type of library innovation based on the innovation’s subject.

The data was collected by identifying the information in regard to the innovation uploaded on the library website. A total of 548 public library websites have been identified, and 1,567 library innovations data have been collected.

The innovations that have been made and carried out are divided into seven subject categories: inclusion-based innovation, information source innovation, innovation, cooperation, innovation in information services, innovation in library management, innovation with the use of technology. The consequences of innovation in public libraries include increased performance, community empowerment, increased accessibility of information, increased public literacy and external support.

This research only focuses on one type of library, namely, all public libraries in Indonesia. The findings of this study are based on library innovation data taken from the public library website, so that library innovations that are not uploaded to the website are not included in this study.

The impact of the innovations that have been implemented is not only in improving the performance of the library but also the surrounding community. Public libraries must continue to innovate because of the amount that can be obtained for the progress of society, nation and state.