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To provide an overview of the reference services provided through the use of Tablet PCs at the Salem‐South Lyon District Library.

A detailed description of what Tablet PCs are and how they work, including information about the benefits Tablet PCs present to reference transactions and tips for librarians to successfully integrate Tablet PCs into their reference service.

Tablet PCs allow reference librarians to provide quality customer service to their patrons by saving them time. Librarians who use Tablet PCs during reference transactions have access to online resources from any point in a library’s wireless network.

There are new models of Tablet PCs available on the market that may not have been tested by librarians. New, improved features of Tablet PCs may enhance their usefulness to librarians.

This paper provides useful information and advice for librarians who are considering using Tablet PCs, or who are searching for a way to enhance their current reference service.

This paper provides insight from librarians who are currently using Tablet PCs in their reference service. This will inspire other librarians to consider using Tablet PCs in their libraries and help them be successful in the integration of Tablets into their reference routines.

The purpose of this paper is primarily to report on a 2011 online discussion on tablets and their adoption in libraries, as observed by the researcher in blog postings and micro‐blog postings.

The researcher examined blogs and tweets about the diffusion of tablets in academic libraries to find out why early adopters or academic librarians adopted tablets and implemented them into library services.

Results reveal that academic librarians and libraries adopt and integrate tablets into library services because they can offer wireless access to the library's e‐collection and e‐resources in ways better than e‐readers or smartphones and because librarians have some level of familiarity with using tablets for their own work purposes before they considered extending such purposes to users.

Academic libraries are investing in devices to facilitate users' access to growing e‐resources. Tablet devices are one such option. However, many tablets are expensive, equalling or totalling more than the costs of laptops. The decision to adopt and implement them into library services needs to be informed by the experiences of others, in order to determine if it is a worthwhile purchase.

This paper departs from the general pattern of library literature on the subject of tablet adoption, by breaking with the tradition of being only informed by practice and emerging trial and error, to a more reflective approach to those experiences informed by Rogers' theory of the diffusions of innovations.

Current trends and recommendations regarding one-to-one (1:1) educational initiatives suggest that they are efficacious ways to achieve innovative change in education, namely through the promotion of active and innovative teaching practices. From a constructivist point of view, tablet devices offer teachers the potential to adopt interactive student-centred activities and to facilitate a process of learning in which students are actively involved and encouraged to be responsible and autonomous. This chapter describes a 1:1 tablet initiative that aims to promote changes in education by broadening and diversifying the activities in which students are involved and learn. It examines tablet use and teaching practices as experienced by 42 students from two lower secondary schools in Portugal. Data collection involved a questionnaire and two focus groups conducted a year after the implementation of the initiative. Results suggest tablet use to support innovative teaching practices, which fostered students’ engagement and deeper understanding of topics. Results also evidence tablet use to maintain traditional teaching practices, which undermined students’ expectations and prevented them to become more active learners.

This chapter explores ways that tablet devices can be used to support the inclusion of students with disability in inclusive classrooms. A short description of the evidence of efficacy of using tablets to support students with disability is provided. Ways to use tablet devices to support students with disability in the areas of communication, academics, organisation and social emotional skills to support their inclusion in mainstream classrooms are addressed. Lastly, barriers to using tablets to support students with disability in inclusive classrooms are described and ways to remove these barriers are suggested.

The number of children using and owning mobile devices has grown significantly in the last decade. By applying a uses and gratifications approach, this paper aims to explore what customers of a tablet computer for children report about the use and expectations of these devices from an information behavior perspective.

For this study, 1,185 online customer reviews published for two different versions of the Amazon Fire Tablet Kids Edition on the German Amazon website between June 16, 2019, and June 15, 2020, were analyzed. A content analysis of the reviews was conducted using different inductive coding methods.

Findings indicate that customers describe different aspects of children's use and families' expectations of tablets within their reviews. The expressed gratifications mostly relate to the aim of entertainment. Intentional information seeking activities were hardly mentioned within the reviews, but many customers emphasize learning as an important activity with the devices. Overall, the customer reviews reveal a mix of gratifications that differ from reported motivations for adults' tablet use.

The possibility of manipulated online customer reviews must be considered. It should also be viewed critically that the children's perspectives are only indirectly included in the data.

Families' expectations of tablets as a device for children have not been a focus of research to date. This study uses an innovative research design by applying a uses and gratifications approach to online customer reviews for children's tablets. The findings add to previous research on children's use and families' expectations of tablets and contribute to our understanding of children's information behavior in connection with mobile devices.

The 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) content in ecstasy tablets has increased enormously throughout Europe across the past decade. This study aims to determine whether this is caused by the production of “stronger” tablets (more mg MDMA per mg of tablet), or if tablets have simply been getting larger and heavier (more mg of tablet in total).

A data set of 31,716 ecstasy tablets obtained in 2012–2021 by 10 members of the Trans European Drug Information (TEDI) network was analysed.

The MDMA mass fraction in ecstasy tablets has remained virtually unchanged over the past 10 years, with increased MDMA contents being attributed almost exclusively to increased tablet weight. These trends seem to be uniform across Europe, despite varying sampling and analytical techniques being used by the TEDI participants. The study also shows that while tablet weight correlates perfectly with MDMA content on a yearly basis, wide variations in the MDMA mass fraction make such relations irrelevant for determining the MDMA content of individual tablets.

These results provide new opportunities for harm reduction, given that size is a tangible and apparently accurate characteristic to emphasise that one tablet does not simply equate to one dose. This is particularly useful for harm reduction services without the resources for in-house quantification of large numbers of ecstasy tablets, although the results of this study also show that chemical analysis remains crucial for accurate personalised harm reduction.

The findings are both new and pertinent, providing a novel insight into the market dynamics of ecstasy tablet production at a transnational level.

This paper aims to discuss the limitations surrounding the yoghurt industry and challenges to producing a bio-yoghurt tablet. The paper looks into challenge facing the yoghurt industry, such as manufacturing and distribution, its short shelf life, heat-sensitivity and relatively heavy weight. It further looks into the selection of strains, excipients and storage conditions with special consideration towards maintaining the viability of the probiotics inside bio-yoghurt tablets. The paper also discusses yoghurt standards and definitions across various countries and suggests a more uniform standard be embraced across countries for ease of categorization and production.

The paper is divided into a few major sections; each exploring various aspects of the yoghurt industry. Topics discussed include challenges in yoghurt production and storage; processes involved in bio-yoghurt tablet production, e.g. maximising viability, choice of excipients and more; market trends of yoghurt consumption and potential; and various food standards in countries around the world with a focus on yoghurt.

The review finds that yoghurt is a segment of the food industry with big growth potential. Most of the problems associated with yoghurt, i.e. poor shelf life, and heavy weight, can be circumvented by transforming it into a bio-yoghurt tablet. The paper further identifies food standard variations among different countries around the world which could impede yoghurt manufacture and acceptance.

This paper looks the various challenges surrounding the increased uptake of yoghurt, specifically in the Asian markets and suggests a viable option to overcome this problem, i.e. the use of a bio-yoghurt tablet. Should the worldwide bodies come together and agree to a universal standard involving yoghurt, the industry may see an even bigger expansion.

The aim of this paper is to determine the relative efficacy of an e-tablet menu over the traditional paper-based menu across the parameters of order information quality, menu usability, and ordering satisfaction using customer perceptions.

Two types of data were collected: customer perceptions using an instrument comprising academically underpinned constructs and observational data that involved ordering times, logs of any customization requests, and notes gathered from interactions with restaurant staff.

Findings indicate that e-tablet menus are significantly superior to the traditional paper-based menu across all parameters. Restaurateurs should be cognizant of customization options to significantly enhance order information quality, improve customer service and boost sales.

The findings support the idea that the use of technology does help to enhance the service experience, specifically the ordering experience for the customer.

Electronic tablets have the ability to transfer greater levels of information in an interactive manner thereby enhancing the role of the menu in the merchandising of a restaurant's offerings.

Although there is evidence of the importance of restaurant menus to the success of restaurants, little is known about the influence of the use of electronic menus on the ordering experience. This study provides findings that focus on the usability of menus and their impact on the ordering experience.

The paper aims to investigate how a tablet's design features, namely, its navigation design and visual appearance, influence users' enjoyment, concentration and control, when using tablets for problem-solving, and thereafter how their core flow experiences impact their perceived performance and efficiency with problem-solving.

This study uses a field survey approach to engage 87 participants in a decision sciences class to use eTextbooks and a few other associated educational apps including CourseSmart app for e-notes and highlighting, sketchbook app and a calculator app in tablets to resolve class problems at a large US university.

This study finds that the tablet's interface design features (navigation and visual appearance) make users engrossed in their problem-solving processes with perceived enjoyment, concentration and control. This, in turn, impacts their perceived performance and efficiency. Moreover, visual appearance plays the most significant role in arousing users' affective emotions (i.e. enjoyment), while interface navigation is crucial to engage users' deep concentration (i.e. cognition) and control for problem-solving.

Modern tablets are being used widely in various sectors. More in-depth user flow experience design associated with tablet use for problem-solving contexts should be further advocated in order to provide more engaging and meaningful flow experiences to users.

This study shows that the design of the tablet interface can engage users in problem-solving processes in both affective and cognitive ways. It provides valuable insights on tablet interface design for problem-solving.