Prospects of the application of Smart

Phones in Academic Libraries of

Assam: a case study of the Degree

General Colleges of Cachar district

by

Dr. Sarita Bhattacharjee

&

Dr Tuhina Choudhury (Deb Roy)

Smart Phone

• It is a cellular telephonic device• It has more advanced computing capability and

connectivity.• It offers the ability to receive and send e-mail.• It has media player, digital camera and also Qwerty

keyboard• It has a GPS navigation unit• It has touch screen, web browsing, Wi-Fi apps, motion

sensor• It has constant internet connectivity allowing users to

have unlimited services available at their fingertips.

Smart Phone application in library

and information services

(QR Codes) Quick Response codes

Objectives:

i) To identify the services rendered by the libraries

ii) To ascertain frequency of visits to library

iii) To assess user’s awareness of library services

iv) To find for what purposes students use smart phones.

v) To make a decision on the users’ opinion about provision of library services through

smart phones.

vi) To identify the services that could be delivered through smart phones.

Sl.No Name of the Colleges Year of establishment Status

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Gurucharan College

Cachar College

Women’s College

Radhamadhab College

Janata College

M.C.D.College

Nehru College

West Silchar College

Silchar College

J.N.Singh College

Lalit Jain Commerce College

S.M. Dev College

Fakir Uddin Ali Ahmed Degree College

M.K.Dey College

S.R.College

Anchalik Degree College

1935

1960

1963

1971

1964

1972

1965

1985

1994

1998

1996

1995

2006

1992

1992

1990

Provincialized

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

Private

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

-Do-

Colleges in Cachar District

Sl.No Frequency of

Visit

Students Teachers

Number Percentage Number Percentage

1 Every Day 71 77.17 32 64

2 Twice in a

week

11 11.95 10 20

3 Once a week 8 8.69 5 10

4 Never 2 2.17 3 6

Total 92 50

Frequency of library visit

Purposes of visiting the library (Students)

Purpose of visit to Library No. of

respondents

Percentage

1 Borrow Books 92 100

2 Find and read material required for their

Course

87 94.56

3 Get Library material for self improvement 71 77.17

4 Find material for publishing an article/paper 8 8.69

5 Get some reading material Xeroxed 89 96.73

6 Complete assignment with own books 12 13.04

7 Casual visit(Newspaper reading, periodicals

etc)

65 70.65

8 For recreational reading 73 79.34

9 For passing time 21 22.82

Purposes of visiting the library (Teachers)

Purposes of visit No. of respondents Percentage

1 Preparing class notes 35 70

2 To borrow books 47 94

3 To find materials for publishing an

article/paper/book

25 50

4 To get some reading material xeroxed 42 84

5 To consult the question banks 49 98

6 To read for self improvement 29 58

7 To find articles/books relevant to

their research topic

22 44

8 For recreational reading 18 36

9 To read newspaper/periodicals 31 62

10 Surfing the internet 23 46

11 To access e-resources 8 16

Sl. No Library services No of respondents Percentage

1 Circulation 16 100

2 Internet 7 43.75

3 Reference Service 10 62.5

4 Book Bank 7 43.75

5 Reprography 9 56.25

6 Current Awareness service 8 50

7 On Line searching 7 43.75

8 Access to e-resources 7 43.75

9 Newspaper clipping 10 62.5

10 Current Content 9 56.25

Services provided by the libraries

Option Students Teachers

Number Percentage Number Percentage

Fully aware 63 68.47 39 78

Partially

aware

27 29.34 9 18

Not aware 2 2.17 2 4

92 50

User’s awareness of the library services

Purposes of using smart phones Students Teachers

Number % Number %

1 Entertainments (e.g.

games,video etc.)

67 77.9 38 76

2 Communications

(emails,voicecall,sms)

82 95.34 44 88

3 Social Networks (e.g. Facebook,

Twitter, Whatsapp)

86 100 42 84

4 Browsing the Internet 78 90.69 39 78

5 Reading e-books or printed

materials

12 13.95 25 50

6 Taking photographs 61 70.93 12 24

Purposes of using smart phones

Willingness of availing the services through smart phones

Library services Students Teachers

Number % Number %

1 Access to library website for

library information

72 78.26 48 96

2 Access to e-books 55 59.78 42 84

3 Information about recent arrivals 82 89.13 47 94

4 Receive text alerts by text

messages

84 91.3 40 80

5 Access to e-journals 33 35.86 44 88

6 Access to OPAC 45 48.91 46 92

7 Access to library database 77 83.69 38 76

Suggestions

• Librarians must put their best efforts to digitize their collections for the

greater benefit of the society as a whole.

• As students are addicted to smart phones so attempts should be made to

provide the library services through smart phone.

• A detailed survey of user needs and expectation should be conducted before

introducing Smart Phone applications in library services.

• Skill development of library staff must be ensured for such application.

• Users’ orientation programme should be organized for making the users

aware of the library services. They should also be educated on the proper use of

smart phone for library services.

•Text messaging services can be used to experiment the

application of smart phone to provide library services.

• Individual library webpage should be created in order to

facilitate the users to get the access to information they require

through smart phone.

• Telecommunication infrastructures should be put in place for

efficient and effective communication between library users and

staff.

Thank You