Uporaba mobilnih naprav za branje e-gradiv med študenti Univerze v Ljubljani : doktorska disertacija

slovenian

2022

Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta

In the dissertation we investigated the use of mobile devices for reading e-materials (e-books, e-articles) for study purposes among students at the University of Ljubljana and the factors influencing the use and non-use. The research provided a deeper insight into the behavior of students at the University of Ljubljana in using mobile devices for study purposes, especially for reading e-materials (e-books, e-articles), which has not been explored before. Knowing how they search for information on mobile devices, their attitude towards using mobile devices for reading e-materials and the factors influencing their use / non-use can be a starting point for planning mobile services in university libraries. The survey on the use of mobile devices for reading e-materials was conducted among students from different faculties of the University of Ljubljana. Actual usage of some online services was analyzed using system logs for different time intervals. As the analysis of transaction logs showed that access from mobile devices to websites for study purposes is low, we used an online survey to investigate students' information behavior when using mobile devices for study purposes and to read e-materials. Through the survey, data were obtained on the characteristics, opinions, beliefs and attitudes of the students of the University of Ljubljana regarding the use of mobile devices for reading e-materials, as well as data on the current state of library services for mobile devices in UL libraries. Since we assumed that the attitude and purpose of using mobile devices for reading e-materials for students is also influenced by the perception of mobile devices, we also investigated this in the context of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Using TAM, we examined how these factors influence students' attitudes and intentions to use mobile devices to read e-materials.Through a qualitative study using the method of standardized interview and structured observation, we sought to explore the reasons behind students' actual information seeking behavior when using mobile devices. Due to the nature of qualitative research, it was conducted on a small sample of students from different faculties of the University of Ljubljana. The results showed that UL students already use mobile devices for study purposes, most often a smartphone. Most of them use it for communication and searching for information. In a qualitative study, UL students indicated that they use a PC for more challenging study tasks and use mobile devices for this purpose only when a PC is not available. A confounding factor for UL students when using mobile devices for study purposes, in addition to the small screen/keyboard and poorer page visibility, is the lack of ability to highlight text. In addition to technical problems, low information literacy in using electronic databases and low familiarity with library services offered for mobile devices (electronic databases) are barriers to reading e-texts for study. UL libraries mostly already have mobile services in place, but they are currently under-promoted. One of the ways to promote is through training, but the choice of the form of training requires attention, as conducting workshops, for example, requires that the librarians have both technological and technical knowledge. Providing services for mobile devices therefore requires professional training for librarians, which requires additional resources and staff readiness for additional activities in the library. This brings new challenges to UL libraries, as they will have to take into account that their users also read in electronic formats.

04.07.2023