Users Attitude towards use of Smart Phone to Access Information: A Case Study of Mizoram University Students’ Presented by, Ksh. Krishna Devi Research Scholar Department of Library & Information Science, Mizoram University Aizawl Email: krsna.devi@gmail.com

Introduction Mobile phones have become one of the most essential parts of human life. It helps in easy and quick sharing of information. The smart pones are similar to mobile phones where it offers more advanced functioning like PCs. Mobile devices have already made a significant impact on services like banking, tourism, health and agriculture. Mobile Technology has now come up as “Libraries in Hand” trend where the librarians needs to communicate with the users for accessing information (Khare).

Objective of the study Methodology To know the students’ attitude of MZU towards smart phone to access information. To identify the different types of purpose for using the smart phone by the students’ of MZU. To find out the type of connectivity of internet by the students’ of MZU. To find out the barriers faced by the students in accessing academic resources on the Smart Phones. Methodology Random sampling technique has been used for the present study. A structured questionnaire has been prepared and distributed among the UG and PG students of Mizoram University (MZU).

Data Analysis Table-1: Number of respondents Course No. of Questionnaire distributed No. of Questionnaires received Under Graduate (UG) 100 77 (44.77%) Post Graduate (PG) 95 (55.23%) Total 200 172 (100%) Table-1: Number of respondents Figure-1: Basic information of the respondent

Brand Name Under Graduate Percentage Post Graduate Figure-2: Age-wise distribution Brand Name Under Graduate Percentage Post Graduate Samsung 27 35.06 31 32.63 Micromax 6 7.79 8 8.42 ASUS 5 6.49 9 9.47 Sony 5.26 Nokia 7 9.09 2 2.11 Apple 4 4.21 Table-2: Brand Name of Smart Phone

Listen to podcasts/audio Purpose Under Graduate Post Graduate To make phone calls 77 (100%) 95 (100%) To access information 60 (77.92%) 79 (83.16%) Take or view photos 52 (67.53%) 56 (58.95%) Listening music 55 (57.89%) Text/SMS 43 (55.44%) Playing 45 (58.44%) 36 (37.89%) Watch/make videos 37 (48.05%) 38 (40%) Listen to podcasts/audio 36 (46.75%) 34 (35.79%) Watch TV/movies 23 (29.87%) 21 (22.11%) Table-3: Purpose of using Smart Phone

Figure-3 Mode of Internet connectivity Figure-4: Type of Internet Services used

Table-4: Frequency of use of Smart Phone by the UG students Activities Several times in a day Once in a day Once in a week Occasionally Never Use of SNSs 30(38.96%) 20 (25.97%) 8 (10.39%) 19 (24.68%) Sharing photos/videos 11 (14.29%) 7 (9.09%) 10 (12.99%) 46 (59.74%) 3 (3.90%) Download media content 15 (19.48%) 33 (42.86%) 14 (18.18%) Download/update mobile application 6 (7.79%) 2 (2.60%) 47 (61.04%) Checking emails 18 (23.38%) 28 (36.36%) Browsing the website 26 (33.77%) 21 (27.27%) 4 (5.19%) Reading e-book/e-journals 9 (11.69%) Reading newspapers online 12 (15.58%) 23 (29.87%) Listening to online music 27 (35.06%) 25 (32.47%) Checking bus/rail/flight time tables 1 (1.30%) 44 (57.14%) Accessing academic resources 17 (22.08%) 29 (37.66%) Other Library services 41 (53.25%) 36 (46.75%) Table-4: Frequency of use of Smart Phone by the UG students

Table-5: Frequency of use of the Smart Phones by the PG students Activities Several times in a day Once in a day Once in a week Occasionally Never Use of SNSs 62(65.26%) 15 (15.79%) 6 (6.32%) 10 (10.53%) 2 (2.11%) Sharing photos/videos 20 (21.05%) 11 (11.58%) 5 (5.26%) 54 (56.84%) Download media content 24 (25.26%) 9 (9.47%) 44 (46.32%) 8 (8.42%) Download/update mobile application 3 (3.16%) 57 (60%) Checking emails 13 (13.68%) 14 (14.74%) 16 (16.84%) 37 (38.95%) 15(15.79%) Browsing the website 46 (48.42%) Reading e-book/e-journals 17 (17.89%) Reading newspapers online 34 (35.79%) 33 (34.74%) Listening to online music 30 (31.58%) Checking bus/rail/flight time tables 31 (32.63%) Accessing academic resources 28 (29.47%) 36 (37.89%) Other Library services 29 (30.53%) 66 (69.47%) Table-5: Frequency of use of the Smart Phones by the PG students

Smart Phone use for library services Under Graduate Post Graduate Renew books 15 (19.48%) 14 (14.74%) Search books/check catalogue Check fines/overdue 26 (33.77%) 15 (15.79%) Table-6: Use of Smart Phones for library services Figure-5: Extent of use of Smart Phone to know the collection and services of library

Table-7: Barriers in using academic resources on smart phones Under Graduate Post Graduate Wi-Fi access 49 (63.64) 42 (44.21) Technical Problems 21 (27.27) 20 (21.05) Unfamiliar with resources available 18 (23.38) 16 (16.84) Lack of time 10 (12.99) 15 (15.79) Lack of awareness about use the resources 11 (14.29) 11 (11.58) No permission to install the software 6 (7.79) 5 (5.26) Figure-6: Need of special training

Major Findings 22 different brands are using by the students of MZU where Samsung is the most widely used smart phone followed by Micromax, ASUS, Sony, Apple, Nokia. The majority of the students have the same purpose as accessing information (80.81%) through the smart phones which is followed by taking/viewing photos (62.79%) and listening music (62.21%) and so on. Though the university provides the free Wi-Fi connectivity in the campus the majority of the students are using the paid internet services in their phones with a 3G (62.21%) connection. Renewal of books and checking fines/overdue is the only library services used by the students in their smart phones. It is observed from the study that the majority of the students feels that Wi-Fi access in the university campus as the barriers in using the academic resources on smart phones followed by technical problems (23.84%).

Conclusion The MZU campus is extending widely Wi-Fi facility so that the students can access online information services on their PCs, laptops and smart phones with ease. The central library of MZU must provide the facilities and services which will be easily accessible through the smart phones. It is also recommended that the higher bandwidth of internet access must be provided on the campus so that the students can access the information online without any hindrance.

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