Mobile Age - Computer Society

The Mobile Age
Megan K. Fox
Web & Electronic Resources Librarian
Simmons College Library
As public and academic library patrons rely more and more on
mobile tools such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cell
phones for daily communication, entertainment, and commercial
interactions, it is natural that they also turn to them for information.
Patrons want answers at their moment of need—a price comparison
while at the mall, the answer to a bar bet trivia question while watching
a ball game, the history of a cultural landmark while standing in
front of it. Patrons want the flexibility to choose among hundreds of
audiobook files when stuck in traffic, rather than being limited to the
handful of CDs they carry with them; they want to have a large selection
of novels to read on a long flight or on a lunch break, not just the
single bestseller they can lug around in hardback. They also want to
be able to access these materials on their own devices—whether a
home computer, a WiFi laptop they bring to the grassy space in front
of the library, a cell phone they carry while browsing in the stacks, or
an iPod they plug into during their daily workout.
While we will always see the need for in-depth, quiet library
research, curling up with a leather-bound classic, and rambunctious
story hours for toddlers clutching their favorite board books, we also
see an increasing market and demand for mobile access to facts and
information—gratification anytime, anywhere, on one’s handheld
device. It’s exciting that recent and forthcoming technological developments
facilitate our ability to respond to these patron demands—
and even to move ahead of their expectations, becoming leaders in
demonstrating and implementing the most effective means of information
access, evaluation, and use.