Handhelds for Digital Libraries

The present chapter introduces digital library services’ utilization through handheld devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones. It argues that handheld devices proliferation justifies the term digital library in terms of anywhere-anytime access, and retrieval and management of information. Furthermore, these devices constitute powerful information harvesting tools that help users enhance their interaction with information spaces, both of physical and digital form. The chapter presents the services that can be accessed by means of portable devices and analyzes the main sociotechnical issues that arise and influence user interaction. Factors that affect acceptance of these devices are discussed, and future trends are presented to outline the research landscape for the forthcoming years. IntroductIon During the last years, computer technology has been evolving from the mainframe and personal computing eras to the third one, that of ubiquitous computing. Wireless communication networks and mobile computing were similarly affected by the evolution in computing devices. As a result, people can choose among dozens of portable devices, capable of establishing radio connections, to join a computing network, such as the Internet, and realizing the vision of ubiquitous information access and delivery services. On the other hand, the Web lacks authority and quality control, is inadequately indexed, and the search interfaces are ineffective and simplistic. These reasons, along with the need for anytime access to information and the need to retrieve relevant and accurate information from anyplace, lead to the creation of digital libraries (DLs).