2014 International Conference of Educational Innovation through Technology
Design and Development of a Mobile Library APP System
Po-Sheng Chiua
Department of Engineering Science
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan
chiu945@gmail.com
Tzung-Shi Chenc
Department of Computer Science and Information
Engineering
National University of Tainan
Tainan, Taiwan
chents@mail.nutn.edu.tw
Yueh-Min Huange
Department of Engineering Science
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan
huang@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Abstract—With the advancement of information technology,
the wireless network and mobile device continue development,
which make people can acquire new knowledge with unlimited
time and space. Moreover, learners could interact with people
or things in real time to truly experience the learning content
and situation. Therefore, learning was no longer limited to
classroom and time frame. As long as learners had mobile
devices in hand and wireless network access, they could be
properly guided and receive feedbacks in learning activities
according to their learning status and learning environment.
Recently, a great number of libraries sense this trend and start
to introduce mobile information technologies in library
services. They release mobile application services compatible
with Internet browsing with mobile devices which allow users
linking with libraries and searching for desired information
quickly. Therefore, this study developed a “Mobile Library
APP System” and analyzed the usage status, level of
satisfaction. The experiment results showed that students’ level
of satisfaction of “Mobile Library APP System” had positive
correlation, which indicated the system could certainly help
them to improve their work efficiency, such as shortened time
spent in searching for books and decreased cost of obtaining
electrical resources. They also showed the willingness to
continue using the system in library relevant activities.
Keywords- Mobile Library; APP; Mobile Library APP
System
I. INTRODUCTION
Recently, with the popularization of wireless Internet and
mobile devices, more users use mobile devices to browse
web pages without time and space limitations. According to
Horizon Report in 2012, the maturity of third generation
978-1-4799-4230-5/14 $31.00 © 2014 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/EITT.2014.15
Ying-Hung Pub
Department of Engineering Science
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan
n98011063@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Yen-Hung Kuod
Cloud System Software Institute
Institute for Information Industry
Taipei, Taiwan
keh@iii.org.tw
Yueh-Min Huangd
Department of Engineering Science
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan
huang@mail.ncku.edu.tw
mobile service resulted in the explosive growth of mobile
Internet users. In addition, more students and teachers use
tablet computers or smart phones to read electronic books or
electronic journals. This phenomenon indicates that mobile
library has become learners’ main resources of acquiring
knowledge.
In view of this, this study took mobile services as main
idea and used Android operation system to develop a
“Mobile Library APP System” that used the library of the
National University of Tainan as its information source. The
aim of this system was to allow students and professors
easily searching for desired books and relevant information
and to provide users with more convenient and practicable
information services.
In the past, mobile libraries emphasized providing a great
amount of electronic books and resources to their users.
However, with the development of mobile service and the
increase of user population, it was inadequate for libraries to
merely provide great quantity of e-resources. A successful
information system needs to take other elements into
consideration, such as system quality, users’ willingness,
satisfaction and so on.
Therefore, to increase use rate of a mobile library, this
study aimed to provide references for future mobile
information systems’ evaluation and improvement of
libraries by analyzing use statues, satisfaction and success
model of “Mobile Library APP System.”
43
 II. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Mobile Library
Thanks to the continuous advancement of technologies,
wireless Internet and mobile devices developed rapidly,
which allow learning going beyond the limitations of time
and space. Wang, Ke & Lu (2012) pointed out that, with the
popularization of third generation mobile service, more
people use tablet PC and smart phones to browse web pages,
receive and send emails and read electronic books when they
are taking metro, bus or train. This phenomenon shows that
learning is not limited to classroom and certain time. With
mobile devices and wireless telecommunication technologies,
learning guidance and feedbacks could be delivered timely
according to learners’ learning status and environment
(Hwang, Tsai, & Yang, 2008).
Gradually, a great number of libraries sense this trend
and combine their services with mobile telecommunication
services, which results in the creation of “Mobile Library” or
“M-Library.” In fact, the concept of combining mobile
service and library service was introduced by scholars in the
development stage of personal digital assistant (PDA). For
example, in Janet's (2009) study, mobile service was adapted
to PDA to provide library orientation and collection search
services. However, the mobile devices and mobile
telecommunication technology were immature, which
resulted in low prevalence rate.
Recently, wireless telecommunication combined with
mobile devices has become peoples’ important channel of
accessing information. More students and teachers use tablet
PC and smart phones to search for electronic journals,
electronic books and other e-resources (Parsons, 2010). As a
result, a great amount of libraries combine mobile
telecommunication technologies with their services to
develop mobile services compatible with mobile devices,
which shortens users' time in searching for their desired
information (Wang, Ke & Lu, 2012). The phenomenon
indicates that Mobile Library has become an important
source for learners to acquire knowledge.
B. Informational System Success Factors
In the field of information management, evaluating the
success of an information system has been a widely-
emphasized research topic (Seddon, 1997). The
Informational System Success Factors was developed by
DeLone & McLean in 2003. Informational system success
factors was mainly based on findings of communication
model by Weaver (1949) and Mason’s (1978) information
influence model and synthesized over 180 empirical studies
on information management between 1981 and 1987
(DeLone & McLean, 2003). Informational system success
factors comprises four constructs: information quality,
system quality, service quality, user satisfaction as
perspectives to evaluate the usage status of an information
system, as illustrated in Table 1.
44
Table 1. Informational System Success Factors.
Construct Operational definitions
Evaluation of the quality of information
Information Quality
systems’ production
Evaluation of system effectiveness of the
System Quality
information system
Evaluation of service quality that
Service Quality
information system providers offer to users
Evaluation of users’ reaction when using
User Satisfaction
the information system
Informational system success factors is the most used
theoretical model adapted by scholars and researchers to
evaluate the success of an information system (Wang &
Wang, 2009). For instance, Dianna & Judith (2013) used
informational system success factors to explore nurses’ use
status of a clinical information system, their level of
satisfaction and the benefits produced their work. Igor,
Enriquue & Blazenka (2013) developed a student electronic
profile and used informational system success factors to
evaluate students use disposition and to develop a success
model that applicable to their system. Chen (2010) used
informational system success factors empirically studied on
digital learning system used in enterprises and found out the
system actually improved employees’ overall performance at
work. Therefore, this study adapted the informational system
success factors of DeLone & McLean (2003) as theoretical
framework to evaluate and analyze the use status and
satisfaction of the “Mobile Library APP System.”
III. MOBILE LIBRARY APP SYSTEM
Traditional digital libraries emphasize on providing
abundant and rich electronic books and resources to their
users. However, most libraries still rely on substantial
Internet to obtain these electronic books and resources. For
users who intend to search for and read library resources at
time and places they desire, the services that libraries provide
are inadequate. In view of this, this study used
telecommunication service as the main idea and adapted
Android open source code to develop a “Mobile Library APP
System” that mainly focused on the library resources of the
National University of Tainan Library. The system allowed
students and faculty easily searching for their desired book
information in the hope of providing more convenient and
practicable information services to users. The function
design framework of the system is illustrated in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. The functional architecture of mobile library app
system.
The system used Android open source code to develop a
service system of mobile communication library application.
It can be installed in tablet PC or smart phones. Thorough
Mobile Library APP System, the faculty and students of the
university can easily check the book status, new book notice,
the individual book-borrowing and returning records and
carries on reserving. Users could fasten the searching process
to find their desired books or to use relevant services. The
user interface of the system is illustrated in Figure 2. It
comprises system interface of information and functions of
“News, Online Catalogs, New Book Notice, View Your
Record, Floor Information, Opening Hours, Contact Number,
Regulations, and Library History” and so on.
Fig. 2. User interface design of mobile library app system.
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IV. METHODOLOGY
This study used the informational system success factors
of DeLone & McLean (2003) as the theoretical framework.
It used the four constructs, “Information Quality, System
Quality, Service Quality, User Satisfaction” to evaluate and
analyze the college students’ use statues, satisfaction and
other relevant factors when they used the “Mobile Library
APP System.”
This study evaluated and analyzed college students’ use
status, satisfaction and other relevant factors of the “Mobile
Library APP System” by using questionnaire. Therefore, to
develop a valid and reliable questionnaire, this study
consulted previous studies carried by scholars and experts to
design the questionnaire content (Balaban et al., 2013; Wang
& Wang, 2009). Upon completing the first draft of the
questionnaire, fifteen members of college faculty were
invited to conduct pre-test of it. Part of wording in first draft
was amended according to pre-test results and suggestions of
the faculty. The purpose was to produce more complete and
comprehensive questionnaire and let interviewees understand
the questions before officially issuing it.
The content of the questionnaire of this study can be
categorized into five perspectives: personal data of
interviewees, information quality, system quality, service
quality, and user satisfaction. The operational definition of
individual perspective in this study is illustrated in Table 2.
The Likert scale was adapted in the questionnaire: (1)
strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) neutral, (4) agree, (5)
strongly agree.
Table 2. The operational definition of each construct.
Construct Operational definitions
User’s evaluation on the information
content and quality of the “Mobile Library
Information Quality
APP System” is correct, complete and
easy to be understood.
User’s evaluation on the overall system
System Quality operation and reactions of the “Mobile
APP Service System” is stable.
User’s evaluation on the overall service of
Service Quality the “Mobile Library APP System” is
thought, effective and timely.
User’s evaluation on his/her emotional
User Satisfaction status and level of satisfaction after using
the “Mobile Library APP System.”
V. RESULTS
The "Mobile Library APP System" developed in this
empirical study used college students of National University
of Tainan as the major experiment subjects. Therefore, the
interviewees of the questionnaire in this study were
undergraduate and graduate students who actually used the
"Mobile Library APP System." The time period that they
filled in the questionnaire was between 16th December 2013
and 15th January 2014. In total, 300 questionnaires were sent
and 254 returned, in which 48 of them were invalid and 206
valid. The effective response rate was 68.7 %, which was Humanities and Social Sciences 44 21.4
used as the research sample of this study. The structural
equation modeling is adapted in this study to test the cause- Science and Engineering 91 44.2
and-effect relation between constructs of the research model. Environmental Sciences and
11 5.3
Partial least square method is used as the analysis tool. Ecology
Therefore, this study adapts the statistics analysis software, Performance and Visual Arts 4 1.9
SmartPLS 2.0 M3 developed by Ringle, Wende & Willi
(2005) to analyze data. The analysis results are as follows.
Total 206 100.0
A. The respondents profile analysis
Interviewees’ personal data filled in valid questionnaires B. Reliability analysis
are illustrated in Table 3. The 206 valid questionnaires show In reliability analysis, the Cronbach α coefficient was
the following information. Gender: male accounts for 47.1%, used to test the internal consistency of each construct. The
female 52.9%. Age group: 20-30 years old accounts for greater the α is, the higher the correlation is and the higher
38.8%; 20 (including younger than 20) 61.2%. Grade: the internal consistency. The evaluation criteria of
second year in graduate school (including higher grade) Cronbach’s α coefficient is: when α is more than 0.7, the
accounts for 9.7%; first year in graduate school 2.4%; senior reliability is great; when α is less than 0.35, the reliability is
student (including higher grades but not studying in graduate poor (Nunnally, 1978). In Table 4, it is showed that the
school) 13.2%; junior student 21.8%; sophomore 15.5%, Cronbach α coefficient of this study is between 0.881 and
freshman 37.4%. Department: education accounts for 27.2%; 0.919; both are more than standard value. The data indicates
humanities and social sciences 21.4%; science and every construct of this study has internal consistency and
engineering 44.2%; environment sciences and ecology 5.3%; high reliability.
performance and visual arts 1.9%.
Table 4. The reliability of each dimension
Table 3. Demographic statistics of the respondents. Number Standard Cronbach’s
Construct Mean
Frequency Percentage of items deviation alpha
Information
Gender 4 4.061 0.745 0.894
Quality
Male 97 47.1 System
4 4.087 0.736 0.881
Quality
Female 109 52.9 Service
4 3.943 0.777 0.919
Total 206 100.0 Quality
User
4 3.948 0.698 0.883
Satisfaction
Age (by years)
C. Validity analysis
Under 20 126 61.2 In validity analysis, this study tested convergent validity
21-30 80 38.8 which was the degree of inter-correlation between
theoretically related items in the measurement (Lee et al.,
Total 206 100.0
2007). The dimension items of composite reliability is
composed of all items, which indicates the internal
Grade consistency of dimension items. Fornell and Larcker (1981)
suggested that the value of the composite reliability should
second year in graduate school
20 9.7 be greater than 0.7. Table 5 shows that for the items in this
(including higher grade)
study this ranges between 0.918 and 0.943, indicating
first year in graduate school 5 2.4 excellent internal consistency. The average variance
senior student (including higher extracted of dimension items is used to compute the average
grades but not studying in 27 13.2 variance predictive power of a dimension item to every item
graduate school) in dimension items. Fornell and Larcker (1981) suggested
junior student 45 21.8 that the value of the average variance extracted should be
sophomore 32 15.5 greater than 0.5. Table 5 shows that the results in this study
this ranged between 0.737 and 0.805, and thus all the items
freshman 77 37.4 in this study had excellent convergent validity.
Total 206 100.0

College
Education 56 27.2

46
 Table 5. The validity of each dimension. tasks smoothly when system operational problems were
Average encountered. Therefore, in regard of “service quality,” this
Number of Composite
Dimensions Variance study suggests reinforcing training of user service personnel
items Reliability
Extracted and providing barrier-free service functions in the system in
Information order to increase users’ level of satisfaction and willingness
4 0.927 0.760
Quality of continuous use.
System Quality 4 0.943 0.737 This study investigated the Mobile Library APP System
with information system success factors by DeLone &
Service Quality 4 0.918 0.805 McLean (2003), based on the experiment results, the system
can be really help the faculty and students of the university
User to quickly searching books information or e-resources. This
4 0.919 0.740
Satisfaction
indicates their level of satisfaction with the system is strong
D. T-value and £-value analysis and willingness of continuous use in future library relevant
activities.
Table 6. T-value and β-value analysis. On the wholes, most students are satisfied with the
Dimensions ͊-value T-value process of using “Mobile Library APP System” to search for
book information or conduct activities relevant to mobile
Information Quality > User Satisfaction 0.20 2.72
library. They also show the willingness of continuous use
and would recommend classmates to use the system. They
System Quality > User Satisfaction 0.24 2.80 also hope to use “Mobile Library APP System” to complete
assignments.
Service Quality > User Satisfaction 0.04 0.57 In addition, among previous studies in library relevant
fields, there are empirical studies which conduct in-depth
discussions on information systems (Wang, Ke & Lu, 2012;
Shih et al., 2011; Tanya, 2011). Therefore, although this
VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION study included merely students in National University of
Tainan as experiment subjects and analyzed 206 valid
This study mainly developed a “Mobil Library APP questionnaires, the data analysis showed positive results.
System” for college students, used information system Therefore, the results are representative which the main
success factors to verify their use statues and satisfaction contribution of this study. In the future, the findings of this
with the system. Based on the analysis of experiment results, study can serve as the foundation for further exploration on
this study developed the “Mobile Library APP System” was mobile library.
helpful to college students when they were searching books
or information relevant to books and their willingness of
continuous use. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
In Table 6, “Information Quality > User Satisfaction”, This study is conducted under the “Cloud computing
this study found out that, for college students, “information systems and software development project (3/3)” of the
quality” of the Mobile Library APP System had significant Institute for Information Industry which is subsidized by the
influence on “user satisfaction” (β=0.20, T=2.72). This Ministry of Economy Affairs of the Republic of China.
indicates that, college students generally think information
quality, such as information icons and useful search results,
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