October 2011 Volume 14 Number 4 - Educational Technology ...

OPAC has been transformed into AirPAC (Auckland Council, 2010) for the use of mobile devices. Other Internet
search engine providers such as Google and Yahoo provide general mobile search or specific mobile search using
mobile browsers. Specific mobile search services such as location search, directory discovery search, and voice
activated search, hybrid search and photo mobile search are gaining momentum (Fox, 2008). These kinds of search
interface are all very similar to the desktop search interface. However due to small screen size, optimization and
content adaptation are necessary to achieve better user experiences. Some of these mobile search services looked at
the issue of mobility and context awareness (Mihalic et al., 2005; Gorlenko & Merrick, 2003). Other advanced
services intend to communicate with, for instance, other devices, objects of interest or friends in the user’s
environment.
SMS text messaging has been widely adopted by the younger generation (Turel et al., 2007). The potential of SMSbased
technology to enhance library services and engage with a younger generation of library users is evident. The
system is also useful in developing countries where access to personal computers and the Internet is limited. The
current study intends to investigate how each gender moderates the relationships and characteristics of SMS
efficiency (SMSEFF), OPAC experience (OPAC), perceived self-efficacy (SE), perceived usefulness (PU),
perceived ease of use (PEOU) and intention to use (IU) in relation to a proposed SMS-based library catalog system;
we shall explain the details in a later section. Data will be collected via a survey of a purposeful and convenient sub
sample. An early prototype of the SMS-based library catalog search system was developed for this purpose.
The SMS-Based Library Catalogue Search System Description
The current prototype system which was developed by the author is shown in Figure 1. The system consists of the
user’s mobile phone, a SMS center, an interface mobile phone, a SMS interface, a software agent, and OPAC search
engines. The SMS center is operated by the telecom operator. When a user inputs a SMS search keyword to his
mobile phone, the message is routed through the carrier SMS center (SMSC). The SMSC identifies the interface
phone number and passes the message to the interface mobile phone connected to the SMS interface. Upon receiving
the SMS message which includes the input (search) keywords, the SMS interface software parses the message from
the interface mobile phone and activates the software agent to trigger the OPAC search. The software agent can
activate several different search engines that are available. Once the search has been completed, the result is returned
to the sender in the form of either a SMS message via the interface mobile phone or an email. Alternatively, if the
Internet server is connected to the SMSC via TCP/IP, then upon receiving the search keywords from a user, the
SMSC passes this information to the Internet server and subsequently activates the software agent to perform the
search. The result is returned to the SMSC to be forwarded to the sender’s mobile unit or sent as an email. In the long
run, a direct connection between the SMSC and an Internet server is preferred. However, this would require the
purchase of a SMSC account service with a carrier or a third party SMS service provider.
Figure 1. SMS search system
A series of screen shots of the prototype system is depicted in Figure 2 to show what will be displayed to the users
via a mobile phone (or other type of mobile device).
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