Futures of Learning

New Media Technologies

New Media Practices in India, Part 1: Introduction

Welcome to the next country in our blog series on New Media Practices in International Contexts. Over the next two weeks, I will be providing overviews of the use of new media, specifically mobile phones, the internet and games, in India, and I invite you to share your thoughts on what you read, as well as fill in the gaps that invariably exist in a summary like this one.

This is especially true for the country under consideration, which, with almost 1.2 billion people, is the second most populous country in the world. India is also a country of marked contrasts, where ancient and modern practices coexist and the chasm between the rich and the poor is visible and palpable to all. The 2007/8 Human Development Index places India 128th out of 177 countries (http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_IND.html). While a third of India’s population is urban, and divided between a growing middle class and vast slums, the great majority live in rural areas. The country has experienced strong economic growth, with growth rates of close to 10 percent in 2006 and 2007 (which are expected to slow down with the global recession (http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200902051923.htm). In spite of these economic advances, India’s social inequalities persist; indeed, the drop in poverty reduction since the 1990s, as compared to the 1980s, has shrunk and personal and regional inequality are increasing (Jha 2008).

About 17% of the population is between 15 and 24 years old (http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/mdg/SeriesDetail.aspx?srid=656&crid=356), and it is these young people that are experiencing the changes brought by new media technologies most dramatically, both in their personal and professional lives. The focus of my posts will mainly be on the new media practices of these young people, practices that need to be situated however within the larger framework of the role played by ICTs in India’s economic, political and socio-cultural contexts. In this regard, Ravindran (2008) talks about a cultural politics of new media modernity in India, including the policing of proliferating new media technologies use among young people. Specifically, a discourse of moral danger is generated by “self-styled guardians of morality and culture” (8), who use especially India’s vernacular newspapers to create a moral panic among the population at large about new media technologies. I will elaborate on this cultural politics in my mobile phone and internet posts; suffice to say here that young people are using these very technologies to counter the moral panic discourse by presenting technological progress as unstoppable.

In this introductory post, I will lay out the Indian ICT landscape and infrastructures and present a brief overview of the academic literature on the topic.

The ICT Landscape

Despite India’s prominent role in the technology industry, there continues to be a vast gap in the use of technology in the country. Leung (2008) suggests that India’s relationship with internet technology falls into two stark dichotomies: Indians are represented as either technically-savvy techno-elites or as poverty-stricken subjects who need help to bridge the digital divide.

The rise of the Indian technology industry, which was facilitated by the government’s deregulation of the telecom industry from the mid 1990s onwards and generated US $64 billion in annual revenues in 2008 (5.5 percent of the national GDP (http://www.nasscom.org/upload/Annual_Report07-08.pdf), has contributed to India’s global economic success. It has also “creat[ed] a new generation of young professionals who are often the first in their families to have a debit card, benefits, to live alone or with roommates” (McKenzie 2007). These changes are accompanied by transforming generational relationships, sexual mores and power shifts, all of which are contributing to the moral panic discourse. Furthermore, India’s software industry has been rocked by the Mumbai attacks and revelations of massive accounting fraud at Satyam Computers, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7818220.stm, once considered a poster child of corporate citizenship. Nevertheless, it will continue to be the destination of thousands of young Indians, fulfilling their, and their families’ aspirations, of a better life.

ICT is also seen as benefiting those who remain excluded from these high-tech dreams, by harnessing the power of these technologies for development purposes. There are thousands of so-called ICTD (Information and Communication Technologies for Development) initiatives underway in India, funded by a wide variety of actors, ranging from governments (national and state) to corporations to NGOs and foundations inside and outside the country (cf. Schwittay 2008). New technologies are deployed to provide e-government services, improve education and healthcare and foster economic development, and are thought to overcome gender and caste inequalities. Initial unbridled enthusiasm over the impact of ICTD programs has given way to a more nuanced view of their potentials, and to an awareness of the need to situate them in the political, economic, socio-cultural and technological contexts of their places of application (Brewer et al 2007, Sreekumar 2006).

Technology Infrastructures

Until the mid-1990s, ownership of a telephone was considered a luxury in India, with waiting periods of up to several years for a landline, even after paying hefty application fees (Kumar and Thomas 2006). In 2007, 3.37 per hundred inhabitants had fixed phone lines (http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/DisplayCountry.aspx?code=IND), paying an average of US $3.30 per month for its maintenance (World Bank 2006).
Mobile phones, by contrast, have become a consumer item embraced by a broad segment of the population. As of October 2008, there were a little over 32 million mobile phone subscribers, which is about 26 percent of the total population (http://www.india-cellular.com). Many more Indians have access to mobile phones through sharing arrangements of various kinds. I will devote Wednesday’s post to a closer look at mobile phone practices in particular.

Similar to landlines, only 3.17 per hundred inhabitants had personal computers at home in 2007
(http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/DisplayCountry.aspx?code=IND), which are heavily concentrated in more affluent households. However, the lower middle class is beginning to embrace computers enthusiastically, driven by status ambitions and especially by aspirations of a better future for the young through access to technology and technology skills leading to technology jobs (Rangaswamy 2007b). Correspondingly, the demand for purchasing a home computer is mainly driven by high school and college age children, especially those who attend schools with low-quality ICT facilities. Computers are a compulsory subject in Indian schools, adding to the pressures to own a home computer, and children become the de-facto teachers of their parents.

Recognizing this as an emergent market opportunity, there are a number of high-tech companies developing products and pricing models to target the lower classes. One example is Intel’s and Microsoft’s pay-as-you-go computer purchase program, which was unveiled in May 2006 and piggybacks on the popularity of pay-as-you-go mobile phone cards (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/may06/05-21EmergingMarketConsumersPR.mspx).
A recent initiative by India’s Human Resource Development Ministry should also assist the lower classes in owning their own computers. A laptop computer costing as little as US $10, developed by the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, is currently being tested and expected to become commercially available in June 2009 (http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jan302009/national20090129115438.asp).
One of the targets of this government program are educational institutions, which would receive the computers at a subsidized price. In conjunction, the program envisages to provide broadband connectivity to about 20,000 institutions. This is important given that the number of broadband internet subscribers is minuscule, at 0.37 per hundred (http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/DisplayCountry.aspx?code=IND. The ultimate aim is to create a virtual technological university, and to this effect, the government also plans to produce e-content on every subject, which would be made available free of cost.

Schools are indeed one of the places where innovative practices are put in place to connect young people to computers and the internet. In October 2008, the government of Andhra Pradesh (AP), the most populous state in Southern India that has long invested in ICTs, contracted the Silicon Valley company nComputing to outfit computer labs in 5,000 schools with a virtualization software that allows multiple users, all working on their own stations, to connect to one computer. (The deal provides 50,000 computing seat, in a state with 1.8 million children, which shows the magnitude of the undertaking).
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/ncomputing-provides-18m-andhra-pradesh-students-with-computer-access-72200.php
Another initiative is the multi-mouse developed by Microsoft Research India, whereby children, each with their own mouse, can play games on one computer, leading to higher student engagement (Pawar, Pal and Toyama 2006).

There have also been efforts to provide children with access to computers outside the formal school setting, such as the Hole in the Wall project established by Dr. Sugata Mitra. In 1999, when he was a research scientist at NIIT, Mitra installed a computer in the wall separating NIIT’s headquarters from an adjacent slum of Kalkaji in New Delhi, in order to observe how children taught themselves how to use the computer (Mitra 2005, Mitra and Rana 2001, Mitra et al 2005). The project was scaled across India with the help of the International Monetary Fund, and has also been emulated in other countries, for example through the Digital Doorway program in South Africa.

Another important way in which many Indians, especially young men, access new technologies is via public access points. In urban areas, internet cafes are the primary space where first-time technology users become initiated (Rangaswami 2007a). These cafes are run on a commercial basis, and chat rooms, stock trading and networked gaming are among the most popular uses. In his study of Bangalore internet cafes, Nisbett (2005) found that while members of different socio-economic classes frequent them, many used them for such mundane tasks as email and internet-related chat (IRC). Furthermore, the young people that were the immediate focus of Nisbett’s study actively appropriated and shaped ICT spaces in ways that went beyond communication agendas and lead to the acquisition of a broad range of IT skills.

Between half and three quarters of the users of internet cafes are male, often students, which shows that unless specific steps are taken to ensure that women and lower castes also have access to the technologies provided there, the marginalization of these groups will increase further (Sreekumar 2006). It is here where of internet kiosks established and maintained by governments or NGOs aim to bridge this gap. These kiosks are often found in slums or rural areas; one study estimated that rural internet kiosks could provide the first experience with ICT for as many as 700 million Indians (Rangaswamy 2007a). However, another study of rural internet kiosks in Tamil Nadu found that they too were mostly used by male school and college students, from higher socio-economic status (Kumar 2004). Thus, there specific development aims need to be actively shaped and pursued, rather than merely stated.

The Literature on New Media Practices in India

My blog posts are based on various sources: information gleaned from journalistic and popular sources; a growing, but still limited, academic literature on the topic, and personal research findings of myself and colleagues. The academic literature is produced mainly by Indian scholars, mainly of whom study or teach at U.S. or English universities and maintain strong research ties to India. (In parallel, many technology initiatives work with engineers and scientists of Indian descent, sometimes trained in Western universities, who are familiar with Indian contexts.)

There are a number of themes found throughout most of this literature. One is the emphasis on the larger context of technology production and consumption, especially its relation with opportunities for economic development, questions of access and digital divide, and integration with social concerns. There is also much attention paid to non-resident Indians and the (virtual) ties they maintain with their homeland. This diaspora is not only a research subject, but also funds some of the ICTD projects mentioned above. Another unique aspect is the active participation of Microsoft Research India, a corporate emerging market research lab, in the production of the academic literature (Toyama, Rangaswamy and Donner, who will be cited frequently, are all part of the lab). The extensive literature produced by this group, for example around rural internet kiosks, is produced with an eye towards the commercial potential of new media technologies, which does not stand in the way of providing detailed analyses of their use.

Over the next two weeks I will examine in-depth new media practices of predominantly, but not exclusively, young people centered on mobile phones, gaming, the internet and digital media production. As you read these blogs, I invite your comments and suggestions for further research.

References Cited:

Brewer, E. et al (2007). The Challenges of Technology Research for Developing Regions. IEEE Pervasive Computing, 5 (2), 15-23.

Jha, R. (2008). Economic Reforms and Human Development Indicators in India. Asian Economic Policy Review, 3 (2), 290-310.

Kumar, R. (2004). Social, governance, and economic impact assessment of information and communication technology interventions in rural India. Thesis submitted to the MIT department of Urban Studies and Planning.

Kumar, K. and A. Thomas (2006). Telecommunications and Development: The Cellular Mobile ‘Revolution’ in India and China. Journal of Creative Communications 1: 297.

Leung, L. (2008). From “Victims of the Digital Divide” to “Techno-Elites”: Gender, Class, and Contested “Asianness” in Online and Offline Geographies. In Gajjala, R. and V. Gajjala (Eds.) South Asian Technospaces, 36, 7-24.

McKenzie, D. (2007). Youth, ICTs and Development.” Paper published by the World Bank Group. Available at http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:21698394~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:469382~isCURL:Y~isCURL:Y,00.html

Mitra, S. (2005). Self organizing systems for mass computer literacy: Findings from the hole in the wall experiments. International Journal of Development Issues, 4(1), 71 – 81.

Mitra, S. et al (2005). Acquisition of Computer Literacy on Shared Public Computers: Children and the “Hole in the wall.” Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 21(3), 407-426.

Mitra, S. and V. Rana (2001). Children and the Internet: experiments with minimally invasive education in India. British Journal of Educational Technology, 32(2): 221-232.

Nisbett, N.(2006). Growing up Connected: The role of Cybercafés in widening ICT access in Bangalore and South India, Paper presented at the Development Studies Association Annual Conference 2006.

Pawar, U., J. Pal and K. Toyama (2006). Multiple Mice for Computers in Education in Developing Countries. Paper presented at 2006 ICTD conference Berkeley.

Rangaswamy, N. (2007a). ICT for Development and Commerce: A Case Study of Internet Cafes in India. Paper presented at the 9th international conference on social implications of computers in developing countries. Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Rangaswamy, N. (2007b). The Aspirational PC: Home Computers and Indian Middle class Domesticity. Unpublished paper prepared for Microsoft Research India.

Ravindran, G. (2008). The Cultural Politics of New Media Modernity in India: Reading the Roles of Moral Panic Agents and Mobile Phone Users. Paper presented at International Workshop on ICTs and Development: Experiences from Asia. National University of Singapore.

Schwittay, A. (2008) A Living Lab: Corporate Delivery of ICTs in Rural India. Science, Technology and Society, 13(2), 175-210.

Sreekumar, T.T. (2006). ICTs for the Rural Poor: Civil Society and Cyber-Libertarian Developmentialism in India. In G. Parayil (Ed.), Political Economy and Information Capitalism in India: Digital Divide Development and Equity. (pp 61-87). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

World Bank (2006) ICT Indicators. Available at http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:5RQVpZxFaeYJ:devdata.worldbank.org/ict/ind_ict.pdf+price+basket+telecommunication+india&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Digital Media in Community Libraries, Part 1: Mobile Media

Over time we have seen how public libraries have expanded their services to provide a wider range of informational and entertainment media, such as music cds, videos and dvds, and books-on-tape.  With the widescale distribution of books and multimedia available via the Web, community libraries are once again reconsidering not only the range of services they provide, but also their mode of outreach and incorporation of new digital technologies.  This post reviews noteworthy efforts by community libraries to adapt to and make use of new mobile media. 

Mobile phone use in the U.S. has shown tremendous growth in recent years. As of 2008, there were over 260 million mobile phone subscribers, representing about 85 percent of the population (Singh, 2008). 88 percent of college students own mobile phones and 27 percent have a Blackberry or PDA (Rainie, 2008). According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control, 20 percent of U.S. households had only mobile phones (i.e. no landline) as of the end of 2008, and about one third of those aged 18 – 24 and one fourth of those aged 25 – 29 live in mobile phone-only households (Fram, 2009). While young people are more likely to have no landline, about one third of people who live in poverty also only have mobile phones. According to a report by comScore, as of January 2009 some 22.4 million mobile phone users were accessing the mobile web on a daily basis, and this usage had doubled since one year prior (Burns, 2009).

This shifting landscape of mobile communication use intersects with the evolving role of the library discussed in the previous post. There are three main reasons that libraries have embraced the use of mobile technologies:  (1) to expand the range of content available to patrons, (2) to offer a fuller menu of services, and (3) as a new mode of public outreach. In terms of content, the question posed is, how do wireless devices such as mobile phones and PDAs allow libraries either to distribute content in different forms or to expand the field of information about a library item?  For services and outreach, how do mobile devices enhance customer service and expand the patron base?  And yet, to argue that the use of mobile media is a NEW manifestation of the desire to expand outreach efforts (or provide a wider range of information and services) would be to ignore an important element of the history of community library efforts.

Consider the humble bookmobile. Yes, the bookmobile, the traveling RV bibliothéque that many of us remember (with delight in my case) gracing our elementary schools once a month with its glorious presence. At the bookmobile one could conveniently have access (service) to books (content) unavailable at one’s own school library, and even the kids with the most lackadaisical attitude toward reading were drawn to the bookmobile because its monthly appearance in and of itself made it special and because it was a chance to be dismissed from class for 30 minutes to go and look at books with groovy titles and fun images (outreach). Of course, the mission of many bookmobiles today aligns more closely with the vision set forth by Mary Titcomb when she came up with the idea of the traveling wagon full of books in 1905 – to provide books to those without any access to a library in their local community (http://www.whilbr.org/bookmobile/index.aspx). Bookmobiles also make available books and services to seniors and others with limited physical mobility. More recently, with his Internet Bookmobile (http://www.archive.org/texts/bookmobile.php), Brewster Kahle, director of the Internet Archive, traveled around the U.S. printing and binding books in the public domain (such as Alice in Wonderland), raising awareness of the Internet as a free digital library for all, and challenging copyright extension legislation that continues to be passed in Congress (Cisler, 2002; Koman, 2002).

Taking the bookmobile as a starting point, in what ways are community libraries engaging with mobile communication technologies to enhance content, services, and outreach for the purposes of learning? How is mobility a part of both the physical and the virtual library? It should be noted that the following discussion is by no means exhaustive and is meant to point to interesting applications and projects that are in the works. For additional links to important “mobiles and libraries” interfaces, applications, and resources (not limited to public libraries) see “M-Libraries – Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki” (http://libsuccess.org/index.php?title=M-Libraries).

Content
Mobile technologies clearly allow libraries to expand the range of forms for distributing content. For decades, libraries have offered books on tape and CD in order to provide content for those unable to read a physical book, such as the sight impaired, and for people who desire content that they could enjoy on the go (driving, walking, etc.). More recently many libraries have begun offering e-books and digital audio books for download. For example, since 2005 cardholders of the New York Public Library have been able to download audio books from the Internet any time of the day or night simply by going to the library’s website and entering their card number and a PIN (http://www.gizmag.com/go/4157/). They can check out as many as ten audio books at a time for up to three weeks and play them on their computer, CD player, portable digital music player, or cell phone. The New York Public Library and thousands of others use OverDrive’s technology, and OverDrive’s website allows users to search for libraries offering free digital downloads (http://www.overdrive.com/). Libraries have also begun offering not only digital content, but also the means by which to use it. As Ellyssa Kroski (2008) discusses in her recent report, On the Move with the Mobile Web, institutions such as the Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs, Illinois (http://www.fordlibrary.org/) allow patrons to check out iPod Nanos with audio books loaded on them.

In addition to storing digital books, mobile devices are also being used to expand the field of information around books. One way is through the use of QR (quick response) codes, which are a type of two-dimensional barcode that can store a lot of information that can then be downloaded via a mobile phone. They are already quite popular in Japan and parts of Europe where they are used mostly for promotional/marketing reasons. However, QR codes could have multiple uses in libraries. As librarian Lex Rigby explains, currently in libraries while conventional barcodes are used to link an item to its catalog record, the information is limited and it can only be accessed by scanning the barcode at the check-out desk. On the other hand, QR codes could be used to store descriptions, images, useful links, etc. for all types of library materials. A library patron could use their mobile phone to scan the QR code to access this information (http://www.lexrigby.com/2009/03/26/qr-codes-in-libraries-and-higher-education/). The library at the University of Bath is at the forefront of using QR codes to link to their catalog (http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/qrcode/2009/03/23/uni-of-bath-library-including-qr-codes-in-catalogue/). This expanded range of information available at the click of a (camera phone) button is obviously time-saving and efficient. Thus far, however, the use of QR codes in public libraries in the U.S. does not seem to be widespread although such two dimensional barcodes have been generated for the web spaces of each branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (http://natehill.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/the-physical-internet-10-at-not-your-library/).

Services
In addition to providing a new mode of content provision, mobile devices are also being used to enhance library services. In this regard, text messaging (or SMS – short message service) is an obvious means of inexpensive and efficient communication, and several public libraries have implemented message options for their cardholders. Orlando, Florida’s Orange County Library System (http://www.ocls.info) allows patrons the choice of receiving text message reminders about upcoming due dates for materials and start dates for courses (Kroski, 2008). The Skokie Public Library in Skokie, Illinois offers such alerts as well as updates on holds placed and the option of renewing items via SMS (http://www.skokie.lib.il.us/s_about/mobile_services.asp). For similar purposes, some libraries are also using Twitter (http://twitter.com/about#about), a micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates (tweets) to their “followers” and receive tweets from those they signed up to follow. Posts can be viewed on a computer or an Internet-enabled mobile phone.

In addition to using mobile-enabled messaging, many libraries are designing their websites to be mobile friendly, which involves making the information concise, limiting the number of links, using descriptive icons, and including “home” and “parent-link” icons (West, Hafner, & Faust, 2006). At the current moment, however, there are still issues with display quality across different devices (Liston, 2009). Again, among community libraries the Skokie Public Library emerges as an exemplar as the library has designed a version of its website specifically for viewing on the small screen of a mobile device. The library catalog can also be browsed using a phone or PDA (with AirPAC, a mobile version of OPAC). In a recent presentation, Megan Fox (2009) has outlined numerous types of library friendly applications designed for the iPhone and other smartphones. Such applications enable users to find public libraries, organize notes, and conduct mobile searches. For example, the Washington D.C. Public Library has an iPhone application specifically designed to navigate its services. Some libraries also provide audio tours via mobile phones (http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=2383). A final mobile service deserving mention is the WorldCat Mobile pilot project (http://www.worldcat.org/mobile/default.jsp), which enables users to search for library materials as well as libraries, maps, and directions.

Outreach
In 2008, 62 percent of those aged 18 – 30 years old visited a public library for a range of purposes, including checking out books, using computers, seeking reference materials and the like (Rainie, 2008). Despite this figure, public libraries feel it is imperative to continue to reach new users and to maintain the users they have. The mobile content and services mentioned above are offered as opt-in choices for patrons. However, outreach generally means reaching out to those not already enjoying the library. Mobile phones may not be the most ideal devices for this purpose because of their extremely personal nature and people’s profound disdain for mobile spam (due to cost and irritation factors). However, some libraries are finding success using Twitter via mobile phones to make more connections in their communities and to promote their services and programs
(http://lis5313.ci.fsu.edu/wiki/index.php/Twittering_Libraries#Libraries_Using_Twitter). Such tweets might concern everything from pointers to the library website, to information on upcoming events, to research about the library’s role in society (Milstein, 2009).

Many libraries have also created Facebook and MySpace pages, such as the West Palm Beach Florida Public Library (http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Palm-Beach-FL/West-Palm-Beach-Public-Library/27487304991). While many users view such pages on desktop or laptop computers, accessing social networking sites via mobile phones is becoming a popular activity and one that is growing rapidly (Burns, 2009). For this reason, Rainie (2009) recommends that libraries try to become “a news node for information and interaction” in the lives of young people. As Rainie adds, “The internet is ‘personified’ in some people’s lives and [libraries] can provide information and social support in the same ways that social networks can.” Since people often build their social networks via social networking sites such as Facebook through “friending” their friends’ friends, libraries could tap into this networking function as a form of outreach. Dempsey (2009), however, questions whether users will be motivated to participate in such networks.

Conclusion
There are clearly several interesting projects and applications joining together libraries and mobiles at this current moment. As library professionals participate in Google groups (http://groups.google.com/group/mobilelibraries), blogs (Gerry McKiernan’s http://mobile-libraries.blogspot.com/), and conferences (http://m-libraries2009.ubc.ca/) dedicated to exploring mobile libraries, the future promises to bring more ways that mobile phones and PDAs can be used to serve the library’s mission in terms of expanding content, services, and outreach. However, one word of caution should be added in this conclusion. Aside from text messaging services, most of the initiatives highlighted above necessitate a mobile phone with Internet access. Considering that most data plans are only compatible on more high-end phones and cost upwards of an additional $20 per month, clearly not everyone can participate in such mobile-enabled initiatives. As Horrigan (2009) discusses in his recent report, The Mobile Difference, only 39 percent of the U.S. adult population are “motivated by mobility” and have “largely positive and improving attitudes about how mobile devices make them more available to others” as well as high levels of usage for “non-voice data applications such as text messaging and internet browsing” (25). However, 61 percent are defined as “stationery media will do,” meaning they do “not feel the pull of mobility – or anything else – drawing them further into the digital world” (4). As Horrigan emphasizes that “the bar that qualifies as high-tech among users has risen” (p. 16), we must continuously ask whether such mobile services and applications will broaden participation in libraries or perpetuate an insurmountable knowledge gap.

References

Cisler, S. (2002). Letter from San Francisco: The Internet bookmobile. First Monday [Online] 7(10). Retrieved May 2, 2009, from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/999/920

Dempsey, L. (2009). Always on: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity. First Monday [Online] 14(1-5). Retrieved March 2, 2009, from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2291/2070

Fox, M. (2009, April 1). Mobile practices and search: What’s hot! Paper presented at the Computers in Libraries Annual Conference. Arlington, VA. Retrieved May 8, 2009, from http://web.simmons.edu/~fox/mobile

Fram, A. (2009). More cell phone users dropping landlines. The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 8, 2009, from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/06/national/w090056D59.DTL&type=tech

Horrigan, J. (2009, March). The mobile difference: Wireless connectivity has drawn many users more deeply into digital life. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/5/-The-Mobile-Difference-Typology.aspx

Koman, R. (2002). Riding along with the Internet bookmobile. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/10/09/bookmobile/index.html

Kroski, E. (2008). On the move with the mobile web: Libraries and mobile technologies. Library and Technology Reports 44(5). Retrieved January 11, 2009, from http://www.techsource.ala.org/ltr/on-the-move-with-the-mobile-web-libraries-and-mobile-technologies.html

Liston, S. (2009). OPACs and the mobile revolution. Computers in Libraries 29(5), 6-16.

Milstein, S. (2009). Twitter FOR libraries. Computers in Libraries 29(5), 17-18.

Raine, L. (2008, April 17). The role of libraries in a networked world. Paper presented at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference. Dallas, TX. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2008/The-role-of-libraries-in-the-digital-age.aspx

Raine, L. (2009, January 14). How libraries can survive in the new media ecosystem. Paper presented at the HELIN Library Consortium. Bryant University, Smithfield, RI. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2009/How-libraries-can-survive-in-the-new-media-ecosystem.aspx

Singh, S. (2008). U.S. raises $19b in spectrum sale. The Times of India (March 25). Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/US_raises_19b_in_spectrum_sale/articleshow/2896443.cms

West, M. A., Hafner, A. W., & Faust, B. D. (2006). Expanding access to library collections and services using small-screen devices. Information Technology and Libraries 25(2), 103-107.

Author Bio
Cara Wallis recently completed her Ph.D. at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Her research interests include the social and cultural implications of new media technologies, particularly as these relate to issues of identity, power, and social change.