The Athabasca University Digital Reading Room: Library resources for mobile students

Abstract

This project has been designed to test the boundaries of Mlearning and to begin to build a platform for AU to raise an effective m-library. Building on the research conducted in Canada and abroad, the researchers are investigating PDAs and learning objects in order to maximize the potential of Mlearning.

What constitutes an effective Mlibrary? Within the limits of this research investigation, an effective Mlibrary must store the contents in a format accessible and configurable by a wide variety of devices and software applications. Special programming is required to implement optimal delivery on a variety of devices and software applications.

What resources can be made available in the Mlibrary (content and resource development)? It seems that a wide variety of resource types can be made available on mobile devices subject to formatting limitations. With appropriate programming there are few if any limitations on text displays and only size-comfort limitations on graphics, sound, and video.

What are the technical difficulties in implementing the DRR on mobile devices? Because of the difference in the operating systems and the pocket browsers in the PPC and the POS, the CSS stylesheet cannot be implementd in a generic manner. This causes difficulties in designing accessibily/usabilty features for the two different systems.