Digital nomadism: students experience of using mobile devices in Delhi Metro
| Pages | 5-10 |
| Date | 03 September 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-04-2018-0027 |
| Published date | 03 September 2018 |
| Author | Saleeq Ahmad Dar,Margam Madhusudhan |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Library & information services |
Digital nomadism: students experience of using
mobile devices in Delhi Metro
Saleeq Ahmad Dar and Margam Madhusudhan
Introduction and literature review
“Knowledge was once physically
rooted in specific form (the
manuscript, the book, the map),
located in particular places (archives,
museums and libraries) and embodied
within the minds of certain people
(scholars, archivists, mapmakers)”
(Lyons and Urry, 2005). But
knowledge is now transmitting into
digitized information. In the era of
mobile technologies, many social and
economic aspects of life are
transforming and that transformation
has led to a positive change in our
lives. If you walk onto any college or
any park, waiting halls, moving trains
you will see people will be busy with
their mobile devices, composing,
watching, reading, texting, listening to
musicoroccupiedonsocialmedia.
Earlier, people would read a book or
sometimesburytheirfacesin
newspapers while travelling, but the
modern internet-enabled mobile
devices have made it possible to
access information ubiquitously.
Through mobile devices, information
has become a part of our daily lives
than in the case when we used to
access information within the four
walls of library. When ICT was a
distant dream people on board of train
would use print material, talk to
fellow passengers or sleep. However,
in the internet age, flood gates of
knowledge and open access allow
travelers to consume information on
the go, and it has diminished the
concept of disutility or dead time.
Lyons and Urry (2005) found that “it
is the train that can be the most
potentially ‘productive’ mode of
transport. Mobile ICT has been an
important facilitator in this
development. A number of modern
technologies offer new opportunities
for how people on the move may use
their time beyond their workplace or
home. The activity space has been
expanded” (Gripsrud and Hjorthol,
2012). “Mobile computing and
communication technologies, e.g. the
new functionalities of the mobile
phones, laptops, tablets, and wider
wireless connectivity are all part of
this development” (Gripsrud and
Hjorthol, 2012). According to
Schwanen and Kwan (2008),“smart
devices are believed to not only
change how time is spent during
travel, but also change when, where,
and how travel information is acquired
and processed”.
Importantly, the growing need to
stay connected is the driver of
increasing mobile use in the world
today. This is true for people of
different age groups and occupations.
Students, which comprise the largest
section of the total mobile device users,
require high mobility and connectivity
for many of their educational and
recreational needs in India. The paper
highlights the ways students use their
time while commuting to different
academic institutions in Delhi and back
home with particular focus on the use of
ICT and the kind of information
available on mobile devices.
It is believed that, on an average,
people spend more than two hours per
day commuting and deep themselves
busy in different activities Some
reading newspapers others books and
some sleeping or gossiping. Ohmori
and Harata (2008) “observed that
sleeping and reading as the most
frequent activities; sleeping was at
high rate of 67 per cent”. “The
traditional assumption that travel is a
derived demand and travel time is
wasted time that should be minimized
is being challenged” (Guo et al.,
2015). From its early beginnings,
“train travel has been associated with
reading books; Victorian reading
habits were significantly developed
because of the huge growth of
‘railway’ reading materials following
the appearance of book and newspaper
stalls on most stations” (Urry, 2006).
Ettema and Verschuren (2007) found
that “travellers make positive use of
time by undertaking many activities
such as reading a book or listen to
music”. Mokhtarian and Solomon
(2001) “found that more than 80 per
cent of respondents agree with this
statement: It is nice to be able to do
errands on the way to or from work”.
“There is a big impact of ICT on
commuting behavior; people do
online shopping, make business
arrangements allowing individuals to
reduce the disruption of travel time by
using mobile computing devices”
(Mokhtarian and Chen, 2004). Lyons
et al. (2007) “indicated that reading a
book was the most popular activity
among travellers”.
Mobile technology can also impose
new burdens on travellers and make
travel less appealing in some ways”
(Dal Fiore et al.,2014). In the mobile
age, “digital nomads” people are seen
busy with their mobile devices, and
there are clear signs that without
mobile device travel is usually seen as
a waste of time. Garikapati et al.
(2016) note that “millennials are more
inclined to multi-task than prior
generations, and this may also play a
role in the choice of mode as “digital
natives” may value the ability to use
technology platforms for a variety of
purposes while traveling”.
“Train passengers in Japan were
found to be more likely to use mobile
devices for work while sitting and
would choose to use them for
browsing the web when standing”
(Ohmori and Harata, 2008). “Then
there are mobile teleworkers who
make best use of travel time by
leveraging the power of mobile
LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 7 2018, pp. 5-10, V
CEmerald Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/LHTN-04-2018-0027 5
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