Examining differences in perceived usability of Google Drive among public library users
| Date | 30 June 2023 |
| Pages | 1956-1976 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-05-2022-0275 |
| Published date | 30 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information user studies,Metadata,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Farwa Taqi,Syeda Hina Batool,Alia Arshad |
Examining differences in
perceived usability of Google
Drive among public library users
Farwa Taqi
Department of Archive and Libraries S&GAD Wing, Quaid-e-Azam Library,
Lahore, Pakistan
Syeda Hina Batool
Institute of Information Management, University of the Punjab,
Lahore, Pakistan, and
Alia Arshad
Department of Information Management, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to explore differences in the usability of the Google Drive application based on
demographic characteristics, computer skills and use frequency of Google Drive among public library users of
Lahore.
Design/methodology/approach –The study adopted a quantitative approach and survey-based research
method to achieve the study’s objectives. The cloud usability model (user perspective) has been used as a
theoretical lens to guide the study objectives. It comprises five dimensions of usability –capable, personal,
reliable, valuable and secure.
Findings –The findings of the study revealed that the usability of Google Drive varied statistically
significantly on the basis of depending on the respondents gender, age, academic qualification, computerskills
and Google Drive use frequency.
Practical implications –It is a valuable study since it and adds knowledge to existing literature and has
implications for practice.
Originality/value –The findings might be helpful for cloud support teams including Google Drive as they
can notice the demographic and other differences among users’perceived usability of Google Drive and can
enhance certain features of usability which leads attributes to increase its usage among users.
Keywords Perceived usability, Demographic differences, Google Drive, Public libraries, Users
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Cloud-based services are becoming popular around the world as a result of the increased use
of digital content. Transformation of human needs reduces the demand for physical
infrastructure and lowers IT costs while improving accessibility, and fostering open and
productive collaboration (Goyal, 2017). The cloud industry is not just a buzzword; it is the
future of the IT industry. For academic purposes, students frequently use cloud-based
applications as a more convenient way to access data, files, documents, multimedia, etc.
and other materials (Alqahtani, 2019;Almarazroi et al., 2019;Chudasma et al., 2019;Djalev
and Bogdanov, 2019;Faisal, 2009;Loghmani Khozani et al., 2022;Miyim and Muhammad,
2017;Meher and Maharana, 2015;Shammar and Zahary, 2020;Vlachogianni and Tselios,
2022a;Xu and Du, 2019;Wang et al., 2022;Yew et al., 2022).
Additionally, digital transactions captivate personal and professional lives during new
normal times, where public presence and gatherings are restricted. People can now store and
share documents, text, pictures, photos, videos and multimedia materials on the Internet
while crossing geographical boundaries. Several cloud services, such as Skydrive, Dropbox,
LHT
42,6
1956
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0737-8831.htm
Received 29 May 2022
Revised 26 October 2022
14 February 2023
12 May 2023
8 June 2023
Accepted 11 June 2023
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 42 No. 6, 2024
pp. 1956-1976
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-05-2022-0275
Google Drive, iCloud and Picasa, provide secure storage, file synchronization and client
software for individual users to manage files to meet Internet users’needs (Hong, 2014).
These cloud services are popular because they allow Internet users to save money on
storage and maintenance while having access from any device, anywhere. Google Drive is one
of the most versatile cloud storage options regarding productivity (Herrick, 2009;Ford et al.,
2010; Kochovski, 2021; Krelja Kurelovic et al., 2013;Vlachogianni and Tselios, 2022b). During
last year’s Google I/O conference in May 2017, Google Company shared data that Google
Drive had handled two trillion files and had over 800 million daily active users.’Google
Enterprise provided no up-to-date data for Drive at this year’s Google I/O (Input/Output),
presumably because it was still waiting to cross the billion-user mark (Lardinois, 2018).
Innovative Cloud technologies prov ide more functionality than previous ly restricted
platforms. As a result, it is critical to lo ok into the factors that influence clou d service
adoption to forecast how likely it will be in the future. Previous academic research has
revealed little about the dynamics of cloud ser vice adoption. Studies mentioned that
differences in gender influence technology adoptio nand cl oud computing acceptance (Ahuja
and Thatcher, 2005;Almarazroi et al., 2019 ;Dittmar et al., 2004;Dong and Zhang, 2011;
Efuwape and Aremu, 2013;Lee, 2011;Melny k et al., 2009;Moore and McElroy, 2012;Odacı
and Çıkrıkçı,2014;Pozzebon et al., 2014;Riaz and Muhammad , 2015;Venkatesh et al., 2003;
Wu et al., 2022). The results of these studies s howed that there was a clear distinction
between female and male users.
Previous studies (Bangor et al., 2008;Binyamin et al., 2016;Coursaris et al., 2013;Dittmar
et al., 2004;Harrati et al., 2016;Lee, 2011;Melnyk et al., 2009;Slyke et al., 2010;Vlachogianni
and Tselios, 2022a;Xu and Du (2019) identified differences in the perceptions and adoption of
cloud services based on gender, age and education of respondents’usability evaluation of
technology related applications. Fewer female students indicate that men are more interested
in cloud service than women. Furthermore, the literature suggests that men place a higher
value on the functional elements of technology (Dittmar et al., 2004;Lee, 2011;Melnyk et al.,
2009;Slyke et al., 2010). The researchers evaluated the usability of the Moodle platform,
WYRED platform, Gmail and Dropbox and found that respondents’age had a significant
difference between old and young participants (Bangor et al., 2008;Granic and Cuku
sic, 2011;
Harrati et al., 2016;Orfanou et al., 2015). Xu and Du (2019) indicated that participants aged 24
to 26 were significantly more satisfied with digital services than those aged 18 to 20 and 21 to
23. In contrast, Binyamin et al. (2016) and Vlachogianni and Tselios (2022a) discovered no
difference in the ages of young and old participants. Moreover, Xu and Du (2019) also found
that user satisfaction with digital services was significantly affected by education level.
Graduate students are more satisfied with digital services than undergraduate students.
Here, the usability score increases with the level of education.
Recently, researchers from different domains are increasingly paying attention to the
advent of file storage services facilitated by cloud computing technology. It is obvious from
the point of view of the end user and industry that the use of personal cloud storage services
(CSSs) such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and iCloud has boomed in a unique way
(Alamri and Qureshi, 2015;Al-Gahtani, 2004; Amrehn et al., 2013; Pour Rezaei, 2015). Among
all the cloud storage services, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and iCloud are
becoming increasingly popular among the digital community. Google Drive is one of the most
versatile cloud storage options for productivity and is considered one of the best cloud
collaboration tools (Kochovski, 2021). Google I/O (Input/Output) conference in May (2017), the
company said that Google Drive had stored 2 trillion files and had more than 800 million
active users a day. Google I/O, the company still needs to offer up-to-date numbers for Drive,
probably because it is still waiting to cross the billion-user number (Lardinois, 2018). Few
studies have been conducted on various cloud services’usability aspects, including Google
Docs, Dropbox, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Classroom, etc. (Alqahtani, 2019;Brown and
Usability of
Google Drive
1957
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
