Increasingly, mobile devices are used as information tools for current awareness as well as for search. Newspapers, from The Wall Street Journal to the Financial Times to local city dailies, have created mobile versions, which are optimized for reading on a cell phone screen. Factiva will send alerts to your mobile device.
There are differences in information- seeking behaviors beyond simply reading news on your mobile. What you first use to search often depends upon convenience - and the easiest route is often dictated by your mobile technology habits. You can easily grab an answer from Google or Wikipedia using a mobile web browser or application. Text messaging is even easier, and it's become endemic with mobile phones. You can text a friend or ChaCha (text 242242) for a quick answer. Then there's social networking. Another approach is to query your social circle through Twitter or Facebook, again using your phone.
Switching gears to professional-grade research as opposed to ready reference or personal trivia questions changes the situation. When people need a thorough survey or in-depth search of a topic, they are still expected to move on to traditional tools and settle down at the computer to scour proprietary databases and the library OPAC.
However, as aspects of our lives rely more heavily on our mobile devices, we are becoming more willing to embrace the use of mobile technologies for searching and advanced research. The information industry is adapting to reflect this shift in user behavior. Because of advances in mobile technology and changes in our approach to engaging information, our quests for the deepest information resources can be just as convenient and mobile.
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