Transcript Slide 1
Enhancing Library Access through the Use of Mobile Technology: Case Study of Information Services Provided by Six Mobile Companies in Bangladesh Nafiz Zaman Shuva Department of Information Science & Library Management University of Dhaka [email protected] Brief Account of Bangladesh Bangladesh emerged as an independent and sovereign country in 1971 following a nine month war of liberation. It is one of the largest deltas of the world with a total area of 147,570 sq km. With a unique communal harmony, Bangladesh has a population of about 140 million, making it one of the densely populated countries of the world. The literacy rate of Bangladeshi people is 43.1%. Over 98% of the people speak in Bangla. English, however is widely spoken. Bangladesh has an agrarian economy. The GDP of Bangladesh is 6.51% and per capita income is US$ 520. The principal industries of Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Flag the country include readymade garments, -map_of_Bangladesh.svg textiles, chemical fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, tea processing, sugar, leather goods etc. Libraries in Bangladesh The library movement in Bangladesh started in1854 with the establishment of four public libraries in the district towns of Jessore, Bogura, Barisal and Rangpur. Public Libraries in Bangladesh Main entrace of the Bangladesh Central Public Library. Source: http://www.publiclibrary.org.bd/images/PublicLib_Dhaka.jpg In Bangladesh there are mainly two types of public libraries from the administrative and management point of view, viz. Government and Non-Government Public Libraries. Non-government public libraries movements started with the establishment of four public libraries in the year 1854. The government public library started its journey with the opening of Bangladesh Central Public Library in 1958. Cont. from previous slide The numbers of Public Libraries are given below: A. Government Public Libraries- under the Department of Public Library the following libraries are run – 1. Bangladesh Central Public Library 01 2. Divisional Central Public Library 05 3. District Library – 58 4. Branch Library 04 Total= 68 B. Non-government Public Libraries -1603 (Library Directory, 2003 Bangladesh National Book Centre) National Libraries in Bangladesh Source: http://www.nanl.gov.bd There are two national libraries in Bangladesh. One is National Library of Bangladesh which was established in1972 and the other one is National Health and Documentation Center which was established in 1974. National Library of Bangladesh acts as a national repository of books published in Bangladesh while National Health and Documentation Center (NHLDC) mainly concentrate on national health information services. Academic Libraries in Bangladesh There are 21 public universities and 53 private universities in Bangladesh. There are 1600 colleges affiliated with National University of Bangladesh which have some kind of libraries. There are more than 1200 intermediate colleges which have small library with limited reading resources. Special Libraries in Bangladesh There are around 1000 special libraries in Bangladesh. The exact number of special libraries functioning is not known since no efforts has been taken by any authority yet. Special libraries in Bangladesh play a very important role in knowledge dissemination. Notable special libraries includes: ICDDR-B Library, Agricultural Information Center, CIRDAP Library, Community Development Library etc. Status of ICT in Libraries of Bangladesh Bangladesh entered into the computer era in 1964 with the installation of IBM 1620 machine at Atomic Energy Centre at Dhaka. 1980s are considered as the beginning of the automation era as far as libraries and information centers in Bangladesh are concerned. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) Library and Agricultural Information Centre (AIC) are pioneers in creating bibliographic databases on specialized fields using microcomputers. ICT in Public libraries of Bangladesh Status of ICT in public libraries of Bangladesh is unsatisfactory. Among the 68 government public libraries only 14 public libraries have some kind of ICT facility. Largest numbers of computers i.e 18 computers are available at the Bangladesh Central Public Library. Rest of the 13 libraries have only one computer each which is a very frustrating fact. Cont. from previous slide Another frustrating fact is that there exists no internet facility in any government public libraries of Bangladesh. In the age of ICT public libraries of Bangladesh are unable to offer internet and electronic resource service to its users. ICT in Non-government Public libraries: In Bangladesh non-government public libraries have no technological facilities. Shortage of funds, lack of support from the government and the local authority impedes the gradual development of non-government public libraries in Bangladesh. ICT in National Libraries of Bangladesh Currently, National Library of Bangladesh has only three workable computers with internet facility. Automation Section of National Library was set up in 1996 with 6 computers. Users are not fully satisfied with the traditional services provided by National Library of Bangladesh. ICT scenario at the National Health and Documentation Center is much better than the National Library of Bangladesh. ICT in Academic Libraries of Bangladesh ICT status of some private university libraries i.e. North South University Library , East West University Library, BRAC University Library, Independent University Library etc. are quite satisfactory. They are offering time befitting services to its users. ICT status in public university libraries incomparison with some private university libraries are not satisfactory. Cont. from previous slide The largest university library in BangladeshUniversity of Dhaka Central Library has ICT facilities but does not deserve praise for its ICT related services. More vulnerable situation exists in all other academic libraries of Bangladesh specially affiliated to National University of Bangladesh. ICT in Special Libraries of Bangladesh Special libraries of Bangladesh offers good number of ICT based services to its users. Special libraries based in Dhaka offers time befitting, up-to-date library services to its users. Users are satisfied with the services offered by most special libraries in Bangladesh. Mobile Companies in Bangladesh During early 1990s mobile phone came to Bangladesh. Only one company i.e. City Cell was offered mobile services to limited number of people. From 1997 this sector was opened to some other companies and revolution started in the mobile sector from then. However, it was from 2000 that the number of mobile subscribers increased substantially. Cont. from previous slide Bangladesh has currently six mobile phone operators in Mobile Telecommunication Industry. These are: Grameen Phone Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited (Banglalink) TMIB (Aktel) PBTL (Citycell) Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. (Teletalk) Warid Telecom International L.L.C (Warid) Grameen Phone Grameenphone is now the leading telecommunications service provider in the country. Starting its operations on March 26, 1997, Grameenphone has come a long way. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor (62%), the largest telecommunications service provider in Norway and Grameen Telecom Corporation (38%), a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank. Information Services Offered by Grammen Phone Using Mobile Technology News Service: Grameenphone offers latest news from Channel 1, CNN, and bdnews24.com. Weather : Grammen Phone offers weather update to its users who request for weather update service. Cont. from previous slide Stock Information: To get live information on stock price details, Daily Graph of prices of traded companies and get alert on stock price changes on the Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges, Grameenphone offers the Stock Update Service - Bull. Bull is a Java application for mobile phones which displays stock information of Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges using EDGE/GPRS. Cont. from previous slide Namaz alerts : This service offers prayer time information for Muslims. Before the prayer time starts an automatic message is sent to the subscriber of this service. Cont. from previous slide Healthline: Healthline service has been launched by Grameen Phone with the aim to enhance access to primary healthcare services using mobile communications technology. Grameenphone subscribers may seek medical advice on emergency, non-emergency or regular medical situation by simply dialing ‘789.' A 789-caller will also enjoy additional medical information services, such as doctor and medical facility information, interpretation of laboratory test reports and data, and emergency support information. Project Milestone: → Has answered 3.5 million calls till October 2008. → Received GSMA Award 2007 for ‘Best use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development'. banglalink When banglalink entered the Bangladesh telecom industry in February 2005, the scenario changed overnight with mobile telephone becoming an extremely useful and affordable communication tool for people across the country. Within one year of operation, banglalink became the fastest growing mobile operator of the country with a growth rate of 257%. Information Services Offered by banglalink Using Mobile Technology Source: http://www.banglalink.com/ Banglalink launched a new service 'banglalink jigyasha 7676' which provides suggestions and answers to any queries related to agriculture, vegetable and fruit farming, poultry, livestock, fisheries etc. banglalink is the pioneer in Bangladesh in launching such a service. Cont. from previous slide Source: http://www.banglalink.com/ Healthlink service :Banglalink, has launched 'Healthlink service' for its customers. Through this service, Banglalink subscribers are now able to get Health counseling services through third party (managed by Synesis IT) call center. Banglalink customers can just dial 789 and they will be put through to a call center agent of Healthlink. Cont. from previous slide Railway Information Service - banglalink Junction 1313 : Just another milestone from the house of innovative value added services of banglalink; it offers railway information service to its users. i'info from banglalink: An SMS based subscription news service which ensures that subscribers are always updated on the latest happenings. Cont. from previous slide Source: http://www.banglalink.com/ This Value Added Service enables its users to access Bangladesh Yellow Pages through banglalink mobile phone. User of this service can access information of Airlines, Banks, Hospitals, Embassies, Restaurants, Trains, Travel Offers, etc. by just dialing 2727. AKTEL AKTEL is a joint venture company between Axiata and NTT DoCoMo, Japan. AKTEL officially commenced its operations in 1997. Covering all 64 districts of the country, AKTEL has become the first mobile operator to connect Tetulia and Teknaf, the northern and southern most points of Bangladesh. AKTEL supports 2G voice, CAMEL phase 2 and GPRS/EDGE service with high speed internet connectivity. Information Services Offered by AKTEL Using Mobile Technology AKTEL introduces AKTELDirectory Service for both its Pre-Paid and Post-Paid customers to make any information available for them from anywhere anytime. AKTEL-Directory Service, a service which helps its clients to access and obtain their desired information, starting from household needs to life saving information. Source: http://www.aktel.com/ Cont. from previous slide AKTEL Café8000 :It is basically a package of voice based service introduced for the 1st time in Bangladesh for all AKTEL customers. In Café8000, voice based services such as News, Information, Entertaintment, Religion, International Roaming etc. is available. Cont. from previous slide Source: http://www.aktel.com/ AKTEL brings daily news updates from bdnews24.com. For LATEST NEWS, just type news and SMS to 2324 or call 2324 anytime and get news wherever the users are. Citycell Citycell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) is Bangladesh’s and South Asia’s pioneering mobile communications company and the only CDMA mobile operator in the country. The company offers a full array of mobile services for consumers and businesses that are focused on the unique needs of the Bangladeshi community. Information Services Offered by Citycell Using Mobile Technology Voice based information News The users of this service may update them with the leading national news by dialing 2010, 2626, 4141 etc. to hear news from different news media 24 hours a day. Weather Report To get up-to-date weather forecast and peep into the today’s temperature chart user need to dial *122 Cont. from previous slide Daily Events What’s hot and what’s not: users can get detail information on daily events of Dhaka by dialing *123 Flight Schedule Users need to Dial *124 from Citycell connection to access up-to-date flight schedules and plan their trip without hassles. Cont. from previous slide Train Schedule: By dialing *125 from Citycell one can know the train schedule. Exchange Rate: To be updated with the most current exchange rate one can Dial *126 and get the current rates of foreign currencies. It is possible to get railway information from anywhere using mobile phone. © Photo copyright Nafiz Zaman Shuva Teletalk Teletalk Bangladesh Limited is a public limited company, registered under the Registrar of the Joint stock companies of Bangladesh. Total shares owned by the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. Information Services Offered by Teletalk Using Mobile Technology Push-pull services Like ordinary SMS, one can receive answer to a question he/she asks. By using this push-pull service, one can have the latest updates of important cricket matches. Besides, other important information like weather forecast, prayer time, quotes, horoscopes and especially sehri-iftar timing during Ramadan are also available. Warid Telecom In Bangladesh, Warid Telecom started its commercial functioning from May 10th, 2007. Based on the NGN (Next-Generation) network, Warid Telecom's operational activities in Bangladesh aim to achieve a new and modern corporate identity, which is congruent with the dynamic changes taking place in the telecom industry today Information Services Offered by Warid Using Mobile Technology •http://www.waridtel.com.bd/ To help one avail many exciting contents and Value Added Services (VAS) in the most user-friendly way, Warid offers the SIM Genie menu - the next generation SIM Tool Kit (STK)! The SIM Genie menu is a detailed menu that one finds in his/her handset’s menu options as soon as he/she switch on his/her Warid phone. Info Zone » Menu informs about day-to-day sports, news, finance, religion, weather, and allows word finding in dictionary etc. Cont. from previous slide Entertainment: Menu allows content download of logos & icons, jokes, ring tones, music & movies, quotes, horoscope, games, and recipes. Help & Support: Menu offers direct help by Warid Contact Centers in Helpline, emergency services such as Police, Fire, and Ambulance by one-touch dialing Mobile Users in Bangladesh The total number of Mobile Phone Active Subscribers has reached 46.50 million at the end of April 2009. 46.50 million could be the users of libraries !!!!! Cont. from previous slide How? By offering library services using mobile technology ensures 46.50 million mobile user become library users. Possible Library Services Using Mobile Technology Library services that could be offered using mobile technology are discussed in the upcoming slides. Current Awareness Service Subscription based current awareness service could be offered using mobile technology by any specific library. Suppose Dhaka University Central Library could offer this to its students and faculty members. Those who will subscribe to this service will receive announcement, library update time to time. Monthly subscription fees will be deducted from the users mobile account automatically. This service is possible by taking support from content provider. They will do everything on behalf of the library. Cont. from previous slide For example to subscribe to the CAS user need to write ‘On CAS’ and send the message to 5000 number from his/her mobile. On CAS 5000 After the user send message to 5000, a confirmation message will be sent to user mobile. Congratulations. You have been subscribed to CAS. To unsubscribe write Off CAS and send to 5000. Taka 15 will be deducted from your mobile balance for this service for one month. Book Renew Service Even if we travel we can renew our book using mobile technology. © Photo copyright Nafiz Zaman Shuva If a user is on the move or is unable to go to the library when his/her issued book return time is ticking, Book renew service is a solution to this problem. To renew a book user need to write the ISBN no. of the book with his/her library member id and send to BOOK (2665). After the message is received by the server a confirmation message will be sent to the sender. 1-85739260-4, id 306 2665 Confirmation message is to be sent to the user mentioning date of expire of the book. Your book entitled “Information Seeking in the Online Age” by Large, Andrew et.al is renewed for 21st days. It will expire on July 15, 2009. Book Alert Service This service is request based and it is really difficult to offer this service for a big library. However it is possible. Suppose a faculty member or student of Information Science would like to know the new arrival of their subject. Then he/she need to write their subject code as given by the library and send it to 2222. A reply will be given by the server regarding the status of the books/journals on the subject. Before offering this service the library should list their subject and assign code against each subject and provide the code to the users. Suppose subject code of Information Science is IS52 then the user will write the code and send it to the 2222. IS52 2222 A reply is to be sent to the user mentioning no. of books and journals acquired during the last 30 days. We have 05 new books and 01 new journal issue on your subject. Please visit the library. Outstanding Book Report Users can receive outstanding book report by sending a message to 688. They need to write the member id in the message. 150113FM 688 Following message is a report of the outstanding book of member id 150113FM You have no outstanding book/journal. Disaster Information Service Every year Bangladesh experiences different natural disasters which take thousands of peoples life each year. Specially in the coastal area inhabitants suffers most from the disaster. By offering weather update to the fisherman, boat rider before the weather goes bad to worst public library at the coastal area can help to save life of many people. Before giving this service the public library authority in the coastal area should create a database of fisherman, boat rider first by visiting the field. As most of the fisherman and boat riders are illiterate and are not able to read message Bengali Voice Weather update should be given. After the creation of the database the mobile number of the fisherman and the boatman will automatically be subscribed to the service. The subscriber will receive voice weather report. Cont. from previous slide Weather update could contain the following information “ Weather situation of this area is going bad to worst. You are requested to go safe side. You are requested to go safe side.” (2 times). This voice will be given frequently during the bad weather. Even the local public library after disaster could offer voice based live Fisherman can check the latest weather support so that people could forecast before going to fishing in the sea. find shelter and even could © Photo copyright Nafiz Zaman Shuva find relief timely. Health Information Service Centrally health information service could be provided to anyone. There will be some health information professionals who will give health information to any one and give general health support during emergency. This service is interactive. Anyone can call anytime. This call will go to the health service office. There should be at least five professionals all the time. This interactive service is round the clock service. They will have computerized division wise health information directory so that they can give information asked by the people outside Dhaka city. Suppose someone can ask for name and address of a specialist doctor on heart at Kishoregonj district of Bangladesh. The professional will search the doctor’s name under Kishoregonj district. Someone may ask some primary health care tips, beauty tips etc. Information Center of the Ministry of Health, People’s Republic of Bangladesh should offer this service. Agricultural Information Service Agricultural Information Service could be a very effective service for farmers in Bangladesh and for the people involved with agricultural business. Local Agricultural Information office of each division could start this service using mobile technology. Agriculture Ministry of Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh should centrally coordinate this service. Cont. from previous slide As most of the farmers and local people involved with agricultural business are not capable of using text message service of a mobile device. live Agricultural Information Service should be provided. They will call to local agricultural information office using their mobile. They can ask any type of agricultural related information e.g. which paddy is suitable for specific field? what is the current rate of rice in the market? What type of fertilizer is suitable for particular field? etc. Person responsible for this service will try to answer the question instantly or will take some time to answer the question. If the person is unable to answer the question he/she will call back to the person who submit request for information. One Stop Information Services of Government of Bangladesh Recently Bangladesh Government proclaimed “Right to Information Act” that ensures peoples’ right to know government and other information whenever required. As part of this government should establish ‘One Stop Information Center’ at the Secretariat of Bangladesh. This One Stop Information Center will offer all kinds of information regarding various ministry of People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Questions that could be asked through mobile are: Who is the present Secretary of a particular ministry? What projects are recently undertaken by a particular ministry? How to contact with some officials of the secretariat ? etc. Others Information Services Using Mobile Technology Other possible information services that could be given using mobile technology are: Entertainment Service: Public libraries of Bangladesh can provide entertainment services to mass people using mobile technology. Different types of songs, short drama, recitation etc. could be preserved at the public library server. Suppose if a user dial 6666 from his/her mobile it will connect to public library entertainment server . User will be able Offering entertainment service using to choose songs, poem or drama after mobile technology , public library can entering to the server. This should be a satisfy the users with smile. free service. © Photo copyright Nafiz Zaman Shuva Cont. from previous slide News Service: Besides offering printed newspapers at the public library premises, it could offer news headline and short news briefing service using mobile technology. Suppose if a user dial 7777 he/she will enter to public library news room and will be able to hear latest news update using mobile. The most easy way to offer this service is to sign a MOU with different news media to support this service. Already this service is in operation by different mobile operators but charges are a bit high. Public library should try to convince the mobile operator and the news media to give the news service as part of Corporate Social Responsibility. Cont. from previous slide Traffic Update: Capital city of Bangladesh is facing intolerable traffic jam throughout the day. Traffic update could help people choose the right way to reach their destination. This service could be given by the Metropolitan Traffic Department Information Center. Information Professionals of that department will give voice update of various important road of Dhaka city every half an hour. For example one can dial 1000 to know the latest traffic update of Dhaka city. WAP Content Development A good number of mobile users in Bangladesh use WAP enabled mobile set and mobile internet users are increasing time to time. Availability of some library content at the WAP site will undoubtedly increase library access. WAP site of a particular library may have the following facilities: Catalogue search of library resources Library hours information Library contact information Some external links of mobile content Directory information on particular library, ministry or university Even it could contain the yellow pages How to Implement All These Services After a long discussion with content providers, who offer various services using mobile technology and develop mobile content it is found that to implement services using mobile technology required a database of information, 24 hours server support and support from content provider. If the library has even no server, content provider will be able to offer server support. At the initial stage it could cost much but depends from content provider to content provider and the understanding with the mobile operators. If the library is able to convince the mobile operators that their service is a part of Corporate Social Responsibility i.e. Heath Service then the operators may not charge a single penny. Cont. from previous slide All these service is possible only if Government and the concerned authority as well as mobile operators in Bangladesh come forward to implement this service. Government should take necessary initiatives to involve mobile operators to improve library services using mobile technology. Without the support of the mobile operators of Bangladesh none of the services proposed is possible to implement fully and immediately. Problems of Mobile Technology Implementation in Libraries of Bangladesh Major Problems Lack of sufficient funds Absence of comprehensive national and local ICT policies Lack of ICT knowledge and skills Resistance to change Bureaucratic procedures Low priority given to libraries Besides other problems of Bangladesh in implementing ICT based services are: Lack of trained library personnel and training facilities Unskilled and shy librarians Poor status of librarians Lack of proper planning Lack of cooperation among the libraries and lack of cooperative spirit among the librarians Lack of international cooperation Lack of government support Lack of assessing community needs Lack of standards for library and information services Lack of strong, effective library associations in Bangladesh Recommendation Library authorities should come forward to implement their services using mobile technology. Government, mobile operators and the libraries in Bangladesh should cooperate with each other for the development of library services using mobile technology. The Government of Bangladesh should allocate sufficient funds in the budget for the development of library sector in Bangladesh. The training of library staff in information and communication technologies is a must. The rank and status of librarians and information professionals should be elevated The library associations of Bangladesh should organize seminars, workshops, etc. to create awareness among librarians about current developments in technology. Library and information science teaching and training institutions should introduce different types of training programs for unskilled library professionals. International cooperation is a must in the library field. References National Web Portal of Bangladesh: http://www.bangladesh.gov.bd/ Grammen Phone: http://www.grameenphone.com Banglalink: http://www.banglalink.com/ Aktel: http://www.aktel.com/ Citycell: http://www.citycell.com/ Teletalk: http://www.teletalk.com.bd/ Warid: http://www.waridtel.com.bd/