Digital Library Services in Mobile Computing.

Digital libraries bring about the integration, management, and communication of gigabytes of multimedia data in a distributed environment. Digital library systems currently envision users as being static when they access information. But it is expected in the near future that tens of millions of users will have access to a digital library through wireless access. Providing digital library services to users whose location is constantly changing, whose network connections are through a wireless medium, and whose computing power is low necessitates modifications to existing digital library systems. In this paper, we identify the issues that arise when users are mobile, classify queries that are specific to mobile users and introduce an architecture that supports flexible and transparent access to digital libraries for mobile users. The main features of the architecture include a layered data representation, support of adaptability, dual broadcast and on demand querying, caching, and mobile-specific user interfaces.