From November 2nd to 17th, The Hyowon Herald surveyed about Pusan National University’s (PNU) library application (app), and 112 students of PNU participated. In the survey, 83.9% of the students have used the PNU library app before, and 64.9% of them responded that they experienced inconveniences using the library app. Park So-Hyeon (20, Dept. of English Education) said, “PNU library app takes a long time to load. Moreover, it does not properly update the important information like irregular operation times due to COVID-19. For these reasons, I had to get information from the student community “Every Time,” and it was inconvenient. It seems PNU does not care much about the app.” Like this, we will get to know the problem of the PNU library app in this article.

   One of the problems is the lack of promotion. Using the PNU library app, we can get information such as notice of library, education programs, and reservation state of books and seats of the reading room. Despite it, 16.1% of the respondents have not used the PNU library app. The main reason for it was “ignorance of the app’s existence.” Lee Hye-In (21, Dept. of Organic Materials System Engineering) said, “I got to know the library app through the survey in this time. I was surprised to know the existence of the PNU library app because we use “Clicker” to enter the library.” The only way to notice the existence of the PNU library app directly to the PNU students was the library education video for rst-year students. However, it is limited to notice all the students because the video is not an obligation if students do not use the library. On the contrary, Kyungpook National University provides the library guide about the library app service with a separated PDF le to inform the students about the app easily.

   Another problem is the insuf- ciency of a guide. Due to COVID-19, PNU provides education video about the library usage instead of the face-to-face education, like before. This year’s education was called “2021 library education for rst-year students,” an autonomy class in PLATO, which is the education platform of PNU. If rstyear students do not watch the video in the given period, they are partially restricted to use the library, like borrowing books and reserving seats of the reading room. However, 44.8% of respondents who watched the education video said they had difculty using the library app. The running time of the education video is about 18 minutes. However, the explanation of the library app was only 2 minutes about the menu and lacked a concrete way on how to use it. The PDF le attached to the class also did not explain the denite way to use it, just saying we can download the PNU library app at the app store.

   The last problem is the inconvenience of the app itself. In the survey, students responded that they felt uncomfortable using the PNU library app for various reasons. The rst reason was “separate from Clicker (53.3%).” PNU library app is separated from Clicker, the app for reserving the seat of the reading room in PNU. PNU library app also provides information about the state of the seat of the reading room. However, reservation and extension of the seat are only possible through Clicker and a kiosk in the library. In contrast, in the case of Dong-A University, students can use the library app conveniently because the function of the library and reservation of reading rooms are integrated into one app. The second reason was “poor visibility of the app (51.7%).” Shin Ye-Rin (20, Dept. of Art) said, “PNU library app is complicated because the home screen is too long and the important information, like notices, are laid below. Also, some posts are not suited to the size of mobile screens, so I hope it will be improved.” In addition, about nine complaints about the long loading time and the problem of the maintenance of app log-in were reported in the survey. An anonymous respondent said, “I had no choice but to use the library website because the app was lagging.”

   Kim Wang-Jong (Staff, PNU Library) said, “As the operation system of mobile phone changes, the library app also has to be updated periodically. However, it is difcult because of the limited budget and staff. We also know the problem with the library app, so we have already improved the app in February. For the second half of the year, we will improve the user interface to solve the speed of loading and poor invisibility. Like this, we will hear and re¢ect the students’ opinions positively now and forever.”​​​​​​​