Personal Information Management Practices of Chinese College Students on their Smartphones

Abstract

Mobile devices have become more and more useful in facilitating people's everyday information activities, especially personal information management (PIM). This research studies college students' PIM behavior by a mixed method approach of questionnaires and focus group interviews. Results show that college undergraduate and graduate students used smart devices frequently for various purposes, stored and managed all the kinds of information on smart devices. The organization, finding (and re-finding), and maintenance of information on smartphones diverge from desktop PCs and laptop significantly. However, current technologies do not seem to provide tools and mechanisms effective enough for mobile PIM.