Abstract
Since its inception in 1960 the Internet was exalted as the technology that would revolutionise communication access. However, widespread use in Africa was hampered by the lack of quality telecommunication infrastructure. In just two decades, the cell phone has become the fastest-selling, most loved consumer product. Nobody envisioned how popular text messaging, also referred to as short messaging service (SMS) would become. Research shows that 76% of all subscribers or 3.1 billion subscribers use the SMS actively. The abundance of cell phone users is also noticeable in today’s academic library. While some universities has responded to the widespread
use of cell phones by delivering educational content and administration of tests via the cell phone, libraries have begun to reach out and serve students’ information needs through the use of the SMS. The University of the Free State Library and Information Services initiated a SMS reference service in 2009. This paper briefly describes the widespread use of text messaging and text messaging technology. The system and services implemented at the UFS LIS is described, as well as the lessons learnt. The paper will end with a short review of cell phone use in libraries and how it could be used to enhance library operations.