Future of the book? Challenge of
the digital world
Pat Pledger
http://www.readplus.com.au
What is an e-book?
• Book that
downloads into an
e-book reader or
onto a computer
• Latest jargon for a
paper book is pbook!
Availability of e-books
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International Children’s Digital Library
Project Gutenberg
National Library of Australia
Authors like Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow and J.K.
Rowling are offering free e-books
• iPad apps for books like Animalia, Little Peter
Rabbit
• Search WebLinks Online for ebook sources
http://www.weblinkresearch.com.au
Types of eBook readers
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Amazon Kindle uses e-Ink, looks like a book
Sony
Barnes and Noble Nook
Borders Kobo
iPad is backlit. Has app for both the Kindle asnd
Kobo as well as apps to read epub open source
• iPhone
Formats: eBook readers
Different formats
• Pdf
• Amazon : .azw, .mobi
• Epub: iPad, Sony,
Kobo
• IPhone
Advantages of reading on e-book
readers
• Portability
• Size of print
• Dyslexic readers find reading
on an e-book reader a better
experience as the problem with
crowding of letters disappears
• Audio
• Dictionary
• Ability to bookmark and take
notes
• Instant access to books
Advantages of e-book readers
• Cost with Kindle books
• Sample chapter downloads
• Ability to synchronise on different types eg
Kindle, iPad, computer
• Access to 1,000’s of free ebooks
• Interactivity on iPad
Disadvantages of e-book readers
• Difficulty swapping books from I device to
another
• No uniform platform
• Page numbers, citing
• Not as usable as print
• Lending issues
Digital rights management
• Publishers cannot sell ebooks unless the
copyright holder has given explicit rights for
book to be sold in Australia
• Books have different publishers in different
countries
• Publishers like Random House Australia now
have ebooks in different formats
Digital rights management
Lending platforms
• Libwise (Fictionwise.com) Used by Ozebooks.com.au
• NetLibrary (EBSCO)
• Warner Books
• Ebook Library
• Overdrive (Loretto Normanhurst)
• Issues: Cost and Content
Source: Fiction Focus Vol 24 2010 Issue 3
Textbooks on eBook readers
• US Research shows colour and diagrams didn’t
show up, but individual taste dictates use
• In survey 100 students. Yes, 53% 21% maybe
Features of future e-book readers
• Purchase books across reading platforms
Future
• Longer battery life
• Added content like author
reviews, reading guides and
read similar authors
• Models designed specifically for
particular age groups:
Young children, large buttons,
good audio, multi-media and
large print
Senior reader easy to use, light and
cater for diseases like arthritis
Classroom and library use
• Motivate readers who are not very
enthusiastic about reading
• Children were able to listen to the text, change
the font size and take notes and these extras
led to a better understanding of the book
Barriers to eBook use in classroom
• Students gaining access to the same material
on e-book readers can be a problem for the
classroom
• 6 Kindles for 1 account, but issue of students
getting access to account,
• Kindle onto the PC, Mac and iPhone
• Create own ebooks
Ability of people to read and
understand the digital word
• Aristotle: three lives for a good society: 1.
productivity and knowledge gathering; 2. the
life of entertainment, 3. life of reflection and
contemplation
• Children may not be able to go beyond
decoding words to the rich world of reflection
that can come after reading
Ability of people to read and
understand the digital word
• Reader felt more immersed in the printed
word, rather than reading a traditional book
or on a computer.
• It has been argued by Liu (Liu, A. 2010),
professor of English at the University of
California, that Web 2.0 offers a different view
of reading and contains a social experience.
Will the printed book die?
Only 4 of the 97 students had an e-book reader.
53% preferred print
3 of the 4 students with e-book reader,
preferred print.
21% would read more books if they
were stored on eBook reader
Conclusion
More e-book devices are coming onto the
market. With developers adding books to the
iPad and more books becoming available in ebook form, educators will need to keep up
with trends and test devices to see if they will
improve the educational outcomes of their
students.
Contact details
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http://www.readplus.com.au
pledger@readplus.com.au
PO Box 173 Kangarilla. SA. 5157.
Ph. 08 83837381
Fax 08 83837391
Edna ebook group:
http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=2497