Transcript E-books
E-books: textbooks of the future? Alison McNab University Library Overview What’s the point of E-books? E-Books - the issues Problems with E-books Different business models Selecting the right service 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web What’s the point of E-books? (1) Portability Instant access to titles 24 hours a day Accessibility Searchability Annotation 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web What’s the point of E-books? (2) Linking Multimedia possibilities Breaking down barriers Environmental Self-publishing 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web The issues (1) Current models PC-based Readers PDA-based Readers Dedicated eBook Devices Web-based Readers & Collections Print on Demand 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web The issues (2) Standards for eBooks OEB/XML EBX/PDF Rights Management Take-up of eBooks 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web Problems with E-books (1) Expense Technological change Screen resolutions Limited availability of titles Availability Complex systems Cost 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web Problems with E-books (2) Compatibility Bibliographic data Licensing Printing Limited rights Preservation issues 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web The new large-scale distributors need: a business model that works to reassure publishers about their IPR to provide a controlled user interface, that is not too unwieldy for users to have reliable, speedy access to have the right books to persuade academics to recommend using a service to their students 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web Different business models (1) NetLibrary promoting their services to UK HEI use a library metaphor titles can be retrieved via OPAC, books can be “browsed” or “checked out” Questia marketed directly to students site licenses not possible 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web Different business models (2) Ebrary not yet launched partnership model with publishers and libraries sharing the costs and the revenues use photocopying as a metaphor, and have control technology (tied to Adobe) in place to protect copyright rely on publisher to do the digitisation 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web Selecting the right service expected use: key text, background reading, reference? extracts, full-text or e-library? permitted uses: access, print/download, cut and paste know costs in advance comprehensive collection, useful editions value-for-money advertising/exclusive deal/revenue sharing value-added: e.g. hyperlinks, extra tools 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web What next? Prerequisites for progress: digital rights management management of student expectations avoidance of gaps/overlap in provision best use of available resources National initiatives DNER Working Group on E-Books EBONI 26/04/2001 New developments in Teaching with the Web