E-book Features In The Academic Context

E-books are often praised for their advantages over print books. E-book surveys show that some e-book functionalities are very important in the academic environment.

■ Access anytime, anywhere. As instant access to information has become increasingly important, this is one of the most appealing characteristics of e-books. With ubiquitous and reliable Internet connection, e-books are easy to access at any time and from any place. This feature is particularly important for distance learners, but it is appreciated by all. Academics and students do not have to come to the library to check something; they can do it from their homes, or any other place, and they can do it at their own convenience. Academic staff are frequently away from their ofﬁ ces or travelling internationally and want to be able to access collections at times that suit them. Many students work part-time and need to be able to access library resources at times that suit their schedules. For them time is a very important factor, and ﬁ nding resources online is a big help.

■ Saving of physical space. Limited physical space is a problem for many university libraries. Library collections are growing and this creates a range of issues. Overcrowded shelves are more difﬁ cult to browse and books are more likely to be misplaced in re-shelving. Weeding is a timeconsuming and laborious task. Physical space in libraries is very expensive,24 and in this context electronic books are an excellent solution.

■ Full-text searches. This functionality of electronic text is very much valued by users. Readers are able to scan and ﬁ nd relevant content much faster. Integration of full-text searching with other search capabilities allows more nuanced and comprehensive retrieval of information than ever before. E-book databases offer full text searches across the whole collection, not just one book. Studies on e-book usage show that the majority of users prefer print for extensive reading and use e-books for quick reference, which underlines the importance of this e-book feature.

■ Enriched text. The digital environment has opened up possibilities for text to be enriched with other media. Knovel, for example has ‘titles with productivity tools’, i.e. special interactive applets, such as tables with equation plotters, tables with graph plotters, unit converters, calculators, and graph digitisers that allow users to digitise curves by plotting points on a graph, and having them automatically displayed as the corresponding coordinates. E-books allow animated images and multimedia clips to be embedded. An example is described by Kurt Gramoll,25 who explains how animations are used throughout a textbook to help present a case study or illustrate a certain concept. Gramoll argues that animated images are particularly useful in the discipline of engineering, where complex and abstract mathematical models and theories can be easily visualised through the use of appealing media such as animations, graphics, simulations and sounds.

Other functionalities of electronic text that are very useful include the ability to change font sizes and typefaces. This is particularly helpful for people with visual impairments. Text-to-speech software can convert e-books to audio books. E-books can allow non-permanent highlighting and annotation. Within the text, hyperlinks can be used for cross-referencing, and links can also be created to an external source.

Disadvantages of e-books:

E-books are often criticised as well, and with good reason. Many of the problems that accompany e-books will be brought up in more detailed discussions later in the book. A few that have been considered the most important are listed below.

■ Reading devices. E-books cannot be read without an electronic device and software – a PC, laptop, dedicated e-book reader, or mobile phone. Any reading device requires electric power. Users have to ensure that they are close to a source of electric power, or remember to charge their batteries. E-book reading devices are more fragile than paper books and more prone to physical damage. They can malfunction. E-books themselves can be damaged due to faults in hardware or software. If an e-book device is stolen, lost, or broken beyond repair, all e-books stored on the device may be lost. To avoid this, e-books have to be backed up, either on another device or by the e-book provider.

■ Variety of formats. E-books are available in a wide range of formats: ASCII, PDF, RTF, TK3, EPUB and HTML, to mention just a few. This was one of earliest and most common complaints about e-books, but over time the situation has not got any better. Major software companies as well as independent and open-source programmers are continually developing new formats. Multiple formats cause multitudinous problems as not all e-books can be read on every reading device. Additional software may be required. This is confusing and off-putting for users.

■ Difﬁ culties with reading on screen. Computer screens and reading devices are improving, but many people still ﬁ nd it difﬁ cult to read on screen. That can be due to eye problems like glaucoma, but even people with normal vision ﬁ nd it tiring. Some surveys show that users ﬁ nd that it is hard to concentrate and absorb information when they read on screen.

■ Compatibility with citation software. Reference management software makes it easier to create bibliographies. It facilitates locating, managing and storing bibliographic references. Universities usually support a particular citation software package, and this may not be compatible with some e-book collections. For example, the ACLS Humanities collection of 2,200 scholarly books, compiled by the American Council of Learned Societies, is not compatible with EndNote, one of the most popular citation management programs. The BIOSCIENCEnetBASE collection is also incompatible with EndNote.

■ Technical requirements. Printed books remain readable for centuries, but changing technologies and less durable electronic storage media require e-books to be regularly copied to new carriers. They equally require users to keep up with technologies, to have the latest versions of software and hardware. For example, one can use any recent web browser that supports cookies to access MedicinesComplete, but for full functionality the user will need a browser that also supports JavaScript. Some books available as e-books cannot be read on particular e-book readers because they are not supplied in a format those readers allow.

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