an article by Siegfried Schomisch, Maria Zens and Philipp Mayr (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany) published in Online Information Review Volume 37 Issue 3 (2013)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer insights into the usability, acceptance and limitations of e-readers with regard to the specific requirements of scholarly text work. To fit into the academic workflow, non-linear reading, bookmarking, commenting, extracting text or the integration of non-textual elements must be supported.
Design/methodology/approach
A group of social science students were questioned about their experiences with electronic publications for study purposes. This same group executed several text-related tasks with the digitised material presented to them in two different file formats on four different e-readers. Their performances were subsequently evaluated in detail.
Findings
E-publications have made advances in the academic world; however e-readers do not yet fit seamlessly into the established chain of scholarly text-processing focusing on how readers use material during and after reading. The authors’ tests revealed major deficiencies in these techniques.
Originality/value
The usability test of e-readers in a scientific context aligns with both studies on the prevalence of e-books in the sciences and technical test reports of portable reading devices. Still, it takes a distinctive angle in focusing on the characteristics and procedures of textual work in the social sciences and measures the usability of e-readers and file-features against these standards.
Showing posts with label e-books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e-books. Show all posts
Thursday, 18 July 2013
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
A library is not the books: an ethical obstacle to the digital library
an article by James M. Donovan, (College of Law Library, University of Kentucky, USA) published in Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society Volume 10 Issue 2 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that libraries do not inevitably arise from the aggregation of information, and to apply this result to critique the meaningfulness of the idea of a “digital library.”
Design/methodology/approach
Three independent arguments demonstrate that libraries are more than the sum of the books that they contain: first, the logical argument, which analyses the internal consistency of claims for the superiority of electronic formats; second, the semantic argument, which examines ordinary language to isolate the core requirements of what it means to be a “library”; and third, the ethical argument, which identifies the source of the unique phenomenological experience of encounter with the library.
Findings
It is found that the three arguments each refute the view that “library” is the collective noun for “book”, and argue instead that it is an emergent concept that offers to its community a reflection of the local cultural knowledge through the ordinary selection and organization practices that distinguish libraries from other book accumulations. Against that understanding the idea of a comprehensive and universal digital library fails on the essential criteria of selectivity and organization. While such products can be powerfully useful, they offer something distinct from libraries. When we lose sight of this difference we risk losing the inherent and irreducible values embodied by libraries.
Originality/value
The paper’s arguments provide a reasoned infrastructure to several beliefs that are both common and unexamined.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that libraries do not inevitably arise from the aggregation of information, and to apply this result to critique the meaningfulness of the idea of a “digital library.”
Design/methodology/approach
Three independent arguments demonstrate that libraries are more than the sum of the books that they contain: first, the logical argument, which analyses the internal consistency of claims for the superiority of electronic formats; second, the semantic argument, which examines ordinary language to isolate the core requirements of what it means to be a “library”; and third, the ethical argument, which identifies the source of the unique phenomenological experience of encounter with the library.
Findings
It is found that the three arguments each refute the view that “library” is the collective noun for “book”, and argue instead that it is an emergent concept that offers to its community a reflection of the local cultural knowledge through the ordinary selection and organization practices that distinguish libraries from other book accumulations. Against that understanding the idea of a comprehensive and universal digital library fails on the essential criteria of selectivity and organization. While such products can be powerfully useful, they offer something distinct from libraries. When we lose sight of this difference we risk losing the inherent and irreducible values embodied by libraries.
Originality/value
The paper’s arguments provide a reasoned infrastructure to several beliefs that are both common and unexamined.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Ebook collection analysis: subject and publisher trends
an article by James Cory Tucker, (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) published in Collection Building Volume 31 Issue 2 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an assessment of an ebook collection in an academic library, and attempts to locate usage trends by subject and publisher.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was based on: three years of usage data from two e-book packages: NetLibrary and Ebrary; two methods of purchase: NetLibrary was a one-time purchase; Ebrary is purchased on a subscription basis. The research evaluated usage difference over time between the two packages and analysed subject and publisher usage.
Findings
The research found that Ebrary showed increased usage over time; NetLibrary demonstrated decreased usage; subject analysis showed ebooks in health sciences and hotel had highest usage; publisher analysis results illustrated the fact that five publishers had highest usage in both ebook collections.
Research limitations/implications
For circulation rate of each ebook package, two years of data were not available for Ebrary, resulting in incomplete comparison over three-year period between the two packages.
Practical implications
The paper assists in identifying usage patterns of ebooks across publishers and subjects; compares two different business models of obtaining ebooks; and helps with effective selection of ebooks to support teaching and learning.
Originality/value
Usage data over three years provided evidence to help libraries select a business model for acquiring ebooks; the research provides assessment of ebook collections to identify trends across publishers and subjects.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an assessment of an ebook collection in an academic library, and attempts to locate usage trends by subject and publisher.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was based on: three years of usage data from two e-book packages: NetLibrary and Ebrary; two methods of purchase: NetLibrary was a one-time purchase; Ebrary is purchased on a subscription basis. The research evaluated usage difference over time between the two packages and analysed subject and publisher usage.
Findings
The research found that Ebrary showed increased usage over time; NetLibrary demonstrated decreased usage; subject analysis showed ebooks in health sciences and hotel had highest usage; publisher analysis results illustrated the fact that five publishers had highest usage in both ebook collections.
Research limitations/implications
For circulation rate of each ebook package, two years of data were not available for Ebrary, resulting in incomplete comparison over three-year period between the two packages.
Practical implications
The paper assists in identifying usage patterns of ebooks across publishers and subjects; compares two different business models of obtaining ebooks; and helps with effective selection of ebooks to support teaching and learning.
Originality/value
Usage data over three years provided evidence to help libraries select a business model for acquiring ebooks; the research provides assessment of ebook collections to identify trends across publishers and subjects.
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Coming Soon: Free Access to Over 3,000 e-Books for UK College Students
via ResourceShelf on 10 June
JISC has funded an e-books for Further Education (FE) project to make over 3,000 e-books freely available to every college and sixth form in the UK.
Over the next five years, the project, which also received funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), will enable all students in FE in the UK to access online course texts to support their studies.
E-books will be made available from the start of the next academic year via the ebrary e-books platform. Subjects will range from Fashion Design to Software Engineering, Health and Social Care to Automobile Electronics, and Beauty Therapy to Practical Lambing. Access will be available whether students are studying in the college, at home or in an Internet café.
See Also: UK National e-Book Survey (May 2008) (14 pages; PDF)
Source: JISC
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