BY: RACHAEL PAOLINO, MONICA FERNANDEZ, AND CHRIS MAJOR

DIGITAL BOOKS

DO YOU OWN A DIGITAL BOOK?

OVERVIEW OF DIGITAL BOOKS

• Digital Books - Electronic books (e-book) are publications in digital form, including text and images 

• Can be in PDF form • Scanned from a physical book• Published through software • Readable on a computer, smart phone, e-reader

or any PC tablet

HISTORY

 • 1970  Project Gutengerg: Michael Hart at U of Illinois with

the purpose of starting an electronic public library 

• 1985-1992 Robert Stein (Voyager Company): books on CD-ROMo First e-book: Copy of the United States Declaration of

Independence

• 1998 First e-book reader: Rocket ebook and Soft ebook

• 1998 U.S. libraries start to upload free e-books on their library websites 

HISTORY

• 2000  Microsoft: Adobe software-only tool for reading e-books on PCs

• 2006 Sony Reader (e-ink)  

• 2007Amazon: Kindle 

• 2009 Barnes & Noble: NOOK

• May 2011 Amazon e-book sales surpass paper book sales

• E-textbooks (6,000+) Pearson, Wiley, Morgan Kaufmann

BENEFITS OF DIGITAL BOOKS – TO COMPANIES AND CONSUMERS

• New market for companies

• Saves consumers money

• Text size options for visually impaired 

• Easy to travel with 

• Instructors can “create” their own books by cutting out chapters, highlighting sections, etc. o reduces costs and contributes to “green books” effort

RISKS AND CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTATION

Copyright and antitrust problems 

• Google's attempt to create “world’s largest digital library”

• wanted to include books under copyright • Universities given copies of copyright books w/o

permission 

o Fragments of books now available online

o Organizations (i.e. universities) can publish books unlawfully University of Michigan 

RISKS AND CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTATION

• Digital book libraries pose risks to books and the book publishing industry o Priced lower resulting in lower income for publishers o Decreased demand for publishers o Scared of Amazon

• Challenge in keeping digital book attraction high as a result of flattened text  o Digital ownership lacks a sense of ownership and physical

relationship with the material and all materials seem to be “equal” Does Harry Potter = Plato? 

RESOURCES IT HAS CREATED/REQUIRED

   • Amazon and Google digital book libraries - new resources 

o Requires publishers and authors to settle copyright agreements 

• Digital publishers new on the block 

LIKELIHOOD OF OVERALL SUCCESS

• Managers and authoritative figures are implementing the use of digital books in schools and universities to replace textbookso ie Burlington HS  

• New Resources o Digital book publishers

FUTURE OF DIGITAL BOOKS

• Designers working on improvements • Changing the color palates

• Example with Bio• Interactive functions

• Typically associated with web functions

• Prices of e-books increasing • “Agency Pricing"  

• Keeping the reading experience alive• Melville House's Hybrid Book 

o Illuminations 

FUTURE OF DIGITAL BOOKS WAYS DIGITAL BOOKS WILL CHANGE

PUBLICATION

 • Accessibility of Books

• Digital Books Now on Your I-Phoneo Ex. Kindle App

 • Pay per Chapter—Nonfiction concern

 • First Chapter Preview—(option on Amazon)

o Can change how authors write fiction • Never Read Alone

o Online Forums--similar to online book club 

FUTURE OF DIGITAL BOOKS HOW WE WILL SEARCH FOR BOOKS

Q.) Has anyone ever written down a title of a book, that a friend recommended to you?

Q.) Have you ever looked around a bookstore to find a new book? 

FUTURE OF DIGITAL BOOKS HOW WE WILL SEARCH FOR BOOKS

• Publishers no longer compete for bookstore space

• Authors and publishers try to adjust their books to move up the list.

• Book searches now go through online search engines o Can search for books instantly by...

Title Author Sentence Key Phrase Key Words

• Role of Libraries?

- How would you feel if Villanova decided to take away text books and switch to all digital books? Does this scare you? 

- Do you think the take over of digital books will have a positive or negative impact on society? Why?

- Those of you who use digital books, do you experience the "flattened text" effect? 

- Do you think the increased production of digital books and decreased printing of paper books will help the environment, or, in your opinion, is the carbon footprint just as great for both? 

 

Questions