電子文本和電子書之

1、E-Texts and E-Books: Misconceptions and Missed Opportunities電子文本和電子書之誤解與錯失良機 Frederick NestaLingnan University聶思達嶺南大學1E-Text Not an E-BookElectronic texts are more analogous to a scroll than a codexThe advantages of the codex may be lost in the digital world, rather than enhanced2Print Preference64%

2、 increase in the number of new books published in the United States from 1999 to 2004291,920 new US titles in 2006. Computer books are declining but e-texts are not driving publishers from printNumber of print books has doubled from 1.1. million to 2.5 million since 1993Sales of e-texts only 0.2% of

3、 all US books sales in 200615% of respondents in a 2005 OCLC survey reported using online texts, compared to 47% who used online bookshops3Three ProblemsUsabilityAccessBudgeting4Codex AdvantagesFlipping through textPhotocopying MarkupPortabilityMultiple texts open at the same timeIndexing Open platf

4、orm5Digital ScrollLinks to footnotes? Bookmarking?Annotation?Copying?Not portable?SlowConsider that online newspapers are very different from print newspapers. The nature of the medium has be considered in design. 6AccessNo Inter-library loan for digital textsDigital-only publishing?Viability of dig

5、ital texts in the futureIf digital texts are screen only, time spent at library computers goes up. Can libraries supply enough workstations?7Reference WorksReference will shift to digital onlyMove to subscription rather than purchaseCommitment for the futureCost of continual ownership?8Reference Wor

6、ksAccess to old data problematicalWill digital reference maintain an archive that will provide historical data, variant interpretations? Cost of continual ownership?Will vendors create new backfile sets for purchase?9Reference WorksSubstantial Reference works become invisible: the 34 volumes of Grov

7、e display as single line in Grove Art Online10Discovery vs. AccessMain value of digital texts is discovery: finding the right footnoteDigital text platforms are fragmented and search functions limited11 will do it all anyway?Many library digital projects isolated and hiddenGoogle, MSN, other project

8、s fragmented, quality variesMSN just announced that it will not continue to scan books it cant compete with Google and books dont bring in advertisingScholarly apparatus lacking12DiscoveryGreatest merit of Google Book Search is discoveryNational copyright deposit agencies should do similar scanningImagine full-text searchable OPACs13The Middle Way?How people actually use texts should guide choice of formatC