- Spring 2002. "Ebook
Reader Survey" by KnowBetter.com and eBookWeb.org.
Abstract (from website): Through the months of March, April, and
May of 2002, KnowBetter.com, with the help of eBookWeb.org, conducted
a survey of ebook readers. The intent of this first survey was
to not only establish a foundation of basic market information
that we could use to develop more specific surveys in the future,
but to also provide some useful data about the ebook reading market.
Full
survey results are available for purchase price of $149.95.
- March 2002. "Survey
on Electronic Book Features" by Harold Henke Abstract:
Results of an Open eBook Forum sponsored survey to help assess
what users desire and expect from ebooks. 163 electronic surveys
were collected from individuals who were familiar with current
ebook technology. The most desirable feature was that the ebook
opened to the last page viewed.
-
2001. "The Magic of Reading" by
Bill Hill. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft. Available
as a .Lit file for the MS Reader. Click here
to download
-
October 2001. "A
Study of Reading with Dedicated E-Readers Dissertation"
by Miriam Schcolnik. Abstract: Given the prediction that
in the future our reading could be mainly digital and the fact
that e-readers are one of the emerging technologies, we need
to understand what these devices are suitable for. This study
answered the following questions: What strategies do adult users
of e-readers apply to reading in the new medium? Does the new
medium lend itself more to certain purposes of reading? What
kinds of texts do users read in dedicated e-readers? What characteristics
should texts for e-reading have? Data were gathered using a
web survey in which 105 people participated, and a case study
in which five subjects were observed and interviewed. The findings
of the research help clarify the strategies used in the e-reader
medium, as well as preferred uses, types of texts, and e-reader
characteristics.
-
-
- 2000. "The Role of Visual Rhetoric in the Design and
Production of Electronic Books: The Visual Book," by Monica
Landoni and Forbes Gibb. The Electronic Library, 18:3,
pp. 190-201. Abstract (from publication): This paper starts
from the observation that the appearance of information contributes
to its overall value and that, because there are many ways to
represent information, it is very important to find the model
which is going to be the most effective and conveys the greatest
value of the original information. Appearance has always played
a key role in the learning process, as it facilitates the discovery
of new concepts by allowing visual association with those which
are already familiar. This is why metaphors are so important in
learning in general, and have therefore proved to be a valuable
tool for designing alternative paradigms when adapting traditional
tasks to novel environments. This paper will briefly discuss the
link between paper books and their electronic counterparts. It
will then focus on the role of metaphors in producing electronic
books and introduce and discuss the importance of the visual rhetoric
concept in driving the design process. Finally it will also present
the main results of the visual book experiment and how these results
can be interpreted in the context of the visual rhetoric approach.
- 2000. "From the Visual Book to the WEB Books: The Importance
of Design" by M. Landoni, R. Wilson & F. Gibb. The
Electronic Library, 18:6, pp. 407-419. Abstract (from
publication): This paper presents the results of two studies into
electronic book production. The Visual book study explored the
importance of the visual component of the book metaphor for the
production of more effective electronic books, while the WEB book
study took the findings of the Visual book and applied them to
the production of books for publication on the World Wide Web
(WWW). Both studies started from an assessment of which kinds
of paper book are more suitable for translation into electronic
form. Both also identified publications which are meant to be
used for reference rather than those which are read sequentially,
and usually in their entirety. This group includes scientific
publications and textbooks which were both used as the target
group for the Visual book and the WEB book experiments. In this
paper we discuss the results of the two studies and how they could
influence the design and production of more effective electronic
books.
- 2000? "Industry
Survey: E-Books : Awareness, Usage & Attitudes- Executive
Summary" for Seybold Seminar by Advantage Business. (full
report available for purchase $295). Abstract from website:
Based on 2,880 attendees at the past year's Seybold events in
Boston and San Francisco, the industry survey asked publishing
professionals about their attitudes towards e-books, and their
usage of e-book products. Because Seybold attendees are highly
aware of e-book products (91 percent have heard or read about
e-books and 81 percent have heard or read about e-book reading
devices), this group represents one that has intimate knowledge
of e-book products. While the results do not reflect the general
public's views, the findings reveal insights on the potential
growth of the e-book market.
-
April 1999. "A
Study of the Use of Book Metaphors in the Design of Electronic
Books: A Proposed Topic for the Designing Electronic Books Workshop"
by Harold A. Henke. Abstract (from publication): Research
conducted by Henke (1998) has shown that users are dissatisfied
with electronic books and the applications used to view them.
One reason for user dissatisfaction may be the lack of familiar
book metaphors embedded into the electronic books. In Henke's
study, user satisfaction could have been improved had more detailed
indexes and table of contents been incorporated in the electronic
books as users preferred using hyper-text linked table of contents
and indexes to find information instead of using a search tool.
- May 1999 (last updated) "Online
Books: What Roles Will They Fill For Users Of The Academic Library?"
By Mary Summerfield, Columbia University Libraries. Abstract
from publication: As the Libraries and Academic Information Systems
at Columbia University have proceeded with a pilot project to
provide the Columbia community with a substantial collection of
online books and to evaluate the reactions of scholars to those
books, it has become clear that a basic understanding of how scholars
interact with various classes of traditional print-on-paper books
is necessary for optimal design of the various facets of a system
for intellectual and physical access to online books, for assessing
the value of various components to the academic community, and
for successful selection of books to be included in online collections.
However, the library-related literature on the use of books by
scholars has focused largely on issues related to the overall
demand for collections rather than on how scholars select books
to review or read or ultimately employ books in their work. Similarly,
the psychological and ergonomic literature on how people read
has focused on concepts which have little to do with the place
of books in scholars' work or how scholars manipulate books in
that work
- Summer 1998. "Landscape
vs. Portrait Formats: Assessing Consumer Preferences"
by Dr.
Stanley Wearden. Future of Print Media. Summary from
publication: ...We found no research that assessed media consumers’
preferences for portrait or landscape screen orientation when
reading documents, nor did we find any research on some of the
concomitant issues, such as page-based design and scrolling. For
these reasons, the Kent IDL research team, which included associate
professor Ann Schierhorn, assistant professor Carl Schierhorn
and myself, initiated two studies of display orientations and
formats in 1997 and 1998 as part of its ongoing investigations
into the human factors and cultural biases associated with the
document form.
- Fall 1998. "Electronic
Books: A Study of Potential Features and Their Perceived Value"
by Dr. Stanley Wearden. Future of Print Media. Summary
from publication: Clearly, if electronic book ventures are to
succeed, they must successfully add value to the experience of
reading, either from the printed page or from a conventional desktop
computer screen. To do so, they must have some indication of how
the market defines added value, what the market wants in value-added
features and what the market is willing to pay for such features.
Earlier this year, the Information Design Laboratory at Kent State
University set out to begin answering some of these questions
in a survey of 276 students at Kent State University.
E-Books
on Devices
- 2001. "The technology and applications of the new generation
of electronic books" By Heilmann, Jali and Hannu Linna. Proceedings
of the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts, pp. 581-590.
Abstract from publisher's website: Following the publication of
the first electronic books at the end of 1998, VTT Information
Technology has carried out several studies to evaluate the technical
and commercial potential of electronic book technology. This research
compares the latest models of electronic books with the first
generation of e-books and the conventionally printed products.
The technical comparisons include, for example, the image quality
factors affecting text quality. The readability and usability
of electronic books are evaluated and expectations regarding the
technology are investigated. Several pilot projects have also
been launched for applying electronic book technology to new publishing
processes. This paper will describe the initial experiences with
e-book publishing in different environments, such as universities
and libraries.
- 2001. "Ebooks: Some Concerns and Surprises" By
Susan Gibbons. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 1:1,
pp. 71-5. Abstract from publication: Many of those libraries
that wish to include ebooks in their collections are hesitating,
in part because of a number of assumptions concerning the reactions
of patrons to this new technology. For instance, there is a general
assumption that patrons would be dissatisfied with the low resolution
of the ebook readers and the lack of color and pictures. Or, the
fragile nature of the reader apparatus would lead to many damaged
devices. Or, when given the option, people simply would rather
read from the traditional ink-on-paper format than on the small
screen of an ebook reader. Several libraries in the Rochester,
New York, area were provided the opportunity to test these assumptions
and discovered that, in many cases, these assumptions were not
supported by the results.
- 2001. "Reading
with RSVP on a Small Screen: Does Font Size Matter?"
By Mark Russell et. al. Usability News, 3.1. Abstract
from publication: This study is a continuation of our ongoing
research into the feasibility of using the text presentation method
known as Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) as a possible
means of reading on small screen interfaces.
- 2001. "Should
You Check In Your Textbooks and Check Out an eBook?"
By Paula Selvidge, et. Al.
Usability News, 3.1. Methodology from publication:
Six participants (3 male, 3 female) completed tasks that are typical
for traditional book reading, such as annotating, underlining,
book marking, and searching. In addition, eBook related tasks,
such as changing the size and orientation of the text, checking
battery status, adjusting the backlight, and keyboard input were
also completed. The Rocket eBook™ from Nuvomedia, which is
now known as the Gemstar eBook™, was the brand of eBook used
in the evaluation. The dependent measures included task difficulty,
task success, and satisfaction with the eBook. The task difficulty
items were presented on a 5-point Likert scale with 1 being “Very
Difficult” and 5 being “Very Easy” to complete.
- 2001. "Designing
e-Books for Legal Research." By Catherine C. Marshall
et. Al.In Proceedings of JCDL 2001 (Roanoke, VA, June 23-27),
ACM Press, pp. 41-48. Abstract (from publication): In this
paper we report the findings of a field study in a first-tier
law school and on the resulting redesign of Xlibris, a next-generation
e-book. We characterize a work setting in which we expected an
e-book to be useful, and explore what kinds of functionality would
bring value to this setting.
- Spring 1999. "Why
e-Read? Finding Opportunities In the Merger Of Paper and Computers"
by Dr. Bill Schilit. Future of Print Media. Conclusion
(from publication): Before reading appliances become successful,
they need to be made more usable, more useful, and more valuable.
Towards the usability goal, human factors researchers at our laboratory
and elsewhere are analyzing the benefits of paper documents and
understanding how to design paper-like computers that share paper’s
user-friendliness. Inventing reading appliances that are more
useful than paper remains a challenge; we have provided a number
of examples of features that may prove useful. Finally, the value
for a reading appliance product needs to outweigh its costs and
deficiencies. It is likely that the first truly successful reading
appliance will be targeted at analytic readers, such as analysts,
lawyers, or corporate decision-makers, whose time is extremely
valuable.
E-Book
Software
- 2001. "The Revolution starts next week: the findings
of two studies considering electronic books." By James Dearnley
and Cliff McKnight. Information Services & Use, 21:2,
pp. 65-78. Abstract (from publication): "This paper reports
on two pilot studies undertaken in May and December 2000 at Loughborough
University and Market Harborough public library. The first study...
considered student and staff evaluation of two electronic reader
products--NuvoMedia's Rocket eBook and Glassbook Inc's Glassbook.
A second study...used a focus group... to consider potential usage
of the Rocket eBook for lending services."
E-Book
Subscription Systems
- April, 2002. "Wisconsin
Public Library Consortium netLibrary User Evaluation"
By Joshua H. Morrill. Abstract (from executive summary): The
evaluation of netLibrary use was conducted in two stages. The
initial stage surveyed registered users of netLibrary. The second
stage involved training new users, and surveying their experiences
after two-weeks.
- 2002. "User Input: Experiences in Assigned Reading from
E-Books - One netLibrary Experience" By Julia Gelfand. Library
Hi Tech News, 19:1, pp. 17-8. Abstract (from publication):
The University of California, Irvine (UCI) Libraries wanted to
have an e-book experience to learn how users respond to the medium
and the delivery mechanism. In order to have as much freedom as
possible with this new effort, it was decided that the libraries
would conduct a one-year calendar trial with netLibrary. At the
submission of this article, the trial is now about over and the
future of netLibrary remains uncertain, as the company suffers
from lack of financial security. Nevertheless, e-books are likely
to be around and libraries will continue to consider how best
to incorporate them.
- September, 2001. "netLibrary
eBook Usage at the University of Rochester Libraries"
By Susan Gibbons. Abstract (from publication): Two studies
were conducted over the Spring 2001 (January - May) semester regarding
the use of netLibrary ebook titles. The first was to examine the
use of the overall netLibrary ebook collection and compare that
to the use of the paper editions of those same titles. The second
study focused on the use of ebooks for course reserves.
- Fall 2000. "The Potential for Scholarly Online Books:
Views from the Columbia University Online Books Evaluation
Project" By Mary Summerfield, Carol Mandel and Paul Kantor.
Publishing Research Quarterly, 16:3, pp. 39-52.
Abstract (from publication): The Columbia University Online
Books Evaluation Project sought to understand both user reactions
to online books in the scholarly world and the cost profiles of
print and onine books. Scholarls appreciated the opportunity to
use the online format to locate a book and to browse it. However,
they sought a print copy for extended reading. Incremental costs
of online books are small for publishers. Libraries' life-cycle
costs are lower for online books than for printed books.
Textbooks
& Classroom Use
- 2002. Simon, EJ. "An experiment using electronic books
in the classroom," Journal of Computers in Mathematics
and Science Teaching, 21:1, pp. 53-66. Abstract (from
publisher's website): Electronic books are single-purpose hand-held
computer devices designed to store and display reading material.
The introduction of e-books into the classroom has been anticipated
for years, but the technology has never quite been up to the task.
This article will describe an experiment in which e-books were
distributed to college introductory biology students in place
of the traditional textbook. Student responses to anonymous questionnaires
showed that the e-books were easy to use and offered several advantages
over traditional texts. Data will be presented on initial learning
curves, reading habits of e-book users, advantages and disadvantages
of the electronic format, and overall levels of satisfaction.
While some shortcomings were revealed, the results of this study
suggested that students who used an e-book were eager to adopt
this new technology on a larger scale.
- August 2002. "The
Usability of eBook Technology: Practical Issues of an Application
of Electronic Textbooks In a Learning Environment" By
Richard F. Bellaver and Jay Gillette. Abstract (from publication):
Testing on “learning” and usability of electronic books
(eBooks) for college students took place during the Spring Semester
2002 at Ball State University. Graduate students used a textbook
and also conducted other environmental and human factors tests
on two versions of eBooks. Results indicate that “learning”,
evaluated through taking quizzes, was not affected by using eBooks.
Students were not impressed with the use of the eBooks primarily
because a poor representation of the text was converted. It appears
that if the full capability of the current eBooks was utilized,
they could be a viable and acceptable storage medium for college
textbooks. The article also defines further testing to be conducted.
- May 2002. "EBONI: Designing Effective Electronic Textbooks"
By Ruth Wilson. Library Hi Tech News, 19:4. Abstract
(from publication): Electronic books are beginning to appear in
the UK marketplace, in an array of shapes and sizes: e-book hardware
ranges from small and light to large and bulky; e-book software
presents content in a number of formats and offers a variety of
features; and books published online differ greatly in appearance.
EBONI (Electronic Books ON-screen Interface) (http://eboni.cdlr.strath.ac.uk)
is investigating which aspects of the design of these electronic
textbooks are most successful in terms of the usability requirements
of students and academics throughout the UK.
- 2002. "Electronic
Textbook Design Guidelines" EBONI (Electronic Books ON-screen
Interface) Project. Abstract (from publication): The on-screen
design guidelines are primarily intended to be applied to books
published on the Web, but the principles will be relevant to ebooks
of all descriptions and, in certain cases (e.g. Guideline 16:
Provide bookmarking, highlighting and annotating functions), it
is possible that only commercial ebook software companies will
have the resources to comply at their disposal. They simply reflect
the results of our user evaluations, and it is recognized that
they will be implemented at different levels by different content
developers.
- Winter 2001. "Electronic
Textbooks: A Pilot Study of Student E-Reading Habits"
by Dr. Eric
J. Simon, Future of Print Media. Abstract (from publication):
The college classroom is an obvious target for e-book implementation
because college students typically embrace new technologies and
also purchase a high volume of expensive, cumbersome and rapidly
discarded books. Few studies have yet been conducted, however,
of what effects replacing standard textbooks with e-books would
have on students’ study habits. In order to better understand
the e-reading habits of college students, a pilot study was conducted
to test which e-book features students used and valued.
- November 2001. "Useful
Lessons from the South Side of Chicago," By David Rothman.
TeleRead Update 19. Abstract: Report on the use of
ebooks by elementary children in St. Elizabeth's Parochial School
in Chicago. Project used a $7,000 federal grant to purchase Rocket
eBook devices.
- November 2001. "Academic
Libraries Take an E-Look at E-Books" By Tom Peters and
Lori Bell. Report on the E-Book Grant-Funded Project at Spoon
River College and Eureka College. The objective of this project
was "to learn what happens when a college library provides
pre-loaded course-related content on handheld, portable e-book
devices directly to the hands of undergraduate students and their
professors for their use in actual course-related readings."
This report contains the project's findings and recommendations.
- 2001. "Should
You Check In Your Textbooks and Check Out an eBook?"
By Paula Selvidge, et. Al.
Usability News, 3.1. Methodology from publication:
Six participants (3 male, 3 female) completed tasks that are typical
for traditional book reading, such as annotating, underlining,
book marking, and searching. In addition, eBook related tasks,
such as changing the size and orientation of the text, checking
battery status, adjusting the backlight, and keyboard input were
also completed. The Rocket eBook™ from Nuvomedia, which is
now known as the Gemstar eBook™, was the brand of eBook used
in the evaluation. The dependent measures included task difficulty,
task success, and satisfaction with the eBook. The task difficulty
items were presented on a 5-point Likert scale with 1 being “Very
Difficult” and 5 being “Very Easy” to complete.
- 2001. "Electronic Books for Children in UK Public Libraries"
By Maynard, Sally & Cliff McKnight. The Electronic Library,
19:6 pp. 405-423. Abstract (from publication): "This
article describes a survey investigating the opinions of children's
librarians on the subject of electronic books. A questionnaire
was sent by post to those responsible for public library services
for children at each of the 208 local government authorities in
the UK. The response rate was 77 per cent. Notable conclusions
include the fact that there was a positive attitude towards including
electronic books as part of the children's library service, and
a high proportion of libraries offered access to them, the majority
through main libraries. A small majority of libraries were offering
electronic books for reference use within the library, rather
than lending them out like printed books. Many of the librarians
believed that electronic books can attract new members to the
library, and that offering electronic books will change their
role. Respondents believed that electronic books are durable,
and can exist alongside the printed items within the library."
- 2000. "Learning
by Interacting: Comparing the Effectiveness of an Interactive
Tutorial with a Standard Electronic Book Interface" by
Jeni Paay and Leah O'Brien. Abstract (from publication):
This study performed a summative design-evaluation of two types
of interfaces, an electronic book and an interactive tutorial.
The experiment compared the effectiveness of using the interfaces
for web-based computing teaching at tertiary level and determined
user reactions to each interface.
- 1995. "Measuring
Student Use of Electronic Books" by John Messing.
Abstract (from publication): This paper considers issues for the
design of electronic books as teaching materials in the light
of student use, including the problem of how such use can be measured.
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