1. Frederick Nesta Lingnan University 聶思達 嶺南大學
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 Nesta
Lingnan University
聶思達
嶺南大學

2. E-Text Not an E-Book
Electronic texts are more analogous to a scroll than a codex
The advantages of the codex may be lost in the digital world, rather than enhanced

3. Print Preference
64% increase in the number of new books published in the United States from 1999 to 2004
291,920 new US titles in Computer books are declining but e-texts are not driving publishers from print
Number of print books has doubled from 1.1. million to 2.5 million since 1993
Sales of e-texts only 0.2% of all US books sales in 2006
15% of respondents in a 2005 OCLC survey reported using online texts, compared to 47% who used online bookshops

4. Three Problems
Usability
Access
Budgeting

5. Codex Advantages Flipping through text Photocopying Markup Portability
Multiple texts open at the same time
Indexing
Open platform

6. Digital Scroll Links to footnotes? Bookmarking? Annotation? Copying?
Not portable?
Slow
Consider that online newspapers are very different from print newspapers. The nature of the medium has be considered in design.

7. Access No Inter-library loan for digital texts
Digital-only publishing?
Viability of digital texts in the future
If digital texts are screen only, time spent at library computers goes up. Can libraries supply enough workstations?

8. Reference Works Reference will shift to digital only
Move to subscription rather than purchase
Commitment for the future
Cost of continual ownership?

9. Reference Works Access to ‘old’ data problematical
Will digital reference maintain an archive that will provide historical data, variant interpretations?
Cost of continual ownership?
Will vendors create new backfile sets for purchase?

10. Reference Works
Substantial Reference works become invisible: the 34 volumes of Grove display as single line in Grove Art Online

11. Discovery vs. Access
Main value of digital texts is discovery: finding the right footnote
Digital text platforms are fragmented and search functions limited

12. will do it all anyway?
Many library digital projects isolated and hidden
Google, MSN, other projects fragmented, quality varies
MSN just announced that it will not continue to scan books – it can’t compete with Google and books don’t bring in advertising
Scholarly apparatus lacking

13. Discovery Greatest merit of Google Book Search is discovery
National copyright deposit agencies should do similar scanning
Imagine full-text searchable OPACs

14. The Middle Way?
How people actually use texts should guide choice of format
Consider ramifications of digital world
Sharing
Costs
Financial
Equipment/Space/Time
Archiving
Push for better discovery tools