{"id":2038,"date":"2009-11-17T00:49:02","date_gmt":"2009-11-17T07:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/?p=2038"},"modified":"2009-11-17T01:05:46","modified_gmt":"2009-11-17T08:05:46","slug":"electronic-books-not-yet-the-remediation-of-print","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/2009\/11\/17\/electronic-books-not-yet-the-remediation-of-print\/","title":{"rendered":"Electronic books: Not yet the remediation of print"},"content":{"rendered":"
There is no question but that electronic structures are changing our views about the way knowledge is ordered and utilized, however those changes are more nuanced than many digital enthusiasts, to borrow Bolter\u2019s (2001) term, have allowed.\u00a0 Yet as more electronic books have become available on more platforms (laptops, cell phones, PDAs and dedicated e-book readers), there has been no mass exodus from print.\u00a0 Writing about the excessive optimism that accompanied the introduction of e-books, Hawkins (2002) notes simply that: \u201cMost people don’t like to read from a screen, and it will be extremely difficult to change that perception\u201d (p. 44).\u00a0 We are clearly in a transitional stage in the evolution of the e-book, and even its relation to the printed codex that preceded it is up for debate.\u00a0 Anderson-Inman and Horney (1997) argue that in order to be considered an e-book \u201cthe software must adopt the metaphor of a book in some significant way\u201d (p. 486), including such things as the use of bookmarks, tables of contents, references to screens as \u2018pages\u2019 and functionality that allows the addition of \u2018margin notes.\u2019\u00a0 Writing just four years later, Bolter argues \u201c\u2026the metaphor of the book is now moribund\u201d (Bolter, 2001, p. 98).\u00a0 He suggests that the affordances of the Internet allow us to move beyond the book to a new metaphor shaped by digital technologies.\u00a0 Teacher-librarians, charged with instructing students in how to access information and literature in the most efficient and enjoyable ways possible, have embraced the use of e-books in schools.\u00a0 What has become apparent is that e-book technologies, as Bolter (2001) suggests, have had an additive effect rather than entirely remediating print.\u00a0 The focused linearity of print is a quality still valued by many readers, particularly for fiction, while the internal and external linkages afforded by hypertext are useful when the goal is information gathering.\u00a0 Bolter (2001) argues that in \u201c\u2026late age of print \u2026 the circle and the line are equally at home\u201d (p. 88), but limitations of existing e-book technologies still\u00a0prove an obstacle.<\/div>\n
\"Latest<\/a>
Sony Reader Daily Edition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cost of digital alternatives has been a factor in their adoption.\u00a0 E-books read using a home computer are cost effective since few people in developed countries do not already own a PC capable of running the required software.\u00a0 However, the initial cost of purchasing a dedicated e-book reader, particularly for fiction, is still prohibitive.\u00a0 There are also lingering issues of \u00a0portability, readability and battery life, though these are certain to be addressed over time.\u00a0 For non-fiction materials, particularly encyclopedias and reference works, however, portability works to the advantage of e-books and uptake has been faster and more enthusiastic. \u00a0High school students are content to use electronic versions of reference works that are, in print form, typically larger, heavier, and available for shorter loan periods than other types of materials.\u00a0 And, in addition to 24\/7 availability online, electronic reference books offer the advantages inherent in most digitized material: \u201cSpecifically, electronic documents are usually searchable, modifiable, and \u2018enhanceable.\u2019 \u201d (Anderson-Inman & Horney, 1997, p. 487).\u00a0 At the post-secondary level, where students purchase their books, electronic texts are popular with a majority of students for many of the same reasons (Hawkins, 2002, p. 45).\u00a0 \u201cAs with any remediation, however, the eBook must promise something more than the form it remediates: it must offer what can be construed as a more immediate, complete, or authentic experience for the reader\u201d (Bolter, 2001, p. 80). \u00a0Again, to date, this is most true for reference works and most notable for encyclopedias.<\/p>\n

\"World<\/a>
World Book online Student<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bolter devotes some time to discussion\u00a0of CD-ROM and DVD encyclopedias, but at this writing, they have been almost entirely eclipsed by their online versions. \u00a0Bolter, published in 2001, could not have foreseen the phenomenal success of Wikipedia<\/a>, the wiki-based encyclopedia edited by tens of thousands of Internet volunteers from around the globe, which started the year his book was printed.\u00a0 DVD-based encyclopedias were, in retrospect, a stepping-stone from print to online versions.\u00a0 They introduced search capability, hyperlinks and multimedia: \u201c\u2026excellent examples of the ways in which hypertext and hypermedia remediate print\u201d (Bolter, 2001, 88).\u00a0 They are, however, limited by network restrictions (speed, bandwidth, user limits), and they suffer from the same limitation as their print counterparts: \u00a0DVD encyclopedias are usually updated once a year. \u00a0What they did allow was time for the technology of the Internet to mature, for networks and ISPs to become more stable and reliable, and for high-speed connections to become commonplace in developed nations.\u00a0 The major traditional commercial encyclopedias including Britannica (www.britannica.com<\/a> Nov. 12, 2009) and World Book (store.worldbook.com<\/a> Nov. 12, 2009), still offer print and DVD editions, but they also offer subscription-based online versions that are continually updated with new hyperlinks, new media, and new articles.\u00a0 Some, such as Britannica and World Book, also incorporate Web 2.0 interactive elements\u00a0including the Britannica blogs and YouTube-like video. \u00a0Britannica features a section called Advocacy for Animals. \u00a0Both encyclopedias incorporate popular Web 2.0 design elements making their sites look more like interactive websites than search engines.\u00a0 Bolter did accurately foresee that: \u201cThese online editions of the great book add to their claim of immediacy by connecting their user to cyberspace, which is itself already construed as a vast encyclopedia\u201d (Bolter, 2001, p. 89).\u00a0 Perhaps more interesting still are websites that not only encourage interactivity with readers, but also depend upon it.<\/div>\n

Fanfiction.Net (www.fanfiction.net<\/a> Nov. 11, 2009) employs attributes of Web 2.0 popular with teenage readers.\u00a0 Fanfiction, as the name suggests, is a site that allows users to write chapters and scenes based on their favourite works (novels, plays, movies and television shows), and publish them to thousands of readers.\u00a0 Readers can browse these user creations by category and read them online as long as they have a computer with an Internet connection or access to one in a school or public library.\u00a0 The fan compositions reflect the interests and preoccupations of the time, and reach a wide audience through Internet publication facilitated by categorization, searchability and interactivity (ratings and reviews).\u00a0 Forums and communities allow readers and writers to discuss their works, the shows and books on which they are based and a wide range of related topics.\u00a0 English, literature and creative writing teachers would do well to co-opt the enthusiasm for this type of interaction with popular culture to encourage students to write for a much wider audience than that available in the classroom or the school.\u00a0 Interestingly, while Fanfiction incorporates many Web 2.0 affordances, it is also still linked strongly to the metaphor of the codex. \u00a0Hawkins (2002) sums up the current situation well: \u201cE-books will survive, but not in the consumer market\u2014at least not until reading devices become much cheaper and much better in quality \u2026. \u00a0The e-book revolution has therefore become more of an evolution.\u201d (p.48).<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anderson-Inman, L. & Horney, M. (1997). Electronic books for secondary students. \u00a0Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 40<\/em> (6), 486-491.<\/p>\n

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print<\/em>. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.<\/p>\n

Hawkins, D. T. (2002). Electronic Books: Reports of their death have been exaggerated. Online, 26<\/em>(4), 42.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is no question but that electronic structures are changing our views about the way knowledge is ordered and utilized, however those changes are more nuanced than many digital enthusiasts, to borrow Bolter\u2019s (2001) term, have allowed.\u00a0 Yet as more electronic books have become available on more platforms (laptops, cell phones, PDAs and dedicated e-book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1098,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4974],"tags":[6158,4517,1465,6478],"class_list":["post-2038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary-2","tag-bolter","tag-e-book","tag-encyclopedia","tag-fanfiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1098"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2038"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2051,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038\/revisions\/2051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}