Digital Book Readers (Kindle?) in Academia (an outline of thoughts)

By On December 28, 2009 2 Comments

This post is from my “Archives of Incomplete Thoughts” but I wanted to share them with you all…

I have been pondering for a while the use of the eBooks (and specifically the Kindle) in Academia.  Ever since I considered purchasing my first eReader (the Sony eReader 505) I have found the convenience of having several books at my finger tips, without weighing me down, to be the most obvious benefit.  That said, I believe there are many others, and some which can result in the elusive “win-win” situations for producers and consumers alike.

  • Affordability of textbooks
  • Desk Reference/Review copies
  • Physical size/weight relief
  • notetaking and highlighting

Need to rethink old views:

  • why see “a page”?
  • how do I “flip” through a book?
  • what is the focus/purpose of an “illustration”?
  • are there other ways to “illustrate”?
  • How do we do “citations?”

Challenges:

  • How to compare two separated pages (i.e., pages 57, and 106) (side by side?)

Issues I want to see if they have added/changed:

  • Highlighting:  does the menu appear next to where I clicked? How is that interface changed?
  • can we move/sync highlights/notes between devices?

Have you given much thought to the changes we can see with Digital Textbooks?  What are your thoughts? Please share them in the comments.

TOPICS