User:Vtaylor/CIS2 Summer 2008/Project Gutenberg/Current Trends and Future Directions of ebooks

As currently, a greater number of electronic resources becomes available. ebooks are one way to enhance the digital library globally anytime throughout the days, and people can save much time for retrieving and accessing specific research. It has brought people into a new type of library world. It does not only provide the electronic resources, but it also integrates them into library systems to streamline library operations.

When discussing the societal and cultural changes create by available new technologies, Paul Hoffert has stated that “The context has changed. The new context is affecting how people communicate and how they seek and use information, as well as how and why they use libraries. In addition, library users have varied expectations for accessing and acquiring information. The context of the information and the technology environments in which we function has changed.” ebook has huge impact on our society. More and more people are getting familiar with it, and we will just continue on this path.

ebooks have many advantages. People can access it from anywhere; there is prevention from being lost, stolen, or damaged; it has capability to search within a book and across a collection of books; it has customizable search interfaces; and etc. ebooks provide people mainly with time efficiency and convenience. We now are very reliable on such technology, and the trend will be continuous.

ebooks have become more popular with publishers, librarians, and vendors within the past years due to its convenience and time efficiency. There are three categories for ebook readers such as PDAs, ebook hardware and software. In addition, there are many online providers. PDA users are allowed to easily download ebook content from the internet. The major ebook hardware providers such as Softbook and rocketbook, have become increasingly popular in public libraries. The major ebook software companies are Palm Digital Media, Adobe, and Microsoft. And the most popular ebook online providers are Gale, Bowker, UMI, and O’Reilly. All these companies have great contributes to the society and people.

The librarians should utilize the capabilities of the ebook. Their expectations are changing significantly as they become more dependent upon technology. ebook means more than just an alternative to the paper books. The libraries will be moved into the digital world by all the advances. People are becoming more comfortable using technology and the internet to meet their information needs. A survey shows that a 78% of students that are prefer to use the internet to do their research for school work, and this number will just be continuously increasing. ebook is a great new type of technology that has changed and benefited the whole society.

Sources:

Pope, Barbara Kline. National Academy Press: A Case Study. Journal of Electronic Publishing, 1999, http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/04-04/pope.html

Keller, Larry. Looking it up, 28 November, 2000, http://www.cnn.com/2000/CAREER/trends/11/28/librarians/index.html