Scrolling vs Paging: Reading Performance and Preference of Reading Modes in Long-form Online News

This study explores the impact of scrolling and dynamic pagination in long-form online documents on reader performance and reader experience. Previous research has produced mixed results, indicating no difference between modes, or a positive effect favouring scrolling. Recent advances in web standards have enabled simpler, dynamic, performant methods of pagination to tailor content responsively to any screen, meriting renewed study in this area. This paper uses one such method to load subsequent online news pages instantly without buffering. In an online browser experiment with 38 participants, an increase in reading speed in the scrolling mode was found at a level of significance. This follows previous research which has suggested that while a scrolling presentation style exacts extra demands on working memory capacity (WMC), many current web users have developed compensatory strategies and cognitive flexibility for navigating scrolling web documents

The enhanced ebook: Its past, present, and future place in the North American publishing industry

The enhanced ebook format—an ebook featuring multimedia elements such as audio, video, and animations—was released in 2010, yet it has been largely unused. Despite its potential, only 23% of publishers in Canada produced an enhanced ebook each year between 2014 and 2017.1 The format can excel in the scholarly/professional, trade/consumer, and educational/K to 12 marketplaces; however, it is held back by the same hurdles that halted its progress in 2010. Poor retailer and device support, lack of classification and discoverability, slow consumer adoption, and caution from publishers to invest were, and still are, roadblocks that inhibit the enhanced ebook format from gaining popularity. In an effort to understand why the enhanced ebook format has not gained traction, this report will assess the enhanced ebook format, and its past, present, and future place in the North American publishing industry

Tough Love: Guiding Student Researchers Toward a Better Future for E‐Books

EPUB has emerged as the standard format for e‐books due to its numerous advantages over PDF, including superior accessibility, enhanced navigation, lighter file sizes, optimization for mobile devices, and support for non‐English languages, to name a few. However, there is little understanding of EPUB’s advantages among end users and little appreciation for EPUB’s potential in academic libraries. This paper provides a literature review and perspectives from a publisher, an aggregator, and end users (higher education library) about solutions that drive increased knowledge and use of the EPUB format for e‐books in the academic library. It will summarize the reasons for EPUB’s ascendance among academic publishers, explain how PDF e‐books present barriers to innovation and real problems for accessibility, and argue that the scarcity of EPUB in the academic library is mostly due to a lack of awareness of its benefits. It will give librarians some ideas on how to begin integrating EPUB into research instruction, and ultimately, it will suggest that both librarians and vendors take an active role in shaping the habits and thus demands of their users

Tablets as Powerful Tools for University Research: Teaching the Relevant Skills

The increasing popularity of tablet computers in recent years is beginning to transform the way that library users, and in particular postsecondary students and faculty, find and engage with digital content. In response to these changes, university librarians are tailoring information literacy instruction to highlight the advantages of these technologies to their constituencies and to ensure that their users understand the myriad issues involved in effectively leveraging these advantages to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their research. Chapter 6 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 48, no. 8) “Rethinking Reference and Instruction with Tablets” examines the creation of university library workshops developed to introduce students and faculty to these concepts, including mobile learning advantages, online connectivity issues, the process of finding and managing content with tablet devices, and the many new and innovative ways of searching for and manipulating digital information made possible by these new technologies

Book Self-Publishing Best Practices

I have taken a manuscript through the book publishing process to produce a camera-ready print book and e-book. This includes copyediting, designing layout templates, laying out the document in InDesign, and producing an index. My research is focused on the best practices and standards for publishing. Lessons learned from my research and experience include layout best practices, particularly linespacing and alignment guidelines, as well as the limitations and capabilities of InDesign, particularly its endnote functionality. Based on the results of this project, I can recommend self-publishers to understand the software and distribution platforms prior to publishing a book to ensure the required specifications are met to avoid complications later in the process. This document provides details on many of the software, distribution, and design options available for self-publishers to consider

McGill Library Makes E-books Portable: E-reader Loan Service in a Canadian Academic Library

E-readers are increasingly popular personal devices, but can they be effectively used for the needs of academic libraries’ clients? This paper employs an evidence-based approach that examines the role and efficacy of implementing an E-reader Loan Service at McGill University Library. Suggestions are offered as to what lending model and device features best meet client needs. Observations are made based on the lessons learned from active use. The paper also examines relevant issues, such as electronic formats, Digital Rights Management, and the role of e-readers as library technology that facilitates the ideals of mobile learning

Guidelines for eBook design

In this paper we intended to propose guidelines for novice designers, i.e., without prior experience with eBook design. The first step was a systematic literature review, which resulted in 1052 guidelines, which were iteratively analysed until reduced to a smaller amount. After that, 15 practicing designers evaluated the utility of these guidelines, and excluded the ones they considered not useful (to novice designers). In an effort to embed expert knowledge, we asked doctoral students to propose guidelines, which went through the same process of analysis and peer evaluation, and were added to the previous set, which resulted in 38 unique design guidelines. Finally, three doctoral students who also are practicing designers with experience in eBook design, commented each guideline and defined the final set. The result is a set of 13 guidelines.Neste artigo pretendemos propor diretrizes para designers iniciantes, ou seja, sem experiência anterior com o design de e-books. O primeiro passo foi uma revisão sistemática da literatura, que resultou em 1052 diretrizes, que foram analisadas iterativamente até serem reduzidas para uma quantidade menor. Depois disso, 15 designers experientes avaliaram a utilidade dessas diretrizes e excluíram as que consideraram não úteis (para designers iniciantes). Em um esforço para incorporar conhecimento especializado, pedimos a estudantes de doutorado para proporem diretrizes, que passaram pelo mesmo processo de análise e avaliação por pares, e foram adicionadas ao conjunto anterior, o que resultou em 38 diretrizes. Finalmente, três estudantes de doutorado que também são designers com experiência em design de eBooks, comentaram cada diretriz e definiram o conjunto final. O resultado é um conjunto de 13 diretrizes

Taking EFL Textbooks Digital― What, Why and How?

　The future of publishing, including educational publishing, is digital. The transformation has already begun and will likely accelerate because of clear advantages driving this change in the developed world. There are still significant challenges that are hampering this process, however. This paper looks at the motivating factors of the various stakeholders, the technical, commercial and pedagogical challenges, and what options are available for authors and publishers who wish to go digital

E-book Generator with Preview for Android Platform

Import 05/08/2014Práce se zabývá vývojem aplikace pro mobilní telefony a tablety s operačním systémem Android ve verzi 4.0 a vyšší. Aplikace umí stáhnout a uložit webové stránky, a poté realizuje konverzi do elektronické knihy nebo prostého textu. Dále aplikace umí stáhnout a zpracovat RSS kanál a nabízí možnost stažení jednotlivých článků. Další funkcí je zobrazení knih ve svém vlastním zobrazovači, nebo přímo z aplikace je rovněž možné otevřít knihu z externí čtečky, která podporuje daný formát. Práce také popisuje vybrané formáty, do kterých je realizována konverze.The thesis deals with development of an application for mobile devices and tables with Android operating system 4.0 and higher. The application can download web pages, save them and convert the content into ebooks or plain text files. Next the application can download and process RSS channels and offers the possibility to download individual articles. The application may display the generated ebook in its own preview or open the book with external applications that support the supplied ebook format. Individual formats selected for conversion implementation are also described.460 - Katedra informatikyvýborn