Portable Digital Books & E-Books

1. Bonnie Barnes ESC Region XI Portable Digital Books& E-Books

2. Definition • An e-book (for electronic book: also ebook: also ecobook) is the digital media equivalent of a conventional printed book. Such documents are usually read on personal computers, or on dedicated hardware devices known as e-book readers or e-book devices.

3. History • Early e-books were specialized • Publishers began packaging & selling books in the public domain • Adobe’s PDF format helped standardize industry • Authors with books not accepted by publishers started self-publishing • Now new marketing models are being developed, formats are homogenized & global distribution improved for general consumer use

4. Advantages • Text can be searched automatically and cross-referenced using hyperlinks • Less physical space is required to store e-books • e-books can be offered indefinitely, with no going out of print date, allowing authors to continue to earn royalties indefinitely. • Readers who have difficulty reading printed books can benefit from the adjustment of text size and font face.

5. Advantages • Text-to-speech software can be used to convert e-books to audio books automatically. • E-book devices allow reading in low light or even total darkness by means of a back light. • It costs little to reproduce or copy an e-book, which is ideal for archival and backup purposes. • the production of e-books does not consume the paper, ink, and other resources that are used to produce print books.

6. Disadvantages • An e-book requires the purchase of an electronic device (and possibly peripheral software) to display. • As an e-book is dependent on equipment to be read, it can be affected by faults in external hardware or software, such as hard disk drive failure. • All e-book devices require electrical power. • Certain e-book formatsmay become obsolete and incompatible with future devices.

7. Disadvantages • Book readers are more likely to be stolen than paper books. • Book readers are more fragile than paper books and more susceptible to physical damage. • Screen resolution of reading devices may be lower than actual paper. • E-books can be hacked, or disseminated without approval from the author or publisher.

8. Formats • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats • Plain Text Format • Hypertext Markup Language (html) • Flip Books (Flash) • Plucker • Portable Document Format (.pdf) • Microsoft Reader (.lit) • eReader/Palm (.pdb)

9. Digital Libraries • Library of Congress National Digital Library Program (NDLP) • Internet Archive (IA) • Project Gutenberg, (PG) • WikiBooks • http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page

10. Free ebooks • A grand total of over 100,000 titles is available at Project Gutenberg Partners, Affiliates and Resources. http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page • http://www.balajisebookworld.com/page_1.... (rar format)http://www.free-online-novels.com/http://www.ebooklobby.com/http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com/

11. Free ebooks • http://www.literaturemaster.com/http://www.truly-free.org/http://www.bibliomania.com/http://www.readprint.com/http://www.readbookonline.net/http://www.fictionpress.com/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/http://www.free-ebooks.net/

12. Free ebooks • http://manybooks.net/http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/c...http://www.thefreelibrary.com/http://www.baen.com/library/http://www.ebooks3.com/http://www.bookyards.com/http://www.free-online-novels.com/

13. Free ebooks • http://www.starry.com/novel/authors.htmhttp://www.bygosh.com/thebestnovels.htmLiterature Collection - Free literature onlinehttp://www.literaturecollection.com/Read Free Classic Books Onlinehttp://www.classicreader.com/

14. Free ebooks • Greco-Roman Authorshttp://classics.mit.edu/index.htmlBRITISH LIBRARY On-Line Books.http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbo...http://www.bookspot.com/ask/http://www.online-literature.com/http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

15. Free ebooks • http://www.infomotions.com/alex/http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/http://www.literature.org/AMERICAN LITERARY CLASSICShttp://www.americanliterature.com/ARCHIV...

16. Free ebooks • The Celebration of Women Writers.http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/w...http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/sub...

17. Welcome to the Literature Network! Searchable online literature for the student, educator, or enthusiast. To find the work you're looking for start by looking through the author index. 1200 full books and over 2000 short stories and poems by over 250 authors. Quotations database has over 8500 quotes.http://www.online-literature.com/

18. Short Story Classics: • The Best from the Masters of the Genrehttp://shortstory.byethost6.com/index.ht...Short Story Writers Discuss Their Craft http://shortstory.byethost6.com/quotes.h...

19. Welcome to Dowse Fiction Hub • Here you will find an array of short stories from the classic to the contemporary, from writers who've shaped what the short story is today and those who are just starting to make their mark. http://www.dowse.com/fiction.htmlhttp://www.jhedge.com/story/nofic/index....

20. For Children • Well Known Adventure Stories For Childrenhttp://www.2020site.org/robbinhood/index...Stories for Childrenhttp://www.bygosh.com/http://www.billybear4kids.com/story/Tell...http://www.bygosh.com/childrensclassics....

21. Disclaimer • I got this list from a website. If you see something that doesn’t work or isn’t appropriate, please email me. • Enjoy & have fun reading!