An introduction to eBooks for information professionals. Focus is on the South African market. Notes include links to core concepts - e.g. file formats, ereaders vs. media tablets, ebook aggregators.

1. eBooks Introduction for information specialists (publishers, librarians, media professionals, etc.) @kosieeloff

2. This is the time for eBooks 2010: Association of American Publishers reports eBook sales of members US$441 million (up 164% from 2009)

3. Rocket eBook Reader (1998)

4. This is the time of eBooks Ebooks have existed for decades now (previous slide: old eBook readers in late 90’s) First challenge: hardware & displays  Second challenge: software & formats  Third challenge: content, distribution, marketing etc. 

5. What is an eBook? Simply an electronic file – read on your device of choice Various formats (more on main formats later) e.g. PDF [Demonstration: various eBooks on my Kindle, iPad, laptop]

6. Why read eBooks? Good reading experience now Less expensive (overall...) Environmentally friendly (except...) Space savings (what about ‘digital space’?) Portability Reading aids (e.g. bookmarking, sharing..) Searchability Navigation (referencing, hyperlinking)

7. Why read eBooks? You can write in eBooks People with disabilities Always accessible Instant delivery (if your connection is reliable) No shipping charges (except...) Enhancement opportunities (e.g. multimedia)

8. How to read eBooks eReaders Computer / laptop Media tablets (and, of course, mobile phones)

9. eReaders Kindle (65% market share in US, 2011*) Nook Sony Reader Kobo iRiver Story, etc. Not going into too much detail; in South Africa, you’re most likely to buy a Kindle or iRiver model (ease of delivery, service support etc.)

10. “A sheet of paper that can be electronically reconfigured instantaneously to display any page from any book, article or document” E-ink is what makes eReaders different

13. Amazon’s Kindle Touch and Kindle Keyboard

16. eReader prices are dropping steeply

17. Media tablets (tablet computers) iPad (Apple) Playbook (Blackberry) Android devices E.g. Asus, Motorola (purchased by Google)... Kindle Fire Media tablets are unique in that 1) they operate on touch, and 2) they aren’t supposed to store your media

18. Apple iPad http://www.apple.com/za/ipad/

19. http://za.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/ Blackberry Playbook

20. Android-powered tablets (e.g. Asus EEE)

21. Zoomed in LCD (red, green, blue filters)

28. eBook formats PDF Most familiar, but fixed-layout (?) Mobi / PRC Original format for PDAs, etc. (now owned by Amazon) AZW Amazon’s DRMed format EPUB Most accessible format

33. eBook stores International (to an extent...) Amazon Kindle store Barnes & Noble / Kobobooks Apple iBooks Independent BooksOnBoard Smashwords Local Kalahari Exclusive Books kindlebooks.co.za Or at least, ones worth mentioning for the purposes of this introduction...

34. How to publish an eBook Various ways, but it’s often safest to sell through a well-known vendor (e.g. Amazon), or to use an aggregator (e.g. Smashwords). Locally, Kalahari.com and Exclusive Books also sell eBooks (details on request).

36. eBook aggregators

37. Digital rights management Restricts what you can do with the material. DRM is a necessary evil (or is it...) Three major eBook DRM schemes: Amazon DRM (.mobi) Adobe DRM (.epub, .pdf) Apple FairPlay DRM (.epub, .pdf)

38. Public domain books (Manybooks.net) Manybooks isn't necessarily an eBook vendor; rather, a distributor of public domain titles.

40. Attaching eReader via USB cable

41. Directory with the eReader’s books

42. But what about getting books wirelessly? http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/turing/photos/feat-kindle-store-300px._V251568840_.jpg

43. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_200127470_k3land_gettingstarted?nodeId=200580340 Local area network. Very fast! Coverage limited (need Wi-Fi hot spots) Need to connect manually Wi-Fi doesn’t guarantee internet access Cellular network. Can be very slow! Wide coverage (e.g. at the beach, or on the train) Connected automatically 3G often guarantees internet access

44. Selecting a Wi-Fi network

45. Managing already purchased books (via your browser)

46. Kindle for PC

47. Kindle for iPad

48. Kindle for PC/iPad opens your browser for browsing

49. Select device (up to six / account) to send to

50. Select device (up to six / account) to send to

51. That’s it! http://bit.ly/keloff

52. For more updates, information etc. Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/kosieeloff Especially for publishers & librarians Google+: https://plus.google.com/101094585504476928154 Especially for content developers I love tinkering with eBooks; join the #eprdctnchannel on Twitter or contact me for a chat! http://bit.ly/keloff