E‐books: review of research and writing during 2010
| Published date | 16 November 2012 |
| Pages | 777-795 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471211282109 |
| Date | 16 November 2012 |
| Author | Rajendra Kumbhar |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
E-books: review of research and
writing during 2010
Rajendra Kumbhar
Department of Library & Information Science, University of Pune, Pune, India
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to review the literature dealing with e-books to identify trends.
Design/methodology/approach – The review is based on the literature published during January
to December 2010. For this purpose, literature on e-books was searched and retrieved from LISA,
LISTA, Emerald, Science Direct and J-store. E-books, electronic books, digital books, e-book reader,
were the keywords used for searching the literature in these databases. The literature is analyzed and
reviewed under various broad categories. Most of the literature reviewed is in English. Non-English
literature reported in the LISA is also considered.
Findings – In spite of the unconcluded debate of print versus electronic, popularity of e-books is
increasing and thereby the e-book market is growing at a very fast pace. User friendliness, cost,
portability are some of the reasons for the increased use of e-books. Varieties of e-book readers are
produced with different features. Copyright and DRM are the challenging issues. New e-book pricing
models are evolving with their own merits and demerits. Libraries are carrying out e-book usage
studies and are adopting innovative practices to promote e-books.
Practical implications – The paper is useful for LIS researchers, practitioners, e-book publishers
and aggregators for understanding current trends and for framing prospective policies.
Originality/value – The paper identifies trends based on published literature.
Keywords E-books,E-book readers, E-book pricingmodels, Digital rights management,Use of e-book,
E-book managementskills, Literature, Books, Electronic books
Paper type Literature review
1. Introduction
E-books are one of the latest technological evolutions in the development of
communication technology. Numbers of agencies are related with the e-book media.
Writers, publishers, aggregators, libraries and users are the agencies directly related
with the e-book media. There could be many other indirectly associated agencies such
as government, environmentalists, educationists, and others. E-books emerged as
commercial products first in the 1990s but the e-book market could not be sustained at
that time. From 2005 onwards, it again got momentum and from 2007 onwards, it
started flourishing. Now it is predicted that in the next five years e-book is going to be
one of emerging technologies that will have a wide impact on teaching learning or
creative enquiry on college and university campuses (Becker, 2010). In 2010 alone over,
200 documents have been published on e-books. This gives the glimpse of growing
interest in e-books.
The popularity and thereby the growth of the e-book in its all dimensions is further
substantiated bythe fact that the e-book remained a hot topicfor discussions during the
ALA Annual Conference held at Walter E. Washington Convention Centre in
Washington, DC inJune 2010 (Brynko, 2010). Many other conferences on e-resources and
related themes have discussed e-books (Tonkery, 2010a; Cassell, 2010). The literature
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
E-books: review
777
Received February 2011
Revised May 2011
Accepted May 2011
The Electronic Library
Vol. 30 No. 6, 2012
pp. 777-795
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/02640471211282109
published covers almost all aspects of e-books. One reasons for this could be that the
e-book progressively integrates all the links of the book chain (Gimazane, 2010).
2. Purpose, scope and methodology
The main purpose of this review article is to identify trends related with the various
aspects of e-booksas reflected through the literaturepublished in the year 2010. Though
many articles reviewed here, wrote about the historical development of e-books, this
paper does not intend to present a historical review of e-books. The present literature
review covers literature published during January 2010-December 2010. Literature on
e-books was searched and retrieved using various databases. These included LISA,
LISTA, Emerald, Science Direct and J-store. E-books, electronic books, digital books,
e-book reader were the keywords used for searching the literature from these databases.
Most of the literature reviewed is from English language publications, though
non-English literature reported in the LISAis also considered. The literature is analysed
and reviewed under various broad themes. These themes are the themes that have been
attended to by the literature published in 2010. Importance to these themes is given, as
they are the evidences of the writer’s attention to the sub-themes of the topic. Effort is
also made to identify aspectsof e-books, which have not been sufficientlyattended to by
the reviewed literature. The trends, predictions and implications based on the analysis
are mostly recorded along with the themes themselves to highlight their value and
therefore only main points are summarised in the conclusion.
3. All-inclusive literature
Most of the articles on e-books dealt with one or two aspects of the topic whereas few
articles covered many aspects. Vermond (2010), for example, discussed many aspects
of the topic, which included history of the e-book, Digital Rights Management (DRM)
technology, popularity of e-books etc. Similarly, Epron (2010) too discussed about the
various aspects of the e-book such as recent changes in the e-book market, new issues
faced by the information professionals and skills required to cope up with those issues.
Tonkin (2010) wrote in detail about the hardware part of the e-book including speed,
screen resolution, oper ating system, on-board me mory, expansion and aud io
capability. The author also discussed e-book content formats, DRM as well as the
business plans offered by different e-book reading device manufacturers. One can find
detailed discussions of opinions of people involved in publishing, licensing and
distribution of e-books as well as about latest trends in e-book devices, formats and
business models in an article written by Harris (2010a, b). Another comprehensive
article is of Abram (2010b) who explains meaning of e-book and discusses about many
of its aspects including, emerging standards, legal issues, need and future of e-book.
These articles could be good starting point for novice readers to know the highways
and byways of the topic so also they will be useful for LIS students.
4. Future of e-book: is the debate concluding?
The print versus electronic is one of the long debated topics. At the beginning of this
debate, LIS professionals and technologists felt that the printed book would be the
everlasting, unchallenged communication media, due to its many advantages. After
Lancaster’s prophesy of paperless industry, the world thought the electronic media
would totally replace the print media. AfterLancaster’s second thought on the paperless
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