Recently, Amazon added page numbers to its Kindle books. Potentially, this move could make the platform more appealing to scholars; ebooks (at least in the view of many) pose a problem when it comes to citation.
Whether or not they’re problematic to cite, ebooks (in a variety of formats) are becoming increasingly common, and are sometimes easier to acquire than paper copies of a book, especially when one needs to acquire the book in a hurry. Even university presses are getting into the act, sometimes giving buyers the option of buying the book at full price or buying a month’s access to the book for a lesser fee (see, for example, the University of Chicago Press’s Chicago Digital Editions).
The greater availability of ebooks opens up new possibilities for using them in one’s scholarly work. I can see using them in a number of ways:
- To quickly locate passages in books (using Google Books). Sometimes I can’t find a passage in the print version that I own, and can quickly find the passage using the search feature in Google Books. Sometimes I just need part of a book, and the available preview has what I need.
- For marking up text, much as I would with a traditional book that I own. With some ereaders, it’s possible to annotate and higlight text, then transfer those annotations and highlights to a computer.
- To gain quick access to a book that I don’t need to own permanently, but that isn’t available at my library—especially if I need it sooner than interlibrary loan could get it to me. (The University of Chicago Press’s digital options make this possible. Purchasing temporary access to a book would add up quickly if done frequently, but for occasional use it could be quite convenient.)
- To sample a book to see whether it’s worth buying or trying to acquire through interlibrary loan, if my own library doesn’t have it. (Some ebook sellers make book samples available; those samples typically include the table of contents and the first chapter, which is often enough to get a good sense of whether the book’s worth the time and effort.)
What about you? What use---if any---do you make of ebooks in your own scholarly work? Let us know in the comments.
[Image by Flickr user Joxe / Creative Commons licensed]