Introduction
Electronic books: a
review and evaluation
Siriginidi Subba Rao
The author
Siriginidi Subba Rao is Deputy Director and Head,
Information Technology, Central Leather Research Institute,
Adyar, Chennai, India. E-mail: ssrao@eth.net, ssrao@clrim.org
Keywords
Electronic publishing, Libraries, India
Abstract
This paper discusses the genesis of e-books and derives a
comprehensive definition from various definitions reported
for them. It lists the various types of e-books with their
characteristics and the major players in the market. It also
highlights the pros and cons of e-books, and compares
select e-book reader hardware and software with their
specifications, requirements and characteristics. The impact
of e-books on the publishing industry, on libraries and
librarians, and digital rights management is discussed. The
author concludes that e-books are rapidly becoming a viable
alternative and provide growing advantages over the
traditional medium.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
Library Hi Tech
Volume 21 . Number 1 . 2003 . pp. 85-93
# MCB UP Limited . ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830310467427
85
The new word in the publishing industry is not
a word, but a letter ``e'' in electronic books or
e-books. The e-book is the most important
development in the world of literature since the
Gutenberg press and is destined to change the
reading habits of many over the next several
years. Traditional book publishers are seeing
the potential of digital publications and are
working to ensure they enjoy a share in the
market's growth. Technologies such as the
Internet, Web, electronic editing, print-on-
demand, online subscription services and
e-books are beginning to transform the
publishing industry.
The growing popularity of the Web and
public acceptance of newly improved easy-to-
use e-book technologies is paving way for their
proliferation. In 1999 over 9 million
information products were sold over the
Internet and accounted for over 20 percent of
all Internet sales. It is difficult to gauge the
entire scale of the e-book market because books
can be downloaded onto essentially any form of
computer, from handheld to mega-server.
Gartner predicts personal digital assistant
(PDA) sales to top 38 million by 2003 and
PDAs currently cost no more than dedicated
devices (Unicorn, 2000). The current usage of
e-books is tiny considering the potential market.
Jupiter Research forecasts 1.9 million users of
e-books by 2005 (Flash, 2000). IDC predicts
the market in the USA alone would mushroom
from US$9 million in 2000 to US$414 million
in 2004 (Bartlett, 2000). Forrester Research
estimated revenue from digitized book
publishing at US$7.8 billion in 2005, up from
US$838 million of the year 2000 (Butterfield,
2000). This paper attempts to familiarize the
e-book technologies through a review and
evaluation process.
Emergence of e-books
The idea of e-books is not new, ever since there
have been computers. People have envisioned
using them to store and access individual titles
or vast libraries. Over the last two decades, a
number of important factors have influenced
the need for and development of e-books:
 Electronic books: a review and evaluation
Siriginidi Subba Rao
. the advent of desktop publishing;
. the growing importance of paperless
publishing;
. the ease with which electronic information
can be created, updated, copied, shared,
distributed and searched;
. the more widespread availability of both
local and global computer based
communication networks; and
. the incipient onset of the electronic
information explosion.
Recently e-books caught the popular
imagination and showed real promise of
succeeding in the consumer marketplace.
Several factors have converged to make this
happen:
. advances in computer hardware and
software;
. Internet improvements to facilitate the
electronic exchange of text and data; and
. easy Web applications using enabling
technologies such as HyperText markup
language (HTML), extensible markup
language (XML) and portable document
format (PDF) as underlying standards.
The Web has made publishers realize that they
need not choose between print and electronic
publishing. Publishers are increasingly
re-purposing the electronic files used in the
production of print, and some are
re-engineering their editorial and production
processes to produce files better suited to
electronic products in the first place. Currently,
several modes of electronic publishing are
available. Many journals are delivered by
subscription over the Web; reference, legal and
medical books are on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
and are becoming more Web savvy. In the
context of e-books, they are more often referred
to as a single volume, such as a trade book that
can be bought over the Web and read in a
laptop, a desktop computer, a PDA, or a
dedicated e-book reading device.
Definition of an e-book
Some confusion persists about what the term e-
book refers to: is it a piece of book shaped
hardware, or the words and images on a piece of
hardware, or both. The term book denotes both
the message (words and images) and the
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Library Hi Tech
Volume 21 . Number 1 . 2003 . 85-93
medium (bound paper). The one without the
other is not a book.
The select definitions of an e-book include:
. An e-book is a term used to describe a text
analogous to a book that is in digital form to
be displayed on a computer screen (Cox
and Mohammed, 2001).
. A book that has been converted to digital
form and could be read on a computer,
usually through network services or
CD-ROM. E-books could expand over
print media by adding hypertext links,
search and cross-reference functions and
multimedia (Computer User, 2002).
. An e-book is a digital reading material that
one views on a desktop or note-book
computer or on a dedicated, portable
device with a large storage capacity and the
ability to download new titles through a
network connection (Adobe Systems,
2001).
. E-books are books in computer file format
and read on all types of computers,
including handheld devices designed
specifically for reading e-books; e-books are
as familiar as their print counterparts or as
unique as the electronic medium itself,
containing audio, video or live hyperlinks;
they can be delivered by download or e-
mail file attachment; e-books on diskette or
CD-ROM are sent by postal mail or sold in
bookstores (Brooker, 2000).
. An e-book refers to electronic files of words
and images that are of book length,
formatted for display on one or more
devices known as e-book readers, and sold
or distributed as standalone products;
e-book readers are defined as the devices
used to read e-books; these could be
handheld or not, dedicated or not; the
software that enables the display of e-books
on PCs or other devices may be referred to
as e-book reader software, even though
some software companies such as Microsoft
refer to their applications as readers
(NetRead, 2000).
From the above definitions, a more
comprehensive definition for an e-book could
be derived: text in digital form, or a book
converted into digital form, or digital reading
material, or a book in a computer file format, or
 Electronic books: a review and evaluation
Siriginidi Subba Rao
an electronic file of words and images displayed
on a desktop, note-book computer, or portable
device, or formatted for display on dedicated
e-book readers.
Types of e-books
The e-book arena is in a state of flux and the
concept of an e-book is not attached to one
single medium in the way that DVDs or CDs
are. Therefore, it is appropriate to introduce a
classification of the various types of e-books.
Hawkins (2000) and Crawford (2000) have
attempted to identify the various concepts,
products and models. Hawkins has identified
four types based on content availability and
access, while Crawford identified nine types
based on proprietary formats, standards, media
form, length of contents and access. These are
listed at Table I with their characteristics and
major players in the market.
E-books: pros and cons
Pros
Many of the advantages of e-books are inherent
in the format of electronic devices and offer a
level of features and flexibility that are
impossible in printed books. The overall
advantages include:
. Method of publication. Once the electronic
text is created, it has the potential for
instant worldwide distribution over the
Internet and access from virtually any
location, without the dangers of damaging a
printed copy. Also, it is very easy to
integrate the available list of e-books into a
library's online catalog (Ballard, 2000),
thereby offering a substitute for having to
visit a library building.
. Economic advantages. The overhead
publication and distribution cost of e-books
is considerably lower than using a printing
mode (Hayes, 2000). Some costs are
passed on to the book consumer, who must
download or somehow obtain the
document, but in most areas the
corresponding expenses relating to printing
materials are obsolete in the digital world.
There is no cost for paper, ink, binding,
wrapping, postage, or transport. In fact,
hundreds of virtual books are free.
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Library Hi Tech
Volume 21 . Number 1 . 2003 . 85-93
. Increasing capabilities of hardware. A single
e-book reader can hold more than one
electronic text and the potential exists for
portable readers to hold the entire libraries.
The content of electronic documents can
be expanded, customized or updated as
users desire. Significant enhancements
include: complete e-text searching (a
navigation tool unmatched by traditional
back-of-the-book indexing systems); an
interactive dictionary with instant access to
the definitions of highlighted words within
the text; multimedia display capabilities,
which are impossible on paper; and
adjustable displays with variable font sizes
and levels of backlighting. All these
advantages are a reality in existing e-book
products (DiNucci, 1999a), and have the
potential to improve further with future
technological advances.
. Business applications. E-books can be used
conveniently at a substantial cost savings.
For instance, distribution of operating
procedures to production workers the day
they go into effect. The benefits lie in
reduced paper costs of creating, copying
and disposing of thousands of pages, and in
moving distribution from costly courier
service to instant downloads via the
Internet.
. Convenience. E-books are very convenient
and are always in stock. With online books,
no disappointment will occur due to a work
being out-of-print, and there will be no
wasted trips to libraries or bookstores, only
to find the required book is loaned or sold.
There are also no inventory storage worries,
and no waiting forever to get materials.
. Environment friendliness. Unlike
conventional printed books, not a single
tree must be cut to produce an e-book.
When downloading an electronic novel,
online fiction, digital textbook or any other
kind of virtual book, not even a single sheet
of paper enters the waste stream.
. Ability to improve literacy and education in less
developed countries. People in poor countries
may not be able to afford to buy books and
rarely have access to libraries. But in a few
years, as the cost of hardware continues to
decline, it will be possible to set up virtual
public libraries.
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Siriginidi Subba Rao Volume 21 . Number 1 . 2003 . 85-93

Table I List of various types of e-books with their characteristicsand major players
E-book types Characteristics Major players
According to Hawkins
Downloadable e-books Contents are available on the Internet for Bartleby (http://www.bartleby.com),
downloading to the user's PC. No special reading Librius (http://www.librius.com/),
device is required Glassbook (http://www.glassbook.com/),
Gutenberg (http://www.promo.net/pg/)
Dedicated e-book readers Contents are downloaded to a dedicated hardware Gemstar's REBs (http://www.e-book-gemstar.com/),
device with a high quality screen and special Franklin's eBookman (http://www.franklin.com/e-bookman/)
capabilities for book reading
Print-on-demand books Contents are stored in a system connected to a Xerox, IBM, Sprout, Lightning
high-speed, high quality printer and bound copies Source (http://www.lightningsource.com/),
are produced on demand Hewlett Packard
Web-accessible e-books Published on the provider's Web site and may be
accessed for a fee or purchase the books to receive
indefinite access
According to Crawford
Proprietary e-book devices Text is downloaded in proprietary formats that are Portable hardware devices from Gemstar's REBs and
locked to a single reader Franklin's eBookman
Open e-books XML based standard that allows any text to reside Open Ebook Forum Specifications
on any reader. Potential reading devices include PCs,
note-books, palmtops and proprietary e-book devices
Free books or Public domain Digital copies of books available or texts placed in Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/),
e-books public domain for free downloading, printing and Project Gutenberg, Bartleby
circulation
Pseudobooks Titles bought by libraries or consortia and loaned out netLibrary
to users to download to their own PCs. Users can
borrow one title at a time, unless libraries paid for
more than one copy
Instabooks Books printed and bound on-demand from fully Lightning Source, Replica Books
marked up digital texts or scanned page images (http://www.replicabooks.com/)
stored digitally
Not quite a book Mid-length texts (novellas or novelettes) that are not
suitable to publish in print media. Converted to PDF,
packaged, e-published and e-distributed
E-vanity and self-publishing Books published by individuals on the Web Various sources
Ebooks before the Web Books on CD-ROM or disk Modern Age Books
Extended books Published on CD-ROM or Web, offering searchable Voyager
text through hypertext, multimedia and interactive
elements

. Raise national literacy and educational
standards. E-books can be used to raise
national literacy standards and to aid
publishers and authors along the way. A
national library online could do this by
offering a list of free downloadable
readings and videos. Classical and other
special titles could be bought from
publishers at a fair price before
distribution. Collectively, all of these costs
88
would be far less than currently payable
library services, and yet the potential
would be far larger.
These utility advantages include:
. For authors: increased readership, a
reasonable monetary return for their work
and continuing ability to control the rights
to their works.
. For publishers: less expensive paperless mass
production, the potential end to
 Electronic books: a review and evaluation
Siriginidi Subba Rao
out-of-print problems, and easy
distribution via online distributors, direct
marketing to customers, or affiliate
program.
. For customers: dictionary software to look up
words, an audio mode to have an e-book
read out loud, search tools to find specific
texts, multiple books in one small package,
to links between e-books, customization to
suit individual interests and tastes, easily
updated reference material, audio and full
motion video content, out-of-print books,
low light reading, a choice of font sizes, and
portability for one's own virtual library.
. For libraries: the instant delivery of
purchased books, adjustable fonts instead
of large print books, lower prices due to
lower production costs, eco-friendliness,
shelf space savings, an end to lost or
damaged titles, and the ability to create
their own texts.
. For entertainment: multimedia capabilities
and rich color photographs.
Cons
The cons for e-books can be traced to one of the
two causes:
(1) the shortcomings of current e-book
technology and its derivatives, including
costs; and
(2) the incongruence with current user
expectations about how books are handled.
Some of the problems with reading e-books on
dedicated machines or software are:
. Durability. The current generation of
hardware is too fragile to be used in the
same manner as printed books (Sottong,
1999).
. Expense. The dedicated readers are
expensive, at present.
. Technological change. There is a risk of
buying a soon-to-be-defunct reader.
. Screen resolutions. The typical screen
resolutions on handhelds and PCs probably
are not good enough for extended screen
reading and do not yet match the quality of
printed books.
. Limited availability of titles. The availability
of titles in electronic form is very limited, at
the moment.
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Library Hi Tech
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. Availability. The dedicated readers are not
widely available throughout the world.
. Compatibility. The problem of compatibility
is due to lack of standard formats across
different hardware and software and
vendors. A title purchased for one
dedicated reader will not be able to read on
a PC.
. Bibliographic data. The available e-book
titles rarely have sufficient bibliographic
data, which is a problem for libraries.
Cataloging titles raises all the cataloging
problems of parallel publication of
e-journals.
. Licensing. Most vendors of e-books do not
seem to understand library needs, or have
suitable licenses.
. Printing. The users may not be able to print
from their readers.
. Limited rights. The rights of resale are
different from when a book is purchased.
These are familiar issues that have arisen
from e-journals, e.g. licensing versus sales.
The issues for the new wave of large-scale
e-book distributors are somewhat different.
They need to:
. find a business model that works and that
users find acceptable;
. reassure publishers about their intellectual
property rights by providing a very
controlled user interface, without making it
too cumbersome and unwieldy for users
(electronic copyright management systems
have found that if the environment is
tortuous, users simply do not use the
system, but this might not be repeated if the
content is sufficiently massive);
. have reliable and speedy access;
. have the right books; and
. persuade academics to recommend using
such a service to their students.
As the e-book technology improves, so will its
ease of use. A new generation of e-book
hardware offers reduced screen glare, improved
fonts and layout, along with the flexibility of
instant access to personalized and customizable
e-books (DiNucci, 1999b). As e-book
technology develops, systems will need to be
established to preserve older e-book formats.
 Electronic books: a review and evaluation
Siriginidi Subba Rao
E-book readers: hardware and software
A number of portable e-book devices in a range
of shapes, sizes and prices are available. They
have little or no inter-operability. Some involve
attaching the reader to the computer and
require proprietary software, plus the
purchasing and downloading of titles from the
vendor's library on the Internet. Others allow
connection directly to their library through
communication links. The specifications of
select e-book readers are listed in Table II. The
other e-book reader hardware include: the
EveryBook Dedicated Reader from EveryBook
Inc., the Millennium eBook from Librius,
Handspring Visor, the Compaq iPac series, and
the Casio series.
E-book titles are not just readable on any
software or reading device. Most are device or
software dependent. Hence, matching of the e-
book title's format to the reading device or
software is a prerequisite. Some of the most
popular e-book reader software available in the
market can be found in Table III, along with
their hardware requirement and characteristics.
Impact of e-books
E-books will have impact on the publishing
industry, on libraries and librarians, and on
digital rights management.
E-book publishers/vendors
The centuries-old business model used by the
publishing industry is unraveling. Its arcane
hierarchical structure of writer, agent, editor,
publisher, printer/binder, distributor and
retailer is imploding. The e-book enables
anyone to create books without the huge capital
required to service this established order. Once
an e-book is formatted, it can be distributed
over the Internet without the conventional
distribution and printing costs. The formatting
process is very simple. The Microsoft Reader
with ClearType offers one-click conversion of
Word documents. The Open e-book Standard
supports open source coding, hence all e-books
formatted to this standard will work on all
platforms, even though encryption solutions
vary. Hence, publishers no longer need to
contract with a printer/bindery, and need no
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warehousing, national retail distributor, sales
representatives or bricks-and-mortar
booksellers. Also, writers can submit
manuscripts to publishers electronically,
without an agent. A publisher can build an
e-commerce Web site, connect personally with
each customer, deliver e-books direct,
worldwide, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
Broadly, e-book vendors fall into two groups.
The first group is full-service hardware,
software and content providers. These include
Everybook (Everybook), NuvoMedia (Rocket
eBook) and Softbook Press (Softbook). These
vendors cover trade press (novels, romance and
self-help), periodicals, and partnering deals.
The second group is software and content-only
providers. These include Librius, which offered
its own viewer until recently, and Glassbook,
which focuses solely on conversion, library
control and viewer software. Both vendors
support e-books for Palms, Windows CE
devices, note-books and unspecified
information appliances (Perlin, 1999).
Libraries/librarians
E-book technology creates circulation
challenges for libraries/librarians. E-books,
when downloaded, are locked into one specific
device due to encryption and each title on each
reader has to be paid for, so users cannot select
specific titles to take home on the reader. This
can be overcome by creating theme readers on
which various titles can be loaded. The issuing
and returning of e-book readers is time
consuming. New users must be familiarized
with the hardware during the check-out
process, and notes made by previous users must
be cleaned up after items are returned. Libraries
also have to have credit cards to purchase
e-books instantaneously. The e-book market is
aimed at the individual customer and the
vendors have no concept and little interest in
the library market. Replacing the readers lost or
damaged by users and cataloging the devices
and the titles on the devices remains a
challenge.
Digital rights management (DRM)
The DRM distribution cycle begins when an
author creates an original work and submits it
to an e-book publisher. The publisher converts
the work to an e-book format, then employs
 Electronic books: a review and evaluation Library Hi Tech
Siriginidi Subba Rao Volume 21 . Number 1 . 2003 . 85-93

Table II Specifications of select e-book reader hardware

RCA REB1100
(successor to Rocket
Specifications eBook)
Size 7.1  5.0  0.8in.
Weight 1.1lb
Screen Black and white, 3.0
 4.5in., 320  480
pixels, 108dpi,
monochrome STN LCD
Memory 8MB, expandable with
Smart Media cards
Battery life (hours) 15-35
E-book format .RB, a proprietary
Gemstar
Storage capacity and 20 novels. Backlit
special features screen, variable font
size, bookmark pages,
search, stylus and
built-in Webster's
dictionary
Connectivity Dials up Gemstar
e-Book catalog via
internal telephone
modem. PC not
required, but device
can connect to a PC or
Mac via USB cable
Titles availability Barnes and Noble,
Powells, others
Price in US$ 299
Vendor Gemstar
E-book reader hardware
RCA REB1200
(successor to
SoftBook Reader) Franklin eBookman Palm PDAs HP Jornada
9.0  7.5  1.25in. 5.2  3.4  0.7in. 5.0  3.2  0.7in. 5.2  3.1x  0.6in.
2.1lb 0.4lb 0.4lb 0.6lb
32,768 colors, 8.2in. 16 level gray scale, Black and white (Palm Color, 320  240
diagonal, 480  640 200  240 pixels IIIc has active matrix pixels
pixels (VGA), 97.3 dots color), 2.25  2.25in.,
160  160 pixels
8MB, expandable to 8MB, expandable by 2-8MB 16MB, expandable
128MB using Compact MultiMediaCards using Compact Flash
Flash cards cards
6-12 Depends on use Depends on use 8
(2 AAA batteries) (2 AAA batteries)
.SB, a proprietary Franklin Reader .DOC; .PRC from Microsoft Reader
Gemstar Peanutpress; .PDB
from Qvadis
5,000-50,000 pages. Combines the Microsoft Reader's
Backlit screen, variable functions of a reading ClearType make text
font size, bookmark device, a PDA and a easier to read, MP3
pages, stylus, etc. digital music player player, organizer
software, games, etc.
Built-in modem and Cradle with USB Cradle with serial Cradle with USB
Ethernet connection to connector to Windows connector to PC or connector to Windows
download books over PCs Macintosh (with PC
the telephone line converter)
without using a
computer
Gemstar eBook catalog Franklin.com Peanutpress and Barnesandnoble.com
Qvadis and Amazon.com
599 outright purchase 129.95-229.95 149-449 499-549
Gemstar Franklin.com Numerous electronics Numerous electronics
and office supply and office supply
stores, Outpost.com, stores, Outpost.com,
etc. Amazon.com, etc.

DRM encryption to lock the file and generate a
unique encryption key. The e-book distributor
manages the encryption key and locked file,
ensuring that unauthorized users cannot view
the protected work. The e-book distributor
transfers the work to an e-book retailer, who
then sells the secure e-book online and offers
e-book buyers an easy way to purchase keys to
decrypt and read the work. The e-book buyer
who visits an e-book retailer Web site can
purchase the work and read it, using an e-book
91
reading device, after unlocking the file with a
DRM key.
The select market-leading DRM providers
and solutions include: Adobe PDF Merchant
and WebBuy; Xerox/Microsoft's
ContentGuard; Reciprocal.com; SoftLock;
netLibrary; InterTrust MetaTrust Utility;
LockStream.com; and e-book publisher
solutions such as MightyWords.com. Based on
competing formats and emerging open-source
specifications, the industry is concerned to
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Siriginidi Subba Rao Volume 21 . Number 1 . 2003 . 85-93

Table III Select list of e-book reader software formats with hardware requirement and characteristics
Software format
Adobe Acrobat (http://
www.adobe.com/products/
acrobat/)
Microsoft Reader (http://
www.microsoft. com/download/
msreader/)
Requirements
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files can be
read on a laptop or desktop PC with
Adobe Acrobat Reader installed.
Acrobat Reader is available for free
from Adobe site
MS Reader files can be read on a
Rocket PC or on desktop or laptop
PC with MS Reader. The free
download requires 16MB RAM on
Windows 95, 98, ME, NT or 2000,
13MB free hard disc space, MS
Internet Explorer 4.01, Service Pack 1 marking, highlighting and annotating
or later
Characteristics
Most popular format for creating
e-books with its high-quality
rendering of graphics and text.
Facilitates file encryption, document
navigation and annotation
Lets users purchase e-book titles
directly through Barnes and Noble.
MS Reader application with
ClearType technology specifically
engineered for reading high quality
e-books. Includes tools for book
text
Remarks
The learning curve for the Acrobat is
difficult to master for the graphically
challenged
MS Reader has set the standard for
the next generation of e-book reader
applications. It is not yet available
for Macintosh.

Glassbook Reader (http:// Glassbook Reader is for note-books
www.glassbook. com) and PC users. Available as a free
download or enhanced version for
US$39, requires Windows 95 or NT,
Internet Explorer version 4/5
DocAble (http:// EveryBook's DocAble is PC-based
www.everybook.net) document management software that
reads PDF documents in a book-like
format of two-page presentation. It
costs US$295
HTML Compilers Internet browsers Netscape or
Internet Explorer higher than version
3.0 can read HTML eBook files on
either a PC or Mac. The latest
version of Internet Explorer can be
downloaded from Microsoft site
Enhanced version includes an Glassbook Reader has three
unabridged dictionary, infrared beam, components: bookstore ± for buying
Internet lend and give capabilities for e-book titles, library ± for organizing
selected titles. Offers color display of titles and reader-where one able to
e-book pages, Adobe PDF e-books read e-books one owns or borrowed
and Web pages, the ability to search
for text and bookmark items
DocAble permits to view multiple Only software permits to view two
documents at the same time search pages at a time.
within and between the documents.
The pages need not be contiguous.
Allows marking important parts of
documents for quick retrieval
Ebook compiler software programs Files are often bulky and e-books
use standard HTML files to produce appear as a single, unbroken page
e-books. The HTML compiler
software compresses normal HTML
files into a self-extracting executable
file. One could download and view
e-books produced with any compiler
software using any Internet browser

RocketLibrarian (http:// A free downloadable software that Facilitates downloading and manages Most popular of all the handheld
www.rocket-e-book.com/ enables one to use Rocket e-book RocketEditions. Stores up to 20 e-book devices to date
Software/index.html) reading technology on ones laptop novels on a device and supports
or desktop PC hyperlinks and graphics

Microsoft Word (http:// Microsoft Word files can be read The leading word processing Strictly, Word is not an e-book
www.microsoft.com/office/) using any version of Microsoft Word package on the market, Microsoft friendly application and remains one
higher than version 6.0/95 on either Word allows great versatility for of the most popular formats for this
the PC or Mac presentation of graphics and text media

Palm Pilot (http:// Peanut Reader format is available as It supports Palm Pilot DOC format Peanut Reader format is one of the
www.peanutpress.com/) a free download for the presentation and enables searches, book marking, leading formats for e-books and
of e-books and contents on the Palm annotations, screen orientation and content on the Palm Pilot PDA
family of PDAs toggle between fonts

92
 Electronic books: a review and evaluation
Siriginidi Subba Rao
bring out a flexible DRM specification. The
Electronic Book Exchange (EBX) Working
Group was formed to create a copyright
protection and distribution specification that
works with all e-book formats. EBX is a
voucher-file model that allows super-
distribution, which enables e-book buyers to
move e-books among different reading devices
and permits borrowing, loaning and gift giving.
While negotiating e-book contracts, authors
want acceptable compensation from all players
in the DRM distribution cycle if, because of
negligence, any one of them fails to encrypt or
protect the author's works. E-book publishers
will seek to limit liability for loss in value of an
author's copyright as a result of preventable or
foreseeable piracy. E-book DRM solutions are
being coupled with rights clearinghouses that
connect publishers, agents, sub-agents and
book scouts worldwide.
Companies such as rightscenter.com and
reciprocal.com provide secure receipt, storage,
tracking and fulfillment of consumer orders for
digital goods distributed through Web retail
storefronts. Audit records of ``keys'' sent to e-
book consumers are sent to the digital clearing
service; this information is used to generate
reports and distribute financial payments to
publishers. Other techniques forward
transactions in secure DigiBox containers that
ensure that everyone who is supposed to be paid
is paid and that audit data are immediately
available. The implication of real-time payment
and transaction-tracking means that standard
publishing clauses, whereby royalty payments
are held for months to facilitate publisher
accounting systems will no longer be justified
with regard to e-books (Neylon, 2001; Pimm,
2002).
Conclusion
Ultimately, the success or failure of e-books
depends not only on acceptance by users, but
also on the publishing industry's ability to see
beyond traditional business models and to
recognize that e-books are not a replacement for
paper-based books. However, e-books are
rapidly becoming a viable alternative and are
providing growing advantages over the
traditional medium. E-readers are still in the
93
Library Hi Tech
Volume 21 . Number 1 . 2003 . 85-93
early stages of development and there is reason
to hope that industry standards will soon be
adopted. E-books complement rather than
supplant printed books. While pixels and pulp
will co-exist for a time, the inevitable move to
e-books will be felt by libraries and by the
publishing industry.
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