Conferência IATUL

eBook publication: the technology, the contents, the how to do : a challenge to competences share and team workAna Azevedo, Carlos Oliveira, Nuno Portela, Pedro Faria, Tiago Pereira

Agenda

What are eBooks ?Current and future technologyeBook publishing at FEUPCurrent production cycleMotivation for changeNew production cycleProposed toolFuture work

What are eBooks ?

eBooks are electronic books that offer the convenience of size and portability and in most cases, are cheaper than their 'hard copy' counterparts. eBooks provide features that give an enhanced reading experience, like highlight, annotation, zoom and embedded media.eBooks have security settings which may prevent or limit printing and copying.In order to read an eBook, you will require a small piece of free software known as an eBook Reader. eBooks come in different formats and each format has it's own Reader software.

Current and future technology

Acrobat Readerfac-simile presentation, reflow for accessibilityprint (if not protected by DRM)MultiplatformPowerful multimedia embedding and scripting

Microsoft Readerfixed sizeautomatic text reflowno printWindows only

Current and future technology

E Ink (www.eink.com)

Uses oil-filled capsules in which particles of  titanium dioxide are suspended.  A charge to selected particles (white or black) create the image.

Photo courtesy of Philips

Current and future technology

E Ink recently announced an advanced electronic paper color prototype featuring 12-bit color in a 400X300 pixel format with a resolution of 83 pixels per inch.It featured a high-brightness layout (RGBW) that preserves the paper-like whiteness of the backround page while enabling deep blacks for text and a range of colors and tones for images.

Photo courtesy of E Ink Corp.

Current and future technology

Sony® Reader Electronic paper technology provides clarity and resolution that rival paper itself. The screen is as easy to read in full daylight as indoors, and can be viewed from nearly any angle.Its rechargeable battery powers through up to 7,500 page turns.

Photos courtesy of Sony

Current and future technology

Photos courtesy of iRex Technologies and Tianjin Jinke Electronics

Photo courtesy of Plastic Logic

Current and future technology

E Ink founders had a vision of a flexible newspaper with the versatility of digital control and wireless update to life.

Photos courtesy of Polymer Vision

Current and future technology

Philips unveils world’s first ‘Rollable Display’ pocket e-Reader concept READIUS

eBook publishing at FEUP

“FEUP edições” is a publisher of learning books, exploring complementary media: books, ebooks and elearning platforms.

Construction safety eBook MatLab eBook

Production cycle

The eBook production goes through an iterative cycle, where content authors team up with information architects, media producers, designers and programmers, under the supervision of an editor.

Motivation for change

Problem:

The whole process, since the vision and draft versions until the final publication, is usually very long and resource intensiveMost of the idle time is due to the slow information interchange between the actors involved and the different information environments

A common information environment should ease the information interchange for the most critical steps.

Goal:Our goal is then to define and develop a tool that enables the automated information interaction between the actors, under an web environment.

The new production cycle

Advantages:

1.Central information storage and access point

2. Abstract (XML) representation of the content

3. Flexible content organisation output, depending on user

Proposed tool

Three layered architecture:

Client sidePresentation layer

Server sideBusiness logic layerData access layer

Platforms:Rich client - Macromedia FlexServer side - Flex + PHP

Proposed tool

Features:

1. Web based,platform agnostic

2. Groupware tool

3. Author focus in structure rather than in style

4. Easy drag&drop interface

5. Pedagogically oriented eBook design

Future work

Storage:

1. IMS Content Packaging standard for content structure

2. IMS Learning Resource Metadata standard for content description

3. Access and rights management using ExLibris Digitool

An RLO is a combination of information objects built upon a single objective, consisting of content items, practice items and assessment items, further classified as a concept, a fact, a procedure, a process or a principle.

Future work

CISCO Reusable Learning Objects methodology for pedagogic organization

Future work

Output interfaces:

1. HTML based, for rapid prototyping

2. ADL SCORM, for use in elearning systems

3. PDF-X for integration with eBook production tools

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