TOUGH LOVE: GUIDING STUDENT RESEARCHERS TOWARD A BETTER FUTURE FOR E-BOOKSEMILY O’CONNOR, RASMUSSEN COLLEGE

KARA KROES LI, EBSCO

MELISSA FULKERSON, ELSEVIER

AGENDA

• Introductions

• EPUB and PDF: Fraternal Twins of the e-Publishing World

• Accessibility in Higher Education

• EPUB Perspectives

• The Publisher

• The Aggregator

• The End-User

• Looking Forward

EPUB AND PDF: FRATERNAL TWINS OF THE E-PUBLISHING WORLD

Feature EPUB PDF

Integrates Web Standards – Dynamic Linking

Y N

Reflowable Text (Optimized Display) Y N

Accessibility Standards Y Y*

Searchable Images, Formulas, Tables Y N

Support for Non-Roman Languages Y N

Adjustable Font Size, Background Color, Text

Y N

Audio, Video, Quizzes Y N

Print-Corollary Pagination N* Y

Dynamic, Interactive Text

Static PDF Text

Reflowable EPUB Text

EPUB AND PDF: FRATERNAL TWINS OF THE E-PUBLISHING WORLD

Feature EPUB PDF

Integrates Web Standards – Dynamic Linking

Y N

Reflowable Text (Optimized Display) Y N

Accessibility Standards Y Y*

Searchable Images, Formulas, Tables Y N

Support for Non-Roman Languages Y N

Adjustable Font Size, Background Color, Text

Y N

Audio, Video, Quizzes Y N

Print-Corollary Pagination N* Y

Customize your Book

…Continued

EPUB AND PDF: FRATERNAL TWINS OF THE E-PUBLISHING WORLD

Feature EPUB PDF

Integrates Web Standards – Dynamic Linking

Y N

Reflowable Text (Optimized Display) Y N

Accessibility Standards Y Y*

Searchable Images, Formulas, Tables Y N

Support for Non-Roman Languages Y N

Adjustable Font Size, Background Color, Text

Y N

Audio, Video, Quizzes Y N

Print-Corollary Pagination N* Y

ACCESSIBILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

EPUB 3 Aligns with:

• DAISY: Digital Accessible Information System

• Universal Design Standards

• Only mainstream format that supports accessible math and video/audio

• Highly accessible EPUBs follow UDL Best Practices (http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/media_oer_epub#.ViUHovnp_-U)

EPUB PERSPECTIVESTHE PUBLISHER ~ THE AGGREGATOR ~ THE END USER

THE PUBLISHER

Improving the researcher workflow – not just increasing usage, but making books more useful

Accessibility – ensuring access for all readers

Broader content applications – beyond the “book”

THE AGGREGATOR

Two Formats =

Two Platforms

Lack of awareness undermines

student “choice”

Citing books without pages

(When) Do we turn the

page?

THE END USER

Usurping the PDF King

Curriculum Integration

Student Training

Faculty Development

Vendor Collaboration

EPUB SURVEY RESULTS

Students:

“I wish I had known about this earlier”

Were more likely to check out EPUB format after training

Prefer to use EPUB for research and leisure reading

Find the EPUB features valuable

Faculty:

“Research shouldn’t be that easy!”

Like the features of EPUB

Find that the features of EPUB make research more efficient

Want more opportunities for training on EPUB

TO BE CONTINUED…

• How do we communicate and collaborate about format features and function?

• How do we deliver and share content?

• Takeaways / Handouts

• Tips for Libraries: How to leverage the benefits of EPUB at your institution

• Tips for Publishers: How to maximize the usability and accessibility of your EPUB files