www.le.ac.uk/beyonddistancewww.le.ac.uk/duckling

Embracing Multimedia:E-books, E-readers, and iTunes U for Librarians and Educators

Beyond Distance Research AllianceUniversity of Leicester

Leicestershire Librarians’ Research Conference10 May, 2011

Terese Bird and Simon Kear

ZooKeepers of the Media ZooBeyond Distance Research Alliance, University of Leicester

Programme

1. What is an e-book in 2011?

2. How does one read an e-book in 2011?

3. DUCKLING Project - Distance students and e-book readers

4. Libraries and e-books

5. Publishers and e-books

6. Free e-books on iTunes U

7. Let’s make an e-book

1. What is an e-book in 2011?

Photo: DianthusMoon, flickr

I have a feeling we’re not in NetLibrary anymore…

1. What is an e-book in 2011?

Photo: jaydedman, flickr

1. Downloadable

2. No internet required to read

3. Various formats

a) Epub

b) Mobi Pocket

c) pdf

2. How does one read an e-book in 2011?

On a computer or laptop

1. Calibre

2. Adobe Reader

3. Kindle App

4. Others

2. How does one read an e-book in 2011? (2)

On an e-book reader

1. Amazon Kindle (£111)

2. Sony models (£99, £114)

3. Sovos E-Reader, Multimedia Player

4. Others

2. How does one read an e-book in 2011? (3)

On an iPad or other tablet

1. Apple iBooks (similar to iTunes idea)

2. Kindle app (Mobi Pocket)

3. Stanza app

4. Individual book apps

5. Multimedia ebooksPhoto: Jon Erickson, flickr

2. How does one read an e-book in 2011? (4)

On a mobile phone

1. iPhone - Stanza, Kindle App

2. Android phones

3. iPod Touch - Stanza, Kindle App

4. Blackberry

5. Windows 7 phone

6. OthersWindows 7 phone photo courtesy of Sam Judson, flickr

3. The DUCKLING Project:Delivering University Curriculum:Knowledge, Learning and INnovation Gains http://www.le.ac.uk/duckling

• 3 distance programmes:– One MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL– Two MSc in Occupational Psychology

• 4 technologies:

Podcasting

Wimba Voice Board

Sony E-book readers

Second Life

E-book readers• 28 Sony PRS-505

• About £150 (at the time)

• Pre-loaded with material otherwise on Blackboard

Photo by Wendigo on Flickr

Course material conversion

Diagram created by Emma Davies and Terese Bird

Calibre is free, open-source, and cross-platform

Convenience• Everything in one device

• Portable

• Long battery life

• ‘Remembers’ where you stopped reading

• “I've also gotten into the habit of carrying my reader with me everywhere, and if I'm in a situation where I'm waiting for 20 minutes I will automatically open the reader.”

Photo by Wolfiewolf on Flickr

Cost and resources• £600 to print and ship notes

• £240 to buy, load, and ship e-reader

• “I paid about $100 for them to print out [one module’s notes] for me.

I won’t buy notes again.”

• Greener?

Changed study strategy

• The e-book reader changed my way to keep notes and made my study more effective. Before, I used my laptop to write a lot of notes because I feel I will forget the whole thing if I don’t take them down. But taking notes is time-consuming and not that effective because I never really use the notes. With the e-book reader, it’s not very inconvenient to go back to the material on the e-reader, and I can remember where the material was and go back to the module on the e-reader and look through it. As a result of that, I didn’t take a lot of notes and I don’t think that it [not taking notes] makes a difference to my study.

• The e-book reader has changed my approach to how I do assignments to some extent. Previously, I started my assignments after I’ve done all the readings from print. I now start from the assignment and then read the material. I’m being more selective now in what I’m reading, and it’s saving me time in a way. Before I just tried to read everything, I worked a lot harder before but I didn’t really get the grades.

Photo by CarbonNYC on Flickr

E-book readers’ affordances• Effective for learning

• Effective for saving resources

Photo by Wendigo on Flickr

4. Libraries and E-books

1. Hampshire Digital Library -http://hampshirelibrary.lib.overdrive.com

2. Chicago Public Library - http://overdrive.chipublib.org

3. Leicester Public Library –http://www.leicester.gov.uk/libraries.aspx

5. Publishers and E-books

1. Project Gutenberg www.gutenberg.org - for all devices, all formats

2. Feedbooks.com

3. Manybooks.net

5. Publishers and E-books (2)

1. Google Books

2. Despite recent court settlement, seems to mostly USA-based so far

5. Publishers and E-books (3)

1. Amazon and Kindle

2. Buy online, download onto any device

3. Cheaper than paper books

4. If no e-book, “Tell the Publisher”

5. Publishers and E-books (4)

Apple iBooks

1. Often cheaper than Amazon

2. Buy online, download onto many devices (iPod, iPad, iPhone)

3. Cheaper than paper books

4. Apple muscle pushing publishers

6. Free E-books from Universities on iTunes U

Questions?

Photo by uwdigitalcollections: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23327394@N05/2247503744/

7. Let’s make an e-book

Photo: DianthusMoon, flickr

It can’t be too hardto make an

e-book!

• SCORE project on iTunes U as OER channel: http://www.le.ac.uk/spider http://www8.open.ac.uk/score/

• University of Leicester Beyond Distance Research Alliance and DUCKLING project http://www.le.ac.uk/beyonddistance http://www.le.ac.uk/duckling