Networked book 2

The networked book is a form that helps us reconstruct and understand the prolific and increasingly granular world of information that surrounds us. Moreover, the networked book sets up formats that are often designed to update continually, incorporating new information and reconfiguring the book to accommodate new content and present it coherently.

Jonathan Harris' 10 x 10 [2] builds its content from RSS feeds. The piece selects the most frequently used words from the major news networks to assemble an hourly "portrait" of our world. This visualization tool represents a type of structure that we will soon see in networked books. The human editor/programmer creates the search and visualization function and the machine then collects, edits, and presents text and images according to criteria built into the program. This type of "book" format depends on granular content that can be "manipulated and reaggregated" by a tool.

The Networked Book is Social

Social software environments create spaces for communal authorship. They allow raw, unedited content to be collectively assembled within the nascent form of the electronic book itself, facilitating a gestational space for content to evolve from spontaneous discussion into an edited "book" according to the activity of the social network.

LiveJournal [3] is a useful model for socially networked books. See also McKenzie Wark's GAM3R 7H30RY 1.1, an open book experiment produced by the Institute for the Future of the Book.

The multiple-author forum creates a different kind of thinking environment. Individual points of view are mediated by multiple voices. This may allow for a more democratic approach to issues and a multifaceted rendering of topics not possible in the single-author print model.

Networked book 1

A networked book is an open book designed to be written, edited, and read in a networked environment. It is also a platform for social exchange, and is potentially linked to other books and other discussions. Wikipedia is a networked book.

The Networked Book is an Open Book

The networked book maintains an open structure during all or part of its creation. For example, Lawrence Lessig's, Code: Version 2.0 used a wiki to open the editing process for the second edition of Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, in order to "draw upon the creativity and knowledge of the community. This is an online, collaborative book update; a first of its kind. Once the project nears completion, Professor Lessig will take the contents of this wiki and ready it for publication." In other words, at some point the book was declared finished, and closed to further input and adjustment by the community. Another example of an open book structure is the popular Wikipedia. This online wiki encyclopedia is entirely and indefinitely open.

The Networked Book is Structurally Granular or Disaggregated

The networked book manifests a certain "disarticulation of the body of text" and "disaggregated/reaggregated" structure as described by Raffaele Simone in his essay, The Body of the Text.[1] "Disarticulation of the body of the text occurs when the text generated by an author is not perceived as closed to external interventions, an entity to which the author can have access only to read (or, to use an information science image, in the manner of ROM, that is "read only"), but as an open entity to which one has access—for purposes of both reading and writing. When the text is disarticulated it is perceived as an entity which can be disaggregated (broken apart), manipulated, and reaggregated (reassembled) without damaging the text per se or the author."

Comparison of e-book formats 10

Comic Book Archive file
Format:     compressed images
Published as:     .cbr → RAR     .cbz → ZIP     .cb7 → 7z     .cbt → TAR     .cba → ACE

A Comic Book Archive file or ComicBook Reader File consists of a series of image files, typically PNG (lossless compression) or JPEG (lossy compression) files, stored as a single archive file, for the purpose of sequential viewing of images, especially comic books. The idea was made popular by the CDisplay image viewer; since then, many viewers for different platforms have been created. Comic Book Archive files are not a distinct file format; only the file name extension differs from a standard file of the given archive type. Some applications support additional tag information (like artists or story information) in the form of embedded XML files in the archive, or use of the Zip comment function.

Multimedia eBooks
Format:     Eveda
Published as:     .exe or .html

A multimedia ebook is media and book content that utilizes a combination of different book content formats. The term can be used as a noun (a medium with multiple content formats) or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content formats.

The 'multimedia ebook' term is used in contrast to media which only utilize traditional forms of printed or text books. Multimedia ebooks include a combination of text, audio, images, video, and/or interactive content formats. Much like how a traditional book can contain images to help the text tell a story, a multimedia ebook can contain other elements not formerly possible to help tell the story.

With the advent of more widespread tablet-like computers, such as the smartphone, some publishing houses are planning to make multimedia ebooks, such as Penguin[17].

Comparison of e-book formats 9

Broadband eBooks (BBeB)
Format:     Sony media
Published as:     .lrf; .lrx

The digital book format used by Sony Corporation. It is a proprietary format, but some reader software for general-purpose computers, particularly under Linux (for example, calibre's internal viewer[15]), has the capability to read it. The LRX file extension represents a DRM encrypted eBook.

SSReader
Format:     SSReader
Published as:     .pdg

The digital book format used by a popular digital library company 超星数字图书馆[16] in China. It is a proprietary raster image compression and binding format, with reading time OCR plug-in modules. The company scanned a huge number of Chinese books in the China National Library and this becomes the major stock of their service. The detailed format is not published. There are also some other commercial e-book formats used in Chinese digital libraries.
 
TealDoc
Format:     TealDoc
Published as:     .pdb

TealPoint Software's proprietary reader for Palm OS. In addition to its own format, it opens plain text and PalmDoc files. Newer versions of the software include an editor for Palm OS. Embedded images must be converted to TealPoint's proprietary TealPaint format. The format uses HTML like tags for formatting and has been reverse-engineered for 3rd party programs to edit and convert to/from TealDoc format.

IEC 62448
Format:     IEC 62448
Published as:    

IEC 62448 is an international standard created by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)), Technical Committee 100, Technical Area 10 (Multimedia e-publishing and e-book).

The current version of IEC 62448 is an umbrella standard that contains as appendices two concrete formats, XMDF of Sharp and BBeB of Sony. However, BBeB has been discontinued by Sony and the version of XMDF that is in the specification is out of date. The IEC TA10 group is discussing next steps, and has invited the IDPF organization which has standardized EPUB to be a liaison. It is possible that the current version of EPUB and/or the forthcoming EPUB3 revision may be added to IEC 62448. Meanwhile a number of Japanese companies have proposed that IEC standardize a proposed new Japanese-centric file format that is expected to unify DotBook of Voyager Japan and XMDF of Sharp. This new format has not been publicly disclosed as of November, 2010 but it is supposed to cover basic representations for the Japanese language. Technically speaking, this revision is supposed to provide a Japanese minimum set, a Japanese extension set, and a stylesheet language. These issues were discussed in the TC100 meeting held in October 2010 but no decisions were taken besides offering the liaison status to IDPF.

Comparison of e-book formats 8

EPUB
Main article: EPUB
Format:     IDPF/EPUB
Published as:     .epub
The EPUB logo.

The .epub or OEBPS format is an open standard for e-books created by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). It combines three IDPF open standards:

    * Open Publication Structure (OPS) 2.0, which describes the content markup (either XHTML or Daisy DTBook)
    * Open Packaging Format (OPF) 2.0, which describes the structure of an .epub in XML
    * OEBPS Container Format (OCF) 1.0, which bundles files together (as a renamed ZIP file)

Currently, the format can be read by the Kobo eReader, Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony Reader, BeBook, Bookeen Cybook Gen3 (with firmware v. 2 and up),COOL-ER, Adobe Digital Editions, Lexcycle Stanza, BookGlutton, AZARDI, Aldiko and WordPlayer on Android and the Mozilla Firefox add-on EPUBReader. Several other reader software programs are currently implementing support for the format, such as dotReader, FBReader, Mobipocket, uBook and Okular. Another software .epub reader, Lucidor, is in beta.

Adobe Digital Edition uses .epub format for its e-books, with DRM protection provided through their proprietary ADEPT mechanism. The recently developed INEPT framework and scripts have been reverse-engineered to circumvent this DRM system.[14]

DSLibris, a Sourceforge.net project, is able to decode e-books in .epub and .xht format for reading on Nintendo DS systems.

Comparison of e-book formats 7

Libris
Format:     Mobile Information Device Profile
Published as:     .lbr; .bin

Libris is a Java based eBook reader for mobile devices such as cell phones. Libris will run on most Java enabled devices that support MIDP. The reader formats books to fit the device screen, and shows one page at a time using high quality anti-aliased fonts. Books may employ encryption or be unrestricted. Libris content may be produced using the MakeLibris tool. The Libris reader also supports the PalmDoc format.
 
Mobipocket
Format:     Mobipocket
Published as:     .prc; .mobi

The Mobipocket e-book format based on the Open eBook standard using XHTML and can include JavaScript and frames. It also supports native SQL queries to be used with embedded databases. There is a corresponding e-book reader. A free e-book of the German Wikipedia has been published in Mobipocket format.[11]

The Mobipocket Reader has a home page library. Readers can add blank pages in any part of a book and add free-hand drawings. Annotations — highlights, bookmarks, corrections, notes, and drawings — can be applied, organized, and recalled from a single location. Images are converted to GIF format and have a maximum size of 64K[12], sufficient for mobile phones with small screens, but rather restrictive for newer gadgets. Mobipocket Reader has electronic bookmarks, and a built-in dictionary.

The reader has a full screen mode for reading and support for many PDAs, Communicators, and Smartphones. Mobipocket products support most Windows, Symbian, BlackBerry and Palm operating systems. Using WINE, the reader works under Linux or Mac OS X. Third-party applications like Okular and FBReader can also be used under Linux or Mac OS X, but they work only with unencrypted files.

The Amazon Kindle's AZW format is basically just the Mobipocket format with a slightly different serial number scheme (it uses an asterisk instead of a Dollar sign), and .prc publications can be read directly on the Kindle.

Mobipocket has developed an .epub to .mobi converter called KindleGen[13] (supports IDPF 1.0 and IDPF 2.0 epub format, according to the company).

Notably, Eastern European letters with diacritical marks are not supported.

Comparison of e-book formats 6

Desktop Author
Format:     DNL Reader
Published as:     .dnl; .exe

Desktop Author is an electronic publishing suite that allows creation of digital web books with virtual turning pages. Digital web books of any publication type can be written in this format, including brochures, e-books, digital photo albums, e-cards, digital diaries, online resumes, quizzes, exams, tests, forms and surveys. DesktopAuthor packages the e-book into a ".dnl" or ".exe" book. Each can be a single, plain stand-alone executable file which does not require any other programs to view it. DNL files can be viewed inside a web browser or stand-alone via the DNL Reader.

DNL format is an e-Book format, one which replicates the real life alternative, namely page turning Books. The DNL e-Book is developed by DNAML Pty Limited an Australian company established in 1999. A DNL e-Book can be produced using DeskTop Author or DeskTop Communicator.

Comparison of e-book formats 5

DjVu
Format:     DjVu
Published as:     .djvu

DjVu is a format specialized for storing scanned documents. It includes advanced compressors optimized for low-color images, such as text documents. Individual files may contain one or more pages. DjVu files cannot be re-flowed.

The contained page images are divided in separate layers (such as multi-color, low-resolution, background layer using lossy compression, and few-colors, high-resolution, tightly-compressed foreground layer), each compressed in the best available method. The format is designed to decompress very quickly, even faster than vector-based formats.

The advantage of DjVu is that it is possible to take a high-resolution scan (300-400 DPI), good enough for both on-screen reading and printing, and store it very efficiently. Several dozens of 300 DPI black-and-white scans can be stored in less than a megabyte.

Comparison of e-book formats 4

Portable Document Format
Format:     Adobe Portable Document Format
Published as:  .pdf

A file format created by Adobe Systems, initially to provide a standard form for storing and editing printed publishable documents. The format derives from PostScript, but without language features like loops, and with added support for features like compression and passwords. Because PDF documents can easily be viewed and printed by users on a variety of computer platforms, they are very common on the World Wide Web. The specification of the format is available without charge from Adobe.

PDF files typically contain brochures, product manuals, magazine articles — up to entire books, as they can embed fonts, images, and other documents. A PDF file contains one or more zoomable page images.

Since the format is designed to reproduce page images, the text traditionally could not be re-flowed to fit the screen width or size. As a result PDF files designed for printing on standard paper sizes are less easily viewed on screens with limited size or resolution, such as those found on mobile phones and PDAs. Adobe has addressed this by adding a re-flow facility to its Acrobat Reader software, but for this to work the document must be marked for re-flowing at creation,

Comparison of e-book formats 3

ANSI/NISO Z39.86 (DAISY)
Format:     DAISY
Published as:    

The Digital Accessible Information SYstem (DAISY) is an XML-based open standard maintained by the DAISY Consortium for people with print disabilities. DAISY has wide international support with features for multimedia, navigation and synchronization. A subset of the DAISY format has been adopted by law in the United States as the National Instructional Material Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), and K-12 textbooks and instructional materials are now required to be provided to students with disabilities.

DAISY is already aligned with the EPUB open standard, and is expected to fully converge with its forthcoming EPUB3 revision.
 
FictionBook (Fb2)
Format:     FictionBook
Published as:     .fb2

FictionBook is a popular XML-based e-book format, supported by free readers such as FBReader, Haali Reader and STDU Viewer. See http://haali.cs.msu.ru/pocketpc/FictionBook_description.html

Comparison of e-book formats 2

Amazon Kindle
Format:     Kindle
Published as:     .azw

With the launch of the Kindle eBook reader, Amazon.com created the proprietary format, AZW. It is based on the Mobipocket standard, with a slightly different serial number scheme (it uses an asterisk instead of a dollar sign) and its own DRM formatting. Because the eBooks bought on the Kindle are delivered over its wireless system called Whispernet, the user does not see the AZW files during the download process. The Kindle format is now available on a variety of platforms.

Open Electronic Package
Format:     Open eBook
Published as:     .opf
OPF is an XML-based e-book format created by E-Book Systems.

omeRaider
Format:     TomeRaider
Published as:     .tr2; .tr3

The TomeRaider e-book format is a proprietary format. There are versions of TomeRaider for Windows, Windows Mobile (aka Pocket PC), Palm, Symbian, iPhone and more[specify]. Several Wikipedias are available as TomeRaider files with all articles unabridged, some even with nearly all images. Capabilities of the TomeRaider3 e-book reader vary considerably per platform: the Windows and Windows Mobile editions support full HTML and CSS. The Palm edition supports limited HTML (e.g., no tables, no fonts), and CSS support is missing. For Symbian there is only the older TomeRaider2 format, which does not render images or offer category search facilities. Despite these differences any TomeRaider e-book can be browsed on all supported platforms. The Tomeraider website[4] claims to have over 4000 e-books available, including free versions of the Internet Movie Database and Wikipedia.

Comparison of e-book formats 1

The following is a comparison of e-book formats used to create and publish e-books.

A writer or publisher has many options when it comes to choosing a format for publication. While the average end-user might arguably simply want to read books, every format has its proponents. The myriad of e-book formats is sometimes referred to as the "Tower of eBabel".

Formats
Formats available include, but are by no means limited to:

Plain text files
Format:     text
Published as:     .txt
E-books in plain text exist and are very small in size. For example, the Bible, an 800,000-word book, is only about 4 MB.[2] The ASCII standard allows ASCII-only text files (unlike most other file types) to be interchanged and readable on Unix, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, DOS, and other systems. These differ in their preferred line ending convention and their interpretation of values outside the ASCII range (their character encoding).

NOOKcolor eBook Tablet

NOOKcolor eBook Tablet

Product Description

NOOKcolor eBook Tablet : Nothing brings your reading to life like our VividViewTM Color Touchscreen. The rich high resolution backlit display uses more than 16 million colors to illuminate stunning images and crisp text for easy reading day or night. NOOKcolor lets you go beyond reading with our built-in Wi-Fi® connection. Surf the web, check your email, read a favorite blog or search GoogleTM - it's all just a touch away. Our exclusive LendMeTM app lets you lend and borrow books from friends, all with just a few taps.