textbooks for e-readers?

walrus · 07-23-2006, 04:14 PM

i am now in high school and with that is a continuous scramble to my locker for whatever book i need. I was thinking, however, as i was going to pick an e-book up anyway just for casual reading, if i could upload all of my textbooks on the e-reader. what would i have to do to get that? would i have to find free ones on the internet, painstakingly scan all of the pages in and reformat them, or just...not? i just think something like this would make my life -so- much easier, if it is possible at least, even if dorky student-teacher conversations are on the horizon...
"mr. fraser, where is your math book?" <pause> "on my...computer...ma'm..."
<glares from around the room>

ps-didn't know if this was the right place to post this.

NatCh · 07-24-2006, 01:21 PM

It's as good a place to post as any, walrus!

I think that right now you'd have a tough time getting your textbooks onto any of these readers. You'd probably have to do the conversion yourself, it'd probably take you most of the year to get something you could actually read & use.

In practical terms, in order for textbooks to get onto some sort of reader, the publishers would have to get behind it and push hard -- not terribly likely at the moment.

I think it will happen, mind you, just that it'll take a while. I think it's just too natural an idea for it to not happen at all. It'll likely penetrate the college level first, and then trickle down to the public schools.

It wouldn't surprise me if these readers started showing in college literature classes in the next couple of years -- a lot of those texts are public domain, and are available in project gutenberg right now, so....

walrus · 07-24-2006, 04:41 PM

that's good to know, i can't wait. hopefully technology will be acceptable in the classroom. they'll be the next ridiculously expensive calculators!

NatCh · 07-24-2006, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walrus

that's good to know, i can't wait. hopefully technology will be acceptable in the classroom. they'll be the next ridiculously expensive calculators!

Don't get too excited, that was almost purely speculation! Anyway, I'm pretty sure that you'll be out of high-school (likely college, too) long before you see e-readers in public school.

pdam · 09-08-2006, 09:49 AM

A really good starting point may be to ask the view of your school librarian what their view is. Who buys books differs from country to country ... but if your school has to buy the books for students, your school librarian may have the best view on if you'll ever see ebooks being used during your time in education, it'd be interesting to hear what they say ...

VillageReader · 09-08-2006, 10:05 AM

Also, at the Teleread site I ran across University of California ebook information. Books are posted by chapter (not complete download) BUT if you are doing a special project putting them to a computer or Iliad doesn't take outrageously long. I've done two books this way (of the 519 available) and will be doing more browsing in the near term.

http://content.cdlib.org/search?sort...&rights=Public

(you will need to click on the link, not cut and paste - the ... is some missing detail)

07-23-2006, 04:14 PM	#1
walrus koo koo ka choo Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2006	textbooks for e-readers? i am now in high school and with that is a continuous scramble to my locker for whatever book i need. I was thinking, however, as i was going to pick an e-book up anyway just for casual reading, if i could upload all of my textbooks on the e-reader. what would i have to do to get that? would i have to find free ones on the internet, painstakingly scan all of the pages in and reformat them, or just...not? i just think something like this would make my life -so- much easier, if it is possible at least, even if dorky student-teacher conversations are on the horizon... "mr. fraser, where is your math book?" <pause> "on my...computer...ma'm..." <glares from around the room> ps-didn't know if this was the right place to post this.

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07-24-2006, 01:21 PM	#2
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	It's as good a place to post as any, walrus! I think that right now you'd have a tough time getting your textbooks onto any of these readers. You'd probably have to do the conversion yourself, it'd probably take you most of the year to get something you could actually read & use. In practical terms, in order for textbooks to get onto some sort of reader, the publishers would have to get behind it and push hard -- not terribly likely at the moment. I think it will happen, mind you, just that it'll take a while. I think it's just too natural an idea for it to not happen at all. It'll likely penetrate the college level first, and then trickle down to the public schools. It wouldn't surprise me if these readers started showing in college literature classes in the next couple of years -- a lot of those texts are public domain, and are available in project gutenberg right now, so....

07-24-2006, 04:41 PM	#3
walrus koo koo ka choo Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2006	that's good to know, i can't wait. hopefully technology will be acceptable in the classroom. they'll be the next ridiculously expensive calculators!

09-08-2006, 09:49 AM	#5
pdam Groupie Posts: 199 Karma: 100 Join Date: Aug 2006 Device: iLiad, iPaq, Psion5&7, Blackberry	A really good starting point may be to ask the view of your school librarian what their view is. Who buys books differs from country to country ... but if your school has to buy the books for students, your school librarian may have the best view on if you'll ever see ebooks being used during your time in education, it'd be interesting to hear what they say ...

09-08-2006, 10:05 AM	#6
VillageReader Evangelist Posts: 430 Karma: 2718 Join Date: May 2006 Device: Iliad	Also, at the Teleread site I ran across University of California ebook information. Books are posted by chapter (not complete download) BUT if you are doing a special project putting them to a computer or Iliad doesn't take outrageously long. I've done two books this way (of the 519 available) and will be doing more browsing in the near term. http://content.cdlib.org/search?sort...&rights=Public (you will need to click on the link, not cut and paste - the ... is some missing detail)

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