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Originally Posted by ChrisChillin
That would be okay for academic work if access to Kindles was fairly universal; i.e., if all my dissertation examiners either owned one or could go to their university library and find that a) the library had Kindles to rent and b) the Kindles are loaded with the sources I cited.
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Sure, although I would also add that a reasonably fast search function may obviate the need for page numbers.
Heck, at some point you may even be able to include an annotated digital version of the texts you cite as appendixes to your thesis....
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Originally Posted by ChrisChillin
If I cite a particular edition of a book that has had several releases, the examiner could go between libraries until he or she finds the edition I cited.
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Yeah, that sounds like fun.
While I concur that "it's not there yet," IMO it's a matter of time before the economics of printing and buying paper versions stops working for colleges and universities.
I don't know if you can create one "location index" that would harmonize across the existing file formats. If you can, that will reduce the complexities significantly.
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Originally Posted by ChrisChillin
If I cite a Kindle edition, under the current locations-only structure the examiner would have to acquire both a Kindle and the Kindle edition of the book to easily follow the citation.
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Actually, the examiner would have to acquire the title somehow, but not necessarily the device. Kindle software is available for multiple devices, including iOS, Android OS, Windows and Mac. eInk devices are also likely to be dirt cheap in a year or two.
The "acquisition" part is also likely to
improve with digital, especially for disciplines where copies of the cited book are rare and/or in bad condition. For example, your examiners might have a difficult time getting enough paper copies of Gottfried Martin's
Immanuel Kant: Ontologie und Wissenschaftstheorie in the right time frame, but an unlimited number of readers can access the Google Books version instantly.
And obviously ebooks can drastically cut research time. You'd get immediate access, rather than wait for an inter-library loan or travel to view a manuscript.
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Originally Posted by ChrisChillin
I'm not convinced. Not everyone is going to have access to the digital edition. Not everyone will want the digital edition. You have to ensure coherence between the physical and the digital versions of the book for ebooks to work in academic settings.
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I agree... but again, only in the short-term.
Although I expect paper to persist, I'm not sure how things will play out for academia. The print runs are shorter, and it's possible (though I'm not sure) that paper costs are higher than with general interest books.
And while there are no sure things when it comes to disruptive technologies: I do believe that sooner rather than later, indexing pages based on paper is probably going feel like referencing side and track numbers on an LP or 8-track.
