You are correct, Sil. My post clearly stated the difference in fields for that very reason. I completely agree with you. Especially since many professors in sciences also use screen projections for complete visibility to all, etc. in both conferences and in lectures. Figures are usually numbered as well as found in subsections. I actually mentioned sectioning and APA, MLA, etc. research standards which differ in fields and in cultures (yes, nationalities have different writing styles in scientific fields, too.) Not all fields work that way, nor would they function in that manner.
Emmelliach has a very good point: the search function is not at all easy for literary texts. Perhaps you never read novels for pleasure? I actually tested this before I posted using
Pride and Prejudice (why I used it as an example in my first post), as well as a non-fiction textbook to see the validity of the article. (I did not have a scientific text, but I imagine searching the section number would be quite efficient.)
Emmelliach: I would love to hear more of your ideas, especially as concerns humanities texts. You have made me most curious.
Hidari: that is an excellent solution. If only ereaders always rendered pdfs well.
When they do, you are correct--the best of both worlds and a great compromise for the present and near future. I hear that is a major strength of using tablets in academics for pdf rendering and notations. Other ideas?
Andrew: I agree completely--enough said. If you return to this post, I hope you read this. (And I got what you said
) Fighting such a losing battle--you won in my eyes.
Tausin: You seem to intentionally be dissecting my post to falsly rebuttal leaving out the basic facts of the article or my reasoning solely to be correct without thinking things through just to counter. Poor academic work indeed.
I referred to pcs as they are electronic and the search function pre-dates the ereader. Fact.
Searching in a philosophy or literature class (the example was of a mixed media class by a philosophy professor) makes searching for a specific word difficult. Perhaps those getting so self. "Please go to soandso's arguement page soandso". It is quite common and even different versions allow you to scan. These entries do not necessarily have a specific word to search for. Fact.
And I did state that the problem was not the ebook in general, rather the fact that not all ebooks have page numbers matching the pb
is. And even a general idea would be acceptable. I did not state the page number must match perfectly.
I am convinced you have forgotten the fact that not everybody studies "binary explosives" but also literature. When giving a lecture in humanities, page numbers are still also used. And yes, there are actual syllabuses/book lists with the editions used in the course. Fact.
Reality is: not all students have ereaders and probably won't any time soon. Fact.
This is not the fault nor responsibility of the students or professors nor will professors be worshipped anytime soon. (And for my part, I am a teacher and I have enthusiastically recommended ereaders to my students--but it is
not my decision, I have no say in whether students use it and I am required to have pb.) Fact.
I find you overly defensive and unable to accept that you do not have all the answers or others make valid points. You are also insulting to the teaching profession, assuming you know more about what they
should be doing than they do. Ereaders are still fairly new and it will take time for it to become the primary teaching method. It
is not the professor's problem when there are no page numbers on the students' texts; nor is it the students' fault.
Your writing style has not promoted this discussion at all--in fact, I find it rather insulting to communicate with you. You are argumentative and unwilling to accept that there are valid other points of view. Not very professionally academic. I agree with Andrew on this one.
I will leave this conversation now to the arrogant and misguided. It could have been interesting to "problem solve" and compare various fields needs, wants, etc. I was quite looking forward to it. However, unfortunately, reaming people for noticing weaknesses and shortcomings here is preferable. The tone of this conversation is most disturbing and I do not want to be further subjected to this.
True scholars open their minds to both strengths and weaknesses.