What is it about?
Familiar design elements of physical books developed over centuries and differed depending on the intended uses of books. Medieval books designed for meditation on sacred text, for example, might feature elaborate initials and illustrations. Medieval books designed for studying a text are likely to include tables of contents and marked divisions like chapters. Contemporary physical books usually include a title page, table of contents, chapter titles, running headers, page numbers, and other elements that surround the text ("paratext"). Kindle ebooks typically hide elements of the book that help readers note essential information like author, title, and table of contents. Fuller development and greater visibility of such information would be helpful to readers.
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Why is it important?
Ebooks are extremely useful in particular reading situations and for particular kinds of texts. However, the designers of ebooks need to examine the needs and preferences of readers using digital text and develop elements of "paratext" that will help readers navigate ebooks and recall information about and content of the books.
Perspectives
Reading a physical book differs significantly from reading digital text on a tablet or similar device. It's likely to take years--perhaps decades--to develop rich and useful "paratextual" features of ebooks. Even simple changes to the Kindle ebook paratext would improve readers' experiences, navigation, and recall.
Cynthia Malone
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Noses in Books: Orientation, Immersion, and Paratext, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, March 2015, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1179/0308018814z.000000000102.
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