E-publications

Winelfred G. Pasamba
Systems Administrator, AUP Online Information Systems
 Outline
Definition
Advantages
Disadvantages
More Advantages
Examples
Roles & Experiences
Video
 internet
survey questions:
● how many have computers in their homes?

● how many have Internet in their homes?

● What percent of your members have

Internet in their homes? 10, 20, 30, 40, 50...

100?
● Who is a part of any website/webdev team?

● Who wants to have their own website?

 e-publication
A digital file and associated code which
forms an integrated digital publication.
(www.datachieve.com/terms.htm)
 Other names
Digital Publication, digital publishing,
digital magazines, virtual magazine
for news usually
 Advantages
Accessibility1
Scholars/students outside of major 
universities, especially in developing world 
where libraries can not afford 
obscure/expensive titles 
costs per unit are lower (or free); 
development costs usually not higher 
web accessible to new audiences who 
might never read a classics book 
otherwise 
 Advantages
(Almost) unlimited size/space 1
not limited by page size and volume 
thickness 
can expand 
abbreviations/conventions/glossary 
(improve accessibility to non­specialists) 
can include multiple versions of 
text/image/media 
ToCs, indices, images, appendices 
 Advantages
Media1
images; colour photos; scalable/zoomable 
images
multimedia: audio files, video, flash, VR, 
etc.
interactive media: "game­like" 
walkthroughs of archaeological sites
 Advantages
Hyperlinking 1
internal linking: text to footnotes (and 
back); cross references to notes, glossary, 
appendices, bibliography
clickable 'thumbnail' images with full 
images in pop­up 
cross­references to external projects
importing of data from external projects 
(dynamic, repurposing)
mirroring external projects 
 Advantages
Updating/Work in progress1
"Oh great, that means you can update 
every day, right?" 
Stability issues; citable publication
 Advantages
Transparency / Iterative research1
source code (cf. Open Source model of 
scholarship) 
check sources 
indices as output and research tool
 Advantages
Collaboration / Community building1 
digital publication can be done by people 
scattered all around the world 
an "open source" digital publication 
(somewhat similar to Wikipedia) can attract 
collaborators willing to invest time and 
energy in making the publication better
 Advantages
Time Savings2
can be attached to email. no need to wait 
for printing.
 Advantages
Simultaneous Distribution2
email to mailing list
 PDF
portable document format. windows, mac, 
linux, cellphones, etc...
can be made with MSWord, OpenOffice, 
Adobe programs, etc...
 E-books
● Text can be searched automatically and 
cross­referenced using hyperlinks, making 
the e­book format ideal for works that benefit 
from such functions.3
 E-books
● E­books can allow non­permanent 
highlighting of books. 3
 E-books
● Less physical space is required to store e­
books, and hundreds or thousands of books 
may be stored on the same device.3
 E-books
● A single e­book reader containing several 
books is easier to carry around than several 
print books. 3
 E-books
● Because they require little space, e­books 
can be offered indefinitely, with no going out 
of print date, allowing authors to continue to 
earn royalties indefinitely. 3
 E-books
● Readers who have difficulty reading printed 
books can benefit from the adjustment of text 
size and font face. 3
 E-books
● Text­to­speech software can be used to 
convert e­books to audio books 
automatically. 3
 E-books
● E­book devices allow reading in low light or 
even total darkness by means of a back 
light.3 
 E-books
● An e­book may be more comfortable for 
some to hold because it need not be held 
open like a physical book and can also be 
set down and read without needing to be 
held open. 3
 E-books
● An e­book can automatically open at the last 
read page. 3
 E-books
● It costs little to reproduce or copy an e­book, 
which makes it ideal for archival and backup 
purposes. 3
 E-books
● While an e­book reader costs more than one 
book, the electronic texts are generally 
cheaper. 3
 E-books
● It is easier for authors to self­publish e­
books. 3
 E-books
● Ease of distributing e­texts means that they 
can be used to stimulate higher sales of 
printed copies of books.3
 E-books
● Although they require electricity to be read, 
the production of e­books does not consume 
the paper, ink, and other resources that are 
used to produce print books.3
 E-books
● E­books may allow animated images or 
multimedia clips to be embedded. 3
 E-books
● E­books allow for greater fidelity in colour 
reproduction compared to CMYK colour 
printing (although some e­book readers have 
only monochrome displays).3 
 E-books -
● If not viewed on computers, e­books require 
the purchase of an electronic device and/or 
peripheral software which can display them. 
If they are to be viewed on a personal 
computer, it may require additional software 3
 E-books -
● Not all publishers produce the e­book 
equivalent of their print books. In other 
cases, e­books are given a lower priority in 
terms of the publisher's resources, resulting 
in a disparity in product quality, release dates 
and the like. This problem is not endemic to 
every publisher, but has an effect on the 
quality of the overall pool of merchandise 
3
available. 
 E-books -
● All e­book devices require electrical power, 
resulting in the consumption of electricity.3 
 E-books -
● Looking at a screen for a long time may 
cause eye trouble and sometimes 
headaches.3
 E-books -
● Certain e­book formats may become 
obsolete and incompatible with future 
devices. 3
 E-books -
● E­book readers are more likely to be stolen 
than paper books. 3
 E-books -
● E­book readers are more fragile than paper 
books and more susceptible to physical 
damage.3 
 E-books -
● As an e­book is dependent on equipment to 
be read, it can be affected by faults in 
external hardware or software, such as hard 
disk drive failure. 3
 E-books -
● E­books can be hacked through the use of 
hardware or software modifications and 
widely disseminated on the Internet and/or 
other e­book readers, without approval from 
the author or publisher. 3
 E-books -
● If an e­book device is stolen, lost, or broken 
beyond repair, all e­books stored on the 
device may be lost. This can be avoided by 
backup either on another device or by the e­
book provider. 3
 E-books -
● There is a loss of tactility and aesthetics of 
book­bindings. 3
 E-books -
● Screen resolution of reading devices may be 
lower than actual paper, making it difficult to 
read e­books.3
 EGW Writings

http://www.whiteestate.org/
CD-ROM – US$ 19)
Free SDA Audio Sermons

www.AudioVerse.org
http://www.audioverse.org/
Adventist Sermons (Audio and Video)
 Ellen White Audio

http://www.ellenwhiteaudio.org/
mp3s of books published before 1923
 show
http://www.gycweb.org
http://www.discoveries08.org
http://www.audioverse.org
Pdf downloadables from
http://www.adventiststewardship.org/stewardship
Church manual PDF
rightlytrained.org
 show
Wikipedia SDA article
adventist.org
BRI
 Possible Roles
● Advertiser & Promoter
● witnessing, storytelling, enthusiasm,

stickers, banners, hyperlinks

● Mark your church in wikimapia.org
 Possible Roles
● Distributing Channel
● giving out DVDs, CDs

● replaying messages in local radio/tv

stations
● influencing Cable TV companies to carry

3ABN/HopeTV/HCBN/etc...
 Possible Roles
● Field Reporter, Content Contributor
● submitting news to conference, mission,

union, division, GC, and other SDA

organizations (mailing lists, rss, blogs, ...)
 Possible Roles
● Designer, Technologist, Engineer
● graphical design

● website (SEO, architecture, etc...)

 Possible Roles
● Fund-er
● best way to spend money :)
 Experiences
placing verses in all websites, logins,
● YM status advertising

● linking to other websites (sister institutions,

etc...)
● gycweb.org, discoveries08.org,

audioverse.org, rightlytrain.org, facebook

 Sources
(1) http://wiki.digitalclassicist.org/Digital_Publication:_advantages_and_disadvantage

(2) http://www.planetpdf.com/enterprise/article.asp?ContentID=digital_publication_design_p&gid=6296

(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E­book

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