Electronic Books in Education & Training

[Brian Smith]

At 03:13 PM 8/7/00 -0700, Dan Lester wrote:

>I may be showing my antiquity, but I'm not convinced that making most
>"books" into something "interactive" is a good thing.  Why make
>"Hamlet" (or "The Hamlet") interactive?  A film, or audio book, sure.
>But I don't see the value of turning "Hamlet" into a video game.

Unless they make Ophelia resemble Lara Croft ... <g>

I can think of more legitimate (in a Cliffs Notesy way) applications for an
interactive "Hamlet": extra historical material (3-D imagery of the Globe),
pop-up modern paraphrasing of the text, organization chart showing
relationships and who-stabbed-whom, etc.

I think the trick would be to *do a good job* of making books interactive,
to have a real purpose for each added element and have the elements fit
those purposes appropriately, adding to the reader's understanding of the
text.  Interactivity just for the sake of interactivity is probably not a
good thing.

Brian Smith
Assistant Head of Adult Services
Villa Park (IL) Public Library
http://www.villapark.lib.il.us/
bsmith at linc.lib.il.us
... But writing only on my own behalf
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"It's all about the guy sitting behind the desk."
-- Johnny Carson