e-reference works [was Re: eBooks can exist with...]

[george at library.caltech.edu]

Tony Barry makes an excellent point
<http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Web4Lib/archive/0109/0240.html>:

 On the other hand for encyclopedias, dictionaries and 
reference books in general an electronic format with a search engine 
and hyperlinks is far better.


Oxford English Dictionary (OED), Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Encyclopedia
Americana are a few major, multivolume works which spring to mind as much
easier for the vast majority of people to use in online variants.  Search
engines and hypertextual linking allow for dramatic increases in usability.
However, even substantial articles (5+ printed pages?) in Britannica would
be painful to read on a PDA or other miniature-screened device.

With a physician in the family, I can attest to the attractiveness of moving
from pocket reference guides (Harriette Lane is the local favorite) to being
able to search, rather than thumb, through the material on a Palm or
Handspring.  What many people fail to realize is that the PDA offers a
better (or no worse) reading experience than physicians are already
accustomed to experiencing.  The pocket guides are printed in excruciatingly
small type on paper only slightly more opaque than onion skin.  Those pocket
editions are designed not for reading, but for cramming the maximum amount
of information into a relatively portable form factor.  And above all, the
text is for consulting, not reading, whether in linear or nonlinear fashion.

I'm not aware of an ebook reading device that has calculators, unit
conversion utilities, and address books as part of the standard package.
Combine a medical reference (or three) with these other functions, inherent
in the PDAs that are gaining popularity in medical circles, and you have a
device to consult, make calculations, then get the phone number for another
medical facility or practitioner.

George S. Porter
Sherman Fairchild Library of Engineering & Applied Science
Caltech, 1-43
Pasadena, CA  91125-4300
Telephone (626) 395-3409 Fax (626) 431-2681