[LINK] Ebooks for government reports?

[Ivan Trundle]

On 08/02/2010, at 2:15 PM, Pilcher, Fred wrote:

> I'm reasonably convinced, though it's sad to see that we have to invoke
> yet another standard to compensate for a lack of, shall we say
> understanding, on the part of my PS colleagues.

As you say, pigs might fly: but it isn't so much as competing standards as competing media: as much as anything else, neither HTML or XHTML (ePub or otherwise) is attractive as output on anything other than electronic devices. 

Since record-keeping is entrenched in the pre-digital age (speaking here from an understanding of where digital preservation is trying to go), the primary format will be print-based for a while to come (PDF will rule in places where established systems prevail).

What intrigues me is that content creation often begins digitally, yet the 'completed product' is so often seen as analog/print/non-digital, and the mindset of those in the business of creating don't see 'closure' of their creation until it's 'fixed' in ink.

As for the subtle distinctions between ePubs and HTML, the only reason that ePubs will take off is when the consumer device that reads the output is geared towards the ePub format (think Kindle, iPad, etc) is ubiquitous. I don't see that happening ever, but you never know.

As a creator of content, I went through the process of converting a 40,000-word book into an ePub format, and the results were distinctly unsatisfying and remarkably tedious (even though I know html and xhtml inside-out). It was far, far easier to simply make it a series of html pages.

Tools for ePub creation exist, but all that I've seen are awkward and nowhere near as polished as html-creation tools. When this changes, ePubs will undoubtedly take off - even in the bastion of conservatism (Public Service agencies).

Warmly

iT (also an old fart in these matters)

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Ivan Trundle
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