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By Paul Biba

From a British Library press release. Thanks to ResourceShelf for the link:

Picture 1.pngBritish Library invites readers to explore the future of the book

From Monday 18 May the British Library is giving readers the chance to test drive three e-readers from Sony and iRex Technologies currently available in the UK.

Situated on the 1st floor of the Library’s flagship building at St Pancras, the e-reader display will give visitors the chance to familiarise themselves with these new devices and to freely explore the possible recreational and research benefits of the e-book revolution.

Offering a hugely versatile reading experience, e-readers have seen an explosion of interest in recent months, with leading publishing experts suggesting that the industry has finally hit its ‘iPod moment’. As one of the World’s greatest research Libraries and a leader in the UK’s knowledge economy, the British Library has a vital role to play in ensuring our readers are equipped with the digital literacy skills to be able to use such technology and thrive in the 21st century research environment.


Traditionally, e-readers have struggled to compete with the traditional book due to issues with low battery life and the use of harsh back-lit screens. Overcoming these obstacles through the use of e-ink technology, e-reading devices are more capable of satisfying reader expectations and can deliver a variety of additional functions such as the ability to vary font size, access WiFi and make annotations. Devices on display include:

Sony Reader: Encased in stylish brushed aluminium, the Sony Reader is super slim, intuitive to use, easy to navigate and with an exceptional battery life of up to 6800 page turns.
iRex DR1000: Helping the environment, the DR1000 allows companies and individuals to print directly to an e-reader, cutting out the need to print billions of pages every year.
The iLiad: With an integrated Wacom tablet and stylus, the iLiad allows users to annotate works, bringing e-books one step closer to being a replacement for the real thing
The e-readers on display have been pre-loaded with material currently available on the market. However, in the future, the British Library hopes to exploit e-reader technology to facilitate access to our own digital collections, allowing readers to explore rare and often out of print items such as the 80,000 editions of 19th Century English literature recently digitised in partnership with Microsoft. Improving access to such collections will enable readers to rediscover a whole range of forgotten 19th century classics, adored by readers of the time but lost amongst the millions of works published since.

The British Library display invites our researchers to have their say – tell us what you like, what you don’t like, and how you feel these new devices will change the way we read.

Dr Stephen Bury, British Library’s Head of European and American Collections:

“This is not the end of the book as we know it. The book in its physical form will remain important for so many reasons, but the incredible versatility of the new e-readers makes them perfect for researchers, allowing easy access to a wealth of information including previously rare and out of print material. This exhibit gives our researchers a chance to play around with some of the devices currently available, and explore how they can be used to complement existing printed collections in the 21st century.”

 
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