THE HERITAGE E-BOOK COLLECTION FAQ's
What's an eBook?
Electronic Books allow readers access to Heritage books from their personal computers, PDAs or dedicated eBook reading devices. Depending on the format, eBooks allow easy searching for text passages, highlighting, bookmarking, cutting and pasting text, and printing of pages for future reference. With a dedicated eBook reader or PDA, it is possible to carry an entire library in the palm of your hand.
About Heritage eBooks
The eBook format is an important step toward increasing the usability of our printed products and reflects The Heritage Foundation's commitment to provide our readers with our products in the format most useful to them.
What formats will be available?
Our current plans call for "Preview Versions" and "Sample Chapters" of our books to be released in Adobe PDF, Microsoft Reader, HTML and Rocket eBook formats.
Why so many formats?
Each of the formats has advantages and disadvantages over the others. Select the file type based on your individual requirements.
| HTML: |
Not strictly an eBook file format, HTML does allow text to be read through a Web browser, so it is included here.
Does not allow highlighting or bookmarking.
Allows printing, searching, cutting and pasting of text.
Graphics can be displayed in both low- an high-resolution modes.
Allows links to external web pages.
Graphics and text are kept in separate files, which makes saving file on home computer for later viewing difficult.
Does not allow for secure distribution of material, which discourages its widespread use for copyrighted works.
|
| Adobe PDF: |
Maintains the "look and feel" of the original book.
Graphics display well.
Useful for citing pages in a research report.
Also allows printing, searching, and cutting and pasting of text.
Free reader does not allow highlighting and bookmarking of pages.
Large file size and inefficient use of screen real estate due to orginal page size reduces functionality.
|
| Microsoft Reader: |
Small file size, will display on both personal computers and Pocket PC handheld devices.
Searching, highlighting, bookmarking, annotations, and a custom dictionary increase usability.
Likely to become the publishing industry standard for copyrighted works.
Charts and graphs often display too small to read clearly on handheld devices.
|
| Rocket eBook: |
A dedicated eBook reader, the Rocket eBook allows searching, highlighting, bookmarking in a easily carried device (about the size of a large paperback).
The Rocket eBook can carry 40 or more full-length books in its internal memory, and many more can be stored on your personal computer.
The screen, while nicely backlit, is monochrome (no grays) and as such, graphics display poorly.
New version will have an internal modem to download books without using a computer. |
We will be exploring other eBook formats, including Softbook and readers for the Palm platform.
Where are the charts and tables?
Since charts and tables are hard to read on the PocketPC and Rocket eBook, we are not including graphics in these two file formats. As these formats mature, we expect graphics to be included in future Heritage eBooks.
Will entire books be available in eBook format?
We have begun releasing books in MSReader format, and soon most of our books will be released in their entirety as eBooks.
How do I get reader software/hardware?
PDF -- www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html
Rocket eBook -- www.nuvomedia.com
Microsoft Reader -- www.microsoft.com/reader/
July 4, 2009
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