Marginalia in the digital age: Are digital reading devices meeting the needs of today's readers?

Publication date: January 2017 Source:Library & Information Science Research, Volume 39, Issue 1 Author(s): Melanie Ramdarshan Bold, Kiri L. Wagstaff For centuries, readers have added marginal commentary to books for a variety of personal and public purposes. Historians have mined the marginalia of important historical figures to observe their sometimes raw, immediate responses to texts. Now, reading and annotation practices are changing with the migration of content to electronic books. A survey of reader attitudes and behavior related to marginalia for print and electronic books reveals that the majority of readers write in their books and want e-readers to support this feature. However, many readers report that annotating electronic books is too difficult, time-consuming, or awkward with current technology. In addition, the way readers annotate books depends on whether they are reading for pleasure or for work or education. These findings can guide the development of future devices to better satisfy reader needs.

Source: Library and Information Science Research - January 23, 2017 Category: Databases & Libraries Source Type: research