Evaluates electronic book reading devices. Mention of the Hewlett Packard Jornada, the Franklin EBookMan, the Rocket EBook, Microsoft Reader, and Glassbook 2.0; Cost; Key features, including size of the reading screen and content available; Pros and cons; Recommendations.
The article reports that the Association of Research Libraries believes that within five years, many journals will be available in electronic format only. A report written by Richard K. Johnson and Judy Luther cites economic reasons, and observes that at some point it will no longer be economically feasible for publishers to produce paper journals.
The article announces that Rice University Publishers in Houston, Texas, which closed in 1996, will resume operations as a digital publisher. The systems of manuscript solicitation and peer review will remain the same. Dissemination of papers via the Internet is a growing trend in scholarly publishing.
Discusses the issue of electronic books and electronic publishing and how to review books in a myriad of e-book formats. List of some of the different types of formats available for electronic publishing; Similarity between models in that they are based on movement of traditional paper books to simultaneous e-versions; Lack of greater exposure and legitimacy for e-books that traditional review media can give them.
The article offers information on SciDetect, an open source software program designed to check for fake scientific papers, by international science and technology publisher Springer.