Category: HyperText IR
Journal: IEEE Computer
Subject: H.3.5  Information Systems, INFORMATION STORAGE
        AND RETRIEVAL, On-line Information
        Services
Number: 1
ReviewNo: 8604-0360
Bibtype: Article
Pages: 15-30
Month: Oct
Title: Reading and writing the electronic book.
Review: COMPUTING REVIEWS TEXT
        \\
        YANKELOVICH, NICOLE; MEYROWITZ, NORMAN; AND VAN DAM,
        ANDRIES (Brown Univ., Providence, RI)  8604-0360
        \\
        Reading and writing the electronic book.
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        IEEE Computer 18, 10 (Oct. 1985), 15-30.
        \\
        It was during the mid-1400s that Gutenberg invented
        the type mold which made printing from movable metal
        type practical. This lead to the development of the
        printing and book publishing industries. Over 500
        years have passed and many improvements have been
        made, but the essential printing concepts of today are
        similar to those used by Gutenberg and his associates
        in producing their magnificent 42-line Bible. Now, as
        we enter the information age, entirely new
        technologies have been invented for use in the
        creation of electronic books and electronic document
        systems. Many of these new technologies have been
        developed at the Institute for Research in Information
        and Scholarship (IRIS) at Brown University. It is
        these developments that are described by the authors
        of this paper.
        \\
        After a brief introduction, the advantages and
        disadvantages of hard-copy print media are listed and
        briefly discussed. Books are portable, accessible,
        easy to read, and aesthetically appealing. However,
        they are limited to presenting information in a
        two-dimensional format composed of static text and
        graphics which readers cannot customize. Nor can they
        be easily updated to provide the most current
        information. Electronic document systems have been
        designed to overcome the disadvantages of print and to
        create ``connectivity,'' i.e., webs of elated
        information within a single document and among related
        documents, as well as links among scholars working
        together in ``online communities.'' Four such
        electronic document systems have been developed at
        Brown University:
        \\
        (1) FRESS (File Retrieval and Editing System),(2) The
        Electronic Document System (completed in 1982 and
        ``far more modern than FRESS''),(3) BALSA (Brown
        Algorithm Simulator and Animator, ``an environment
        designed to facilitate the creation of computer
        science and educational software''), and(4) Intermedia
        (``a multimedia system that will ideally provide most
        of the major capabilities desirable for a good
        electronic document system'' and which is currently
        under development).
        \\
        This reviewer, unfortunately, has not used any of
        these systems and so cannot add any personal
        observations to the information provided by the
        authors. However, the concept is exciting and the
        implications for the future are many.
        \\
        -H. Borko, Los Angeles, CA
        \\
        GENERALTERMS:   DESIGN, DOCUMENTATION
Year: 1985
Volume: 18
GeneralTerm: DESIGN
        DOCUMENTATION