Chapter 2
Review of Related Literature
What is an “e-book”?The question may seem facile, but the confusion caused by the lack of an acceptable definition of what an e-book is has become abundantly clear during the course of the research undertaken for this report, and this confusion in itself also constitutes a barrier to uptake. Conventionally speaking, there are two major types of e-book: the electronic version of a whole text (for example, of a book that already exists in print); or a database of linked materials, some but not all of which may exist in a print version (for example, scientific encyclopedias which include interactive tables). Although most librarians include database versions when they are discussing e-books, many individuals (lecturers, academics, students, even some publishers) assume that the term refers to electronic versions of discrete books only. The working definition used by JISC is “an online version of printed books, accessed via the Internet”; although this may provide an adequate working tool for the JISC E-Books Working Group, it has variously been described as “too broad”, “too imprecise” and “misleadingly suggesting whole texts only” by contributors to this report. Patently, it does not apply to e-book originals. Other definitions of e-books deliberately exclude the database versions:
Non-conventional thinkers would broaden the term to include almost any electronic resource: they would argue that a website, a CDROM, even an e-mail might in some circumstances be described as an e-book. This report concerns itself mainly with commercially available products that have been named “e-books” by those who supply them; but it is useful when reading it to keep in mind both the lack of an universally accepted definition, and the possibilities that the term might embrace.

Products called e-books have existed in some form for a long time,