E-Books for Museums Workshop Museums and the Web 2011

The exploding e-book market is driven completely by the proliferation and mass-adoption of mobile devices of all sorts

Getty Online Scholarly Catalogue Initiative MoMA Books iPad App and MoMA AB EX NY 2 Secondary Digital Publishing Options What museums are doing

WEB + Universal + Dynamic design on a reasonably stable platform - Usually not mobile- optimized - E-books didn’t take off with the web alone - Lacks “objectness” APPS + Mobile + Dynamic design + Effective revenue model (has “objectness”) - Walled gardens, owned and controlled by Apple, or Google (Android), or Microsoft, or … 2 Secondary Digital Publishing Options

? 3 Primary E-Book Formats What museums are doing LACMA Reading RoomMFA BostonYou?

PDF + Universal + Holds page layout on any device - No interactivity - Compatible with, but not comfortable with, mobile devices MOBI + Reflowable pages ideal for mobile devices - Owned and controlled by Amazon - Not being developed EPUB + Reflowable pages ideal for mobile devices + Open specification that no one owns + The primary format for every major e-reading system (except Amazon) + In active development 3 Primary E-Book Formats

EPUB An Open Format with Wide Adoption

The ____________ to EPUB is that it works on all kinds of devices. advantage

The ____________ to EPUB is that it works on all kinds of devices. disadvantage

EPUB Like the Internet, ca The Current Exhibitions page at April 7, 1997

EPUB Heading to the Internet, ca The Current Exhibitions page at April 4, 2011

RULE #1: Plan for the variable reading experience

RULE #2: Be a champion of readers’ rights