Week 11 Prompt: Audiobooks and eBooks

 

The ability to download multiple books on one device and essentially carry around all those books at once is a huge appeal of ebooks. Although there is something nostalgic and comforting about holding a physical book and turning the pages, a lot of people are content to give that up for the benefits of ebooks. In an age where convince is a priority, ebooks are appealing because they can be downloaded any day, at any time, and you don’t need to leave your house to get them. Although ebooks show the percentage you have read, it can be difficult to visualize how much of the book you have read and have left. One time I had a patron ask to see a book at the library so he could grasp visually how far he was in that same book, which he was reading on an e-reader.

I think when it comes to most appeal factors, like pacing, tone and storyline, I have always been under the impression that ebooks have very few differences from print fiction books and a few more differences from print non-fiction. Any pictures in the book can still be seen on an e-reader, although I do have an old Kindle that shows them only in black and white, which is disappointing for some photos. For non-fiction books, ebook can sometimes loose more appeal. In a cooking or home decor book, I’d like to be able to flip through the book and go back and forth between different pages, which is difficult to do with an ebook. Some fiction books, but most often non-fiction, have formats that breakout boxes and sidebars that can be difficult to read on an e-reader.

However, Dunneback and Trott point out that pacing and tone can be affected in ways I hadn’t thought about. “The impact of digitization of books and stories on appeal factors is most prominently felt with pacing… The reader will need to rely entirely on narrative drive to feel the pace of the story. Pacing is also affected by how much text is visible on the screen, so the larger the text, the less there is to indicate how quickly the story is moving” (Dunneback & Trott, 2011, p. 328). Thinking back, I have subconsciously felt this way about ebooks and have even changed the font to be as small as I can handle so I am not flipping through pages as quickly.

Dunneback and Trott also point out that the actual device a person is reading ebooks on can affect the experience. The display, weight, and thickness of the device can all change how the reader experiences the book (Dunneback & Trott, 2011, p. 328).

The fact that font, line spacing, and text color can be changed with ebooks is a huge benefit. Those with dyslexia can change the font to be more readable. The large print collection is small at the library I work at, but with an ebook, any book can become large print.

In many ways ebooks are wonderful for their portability and the way the font and screen can be customized to a reader’s needs. They do have their drawbacks as well. Some books lend themselves to the ebook format better than others and this can be taken into consideration when choosing which format to read.

I have come to almost exclusively listen to audiobooks. There are convenient when I have difficulty finding the time to sit and read a book. Audiobooks are great for long car rides and I can easily listen to more audiobooks than I would ever get through if I had to sit down and read every book.

However, I find that I soak up more information in non-fiction books if I read a book, rather than listen to it. As with ebooks, some formats lend themselves better to print books than audiobooks. “Books that are exciting and suspenseful in written form tend to transfer well to the audiobook format. Conversely, weaknesses in a print book become more obvious when transferred to audiobook format” (Cahill & Moore, 2017, p. 23). Cahill and Moore point out that books with maps, illustrations, and footnotes make translating a book into an audiobook more difficult when trying to do so smoothy and with the intended purpose kept intact.

The appeal of an audiobook can be greatly affected by the narrator and music choices. The narrator’s choices can affect the pacing and tone. Music can add to the story if done well. A dramatic soundtrack can make the story feel more intense and build up to a big scene. Other times, music can distract from the story. Often, it is a personal preference for the reader on whether they enjoy music during the book or not.

Although the pleasure I get from listening to audiobooks is the same as reading, there is a skill to reading I want to always strengthen and there is something peaceful about learning to quiet my mind and focus on the book, rather than doing chores and several other tasks all while listening to an audiobook.

 

Sources:

Cahill, M., & Moore, J. (2017). A sound history. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 15(1), 22–29.

Dunneback, K., & Trott, B. (2011). E-books and readers' advisory. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(4), 325-9.