Last revised: March 2007
e-Books
Scope: The purpose of this page is to discuss the growth in popularity of e-Books as well as give examples of e-Books covering topics in CBMG. If you have any comments or questions, email Thomas Harrod at tharrod@umd.edu or call 301-405-7253.
Table of Contents
An Introduction to e-Books
The idea for electronic books (or e-Books) extends back around 40 years with the term "electronic books" dating to the 1960's. (1) During the 1970's a number of initiatives were started to create repositories of electronic books, one of which was aimed at making electronic copies of books which had passed out of copyright. (1) In later decades, various reference books (such as encyclopedias) were distributed in electronic formats such as CD-ROMs and as the turn of the century approached corporations began marketing electronic devices made specifically for bringing e-Books to consumers. (1)
Currently there are many choices in the e-Book market, with numerous e-book formats and readers available to the consumer. (2)
e-Books Pros and Cons
In 2005, according to Walt Crawford, "Worldwide ebook sales represent(ed) less than one-twentieth of one percent of total U.S. book sales." (3) How do you explain the apparent lack of popularity for this new format? There are several issues with e-Books including:
- People still like print books, i.e. if it's not broke, don't fix it. (3)
- For many people, reading from a computer screen is uncomfortable. (2,3)
- "Digital Rights Management" (or DRM) restricts how the consumer may use an e-Book - creating limitations that do not exist in the print world. (3)
- The multitude of e-book formats which mean that not all e-Books can be read on all machines. (4)
However, e-Books offer several advantages over printed books (or p-books), including (1):
- E-books can be used remotely, making them more convenient than p-books. (1)
- Depending on the licensing agreement, E-books can be used by multiple simultaneous users. (1)
- E-books may contain text search features that would exceed that which is possible with p-books. (1)
Examples of CBMG e-Books Available at UMCP
The University of Maryland's library provides access to many e-Books - here is a list of some of those available covering topics in CBMG:- Advanced Molecular Biology: a Concise Reference
Richard M. Twyman
Oxford, UK : Bios Scientific Publishers, 1998
CALL NUMBER: QH506 .T98 1998eb - Bioinformatics: the Machine Learning Approach
Pierre Baldi & Søren Brunak
Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, c2001
CALL NUMBER: QH506 .B35 2001eb - Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols
Stephen Misener & Stephen A. Krawetz(eds.)
Totowa, N.J. : Humana Press, c2000
CALL NUMBER: QH506 .B535 2000eb - Biotechnology: Science, Engineering, and Ethical Challenges for the Twenty-First Century
Frederick B. Rudolph & Larry V. McIntire(eds.)
Washington, D.C. : Joseph Henry Press, 1996
CALL NUMBER: TP248.2 .B574 1996eb - Calculating the Secrets of Life: Applications of the Mathematical Sciences in Molecular Biology
Eric S. Lander & Michael S. Waterman(eds.)
Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, 1995
CALL NUMBER: QH438.4.M3 C35 1995eb - Cells, Embryos, and Evolution: Toward a Cellular and Developmental Understanding of Phenotypic Variation and Evolutionary Adaptability
John Gerhart, Marc Kirschner, & Eileen Starr Moderbacher
Malden, Mass. : Blackwell Science, 1997
CALL NUMBER: QH366.2 .G463 1997eb - The Changing Face of Disease: Implications for Society
Nick Mascie-Taylor, Jean Peters, & Stephen T. McGarvey (eds.)
New York ; London : Taylor & Francis, 2004
CALL NUMBER: RA418 .C49 2004eb - The Coming Biotech Age:the Business of Biomaterials
Richard W. Oliver
New York : McGraw-Hill, c2000
CALL NUMBER: HD9999.B442 O44 2000eb - Coping with Methuselah: the Impact of molecular Biology on Medicine and Society
Henry J. Aaron & William B. Schwartz(eds.)
Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, c2004
CALL NUMBER: HQ1061 .C654 2004eb - Current Protocols in Bioinformatics
Andreas D. Baxevanis et al(eds.)
New York : Wiley, [c2003]-
CALL NUMBER: QH441.2 .C876 - Current Protocols in Immunology
John E. Coligan et al(eds.)
[New York] : J. Wiley & Sons, c1996-
CALL NUMBER: QR183 .C87 1996 - Current Protocols in Protein Science
John E. Coligan et al(eds.)
Brooklyn, N.Y. : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996-
CALL NUMBER: QP551 .C86 1996 - Current Protocols in Molecular Biology
Frederick M. Ausubel et al(eds.)
New York : Published by Greene Pub. Associates and Wiley-Interscience : J. Wiley, c1987
CALL NUMBER: QH506 .C87 1987 - A Dictionary of Biology
Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1996
CALL NUMBER: QH302.5 .D5 1996eb - The ELISA Guidebook
John R. Crowther(ed.)
Totowa, NJ : Humana Press, 2000
CALL NUMBER: QP519.9.E48 E45 2001 v. 149eb - Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
London ; New York : Nature Pub. Group, 2002
CALL NUMBER: QH302.5 .E53 2002 - Essentials of Molecular Biology
George M. Malacinski & David Freifelder
Boston, Mass. : Jones and Bartlett Publishers, c1998
CALL NUMBER: QH506 .M368 1998eb - Extracellular Matrix Proteins
Charles H. Streuli & Michael E. Grant
Totowa, N.J. : Humana Press, 2000
CALL NUMBER:QP88.23 .E955 2000eb - In Silico Simulations of Biological Processes
Gregory Bock & Jamie A. Goode(eds.)
New York : John Wiley, 2002
CALL NUMBER: QH324.2 .I5 2002eb - McGraw-Hill Dictionary of BioScience
New York : McGraw-Hill, c2003
CALL NUMBER: QH302.5 .M382 2003eb - Microarrays for an Integrative Genomics
Isaac S. Kohane, Alvin T. Kho, & Atul J. Butte
Cambridge, Mass : MIT Press, c2003
CALL NUMBER: QP624.5.D726 K686 2003eb - Microbial Genetics
Stanley R. Maloy, John E. Cronan, Jr., & David Freifelder
Boston : Jones and Bartlett Publishers, c1994
CALL NUMBER: QH434 .F74 1994eb - Pathogenic Mycobacteria in Water:a Guide to Public Health Consequences, Monitoring, and Management
S. Pedley et al(eds.)
London, UK : Published on behalf of the World Health Organization by IWA Pub., 2004
CALL NUMBER: TD365 .P38 2004 - Opportunities in Biological Science Careers
Charles A. Winter
Lincolnwood, Ill., U.S.A. : VGM Career Horizons, c1998
CALL NUMBER: QH314 .W525 1998eb - The Philosophy and History of Molecular Biology: New Perspectives
Sahotra Sarkar(ed.)
Dordrecht ; Boston : Kluwer Academic, 1996
CALL NUMBER: Q174 .B67 vol. 183eb - The Politics of Heredity: Essays on Eugenics, Biomedicine, and the Nature-Nurture Debate
Diane B. Paul
Albany : State University of New York Press, c1998
CALL NUMBER: QH431 .P34 1998eb - The Prokaryotes: an Evolving Electronic Resource for the Microbiological Community
New York : Springer-Verlag, 1999-
CALL NUMBER: QR72.5 .P76 - Transducing the Genome: Information, Anarchy, and Revolution in Biomedical Sciences
Gary Zweiger
New York : McGraw-Hill, c2001
CALL NUMBER: QH447 .Z94 2001eb
Also, check out the electronic books and reference materials available from UMD's Reference Shelf
Works Cited
- Tedd, Lucy A. "E-Books in Academic Libraries: An International Overview." New Review of Academic Librarianship 11 (1) (2005): 57-78. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCO. University of Maryland Libraries, College Park. 14 Mar. 2007 < http://www.epnet.com/ >.
- Balas, Janet A. "Are E-Books Finally Poised to Succeed." Computers in Libraries 26 (10) (2006): 34-36. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCO. University of Maryland Libraries, College Park. 13 Mar. 2007 < http://www.epnet.com/ >.
- Crawford, Walter. "Why Aren't Ebooks More Successful?" EContent 29 (8) (2006): 44 Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCO. University of Maryland Libraries, College Park. 13 Mar. 2007 < http://www.epnet.com/ >.
- Rothman, David H. "Razing the Tower of e-Babel" Publishers Weekly 253 (34) (2006): 62 Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCO. University of Maryland Libraries, College Park. 13 Mar. 2007 < http://www.epnet.com/ >.
- Caldwell, Tracey. "Buyers Get Tough" Information World Review 218 (2005): 12-13 Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCO. University of Maryland Libraries, College Park. 13 Mar. 2007 < http://www.epnet.com/ >.
