Electronic books & the open ebook publication structure

Electronic books, or e-books, will soon be a major part of electronic publishing. This chapter introduces the notion of electronic books, reviewing their history, the advantages they promise, and the difficulties in predicting the pace and nature of e-book development and adoption. It then analyzes some of the critical problems facing both individual publishers and the industry as a whole, drawing on our current understanding of fundamental principles and best practice in information processing and publishing. In the context of this analysis the Open eBook Forum Publication Structure, a widely used XML-based content format, is presented as a foundation for high-performance electronic publishing.