Jan 28, 2010

eBook formats for medical literature



EBooks are here to stay, and are changing the way Medicine is studied. The sheer volume and weight of Medical literature makes it the ideal candidate for 'Whole batch" conversions to an eBook readable format.

The Mobipocket file format is a binary format for the distribution of eBooks. It is one implementation of the Open eBook Publication format with a number of proprietary extensions. The Open eBook Publication format is developed and specified by the IDPF (International Digital Publishing Forum) an independent organization formerly known as the Open eBook Consortium. As a consequence, the Mobipocket format is based on HTML and is reflowable. Mobipocket supports most features of standard HTML to format and layout text and images.


A few other noteworthy formats include EPUB and Fictionbook. Kindly note that i have not considered any of the non-Open standards.

The .epub or OEBPS format is an open standard for e-books created by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). Currently, the format can be read by the Apple iPad, Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony Reader, BeBook, Adobe Digital Editions, Lexcycle Stanza, BookGlutton, AZARDI, Aldiko and WordPlayer on Android. Several other reader software programs are currently implementing support for the format, such as dotReader, FBReader, Mobipocket, uBook and Okular. Another software .epub reader, Lucidor, is in beta. Notably, Kindle still does not support this format.

The Kindle supports Mobipocket file format, PDF file format, Amazon's proprietary DRM-restricted format (AZW), as well as the PRC and the TXT formats. 

Eveda format is used for Multimedia EBooks.The 'multimedia eBook' term is used in contrast to media which only utilize traditional forms of printed or text book. Multimedia EBook includes a combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content forms.

My Choices for Medical Literature ?- At present, it is PDFs and Mobi, besides EPUB.

Waiting for a suitable multimedia enabled file format, with annotation and bookmarking support.

Images- Wikimedia Commons.

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3 comments:

  1. Technology really ha a lot of contribution and plays a big role in our life especially in the field of medicine.It improves efficiency and productivity while leading to better health care value.It truly has a big impact on health in the developing world.

    - electronic medical records

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have you heard of Inkling? They develop fabulous content for the iPad. http://www.inkling.com/

    Their version of Essential Clinical Anatomy is dynamite!

    http://www.inkling.com/wk_essential_clinical_anatomy/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the laura, Laura.
    I hear they have released Ganong's textbook of Physiology for the iPad ...

    ReplyDelete