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In today's information environment, books are available in both print formats and electronic formats.
Electronic formats include CD-ROMs, .PDF files, and other types of formats available from web sites, in addition to a variety of hand-held devices and readers. Print-on-demand services also supply e-books. Google has begun work on a project to digitize books held in major academic libraries. Today, books in electronic format are generally referred to as "electronic books," or simply "e-books."
Volatility currently characterizes the e-book industry, although it is experiencing some growth. However, early predictions that "reading e-books would soon be as simple and routine as using a PC to read e-mail" have not ocurred as of this writing; equally elusive have been the annual market predictions for e-books, some as high as $7.8 billion. The e-book industry has enjoyed a recent growth rate of 20%-40%, with US sales approaching $15 million annually, but this figure is no where near the billions of dollars in sales posted annually by the print book industry. Although a market does exist for e-books, the industry currently is in an early stage of development. Slow growth is predicted, barring the appearance of a "magic bullet." Significant current obstacles include a lack of standards, uncertainty about digital rights, pricing, content that still favors the interests of technology-oriented users, and less-than-adequate e-book devices. (For information about the e-book market, see the following articles: Donald T. Hawkins, July/August 2002, "Electronic Books: Reports of Their Death Have Been Exaggerated," Online Vol. 26(4), pp. 42+; James Gall, March 2005, "Dispelling Five Myths About E-Books," Information Technology and Libraries Vol. 24(1), p. 25+; Nancy Herther, 2005, "The E-Book Industry Today: A Bunmpy Road Becomes An Evolutionary Path to Market Maturity," The Electronic Library Vol. 23(1), p. 45+.).
MSOE provides access to a number of e-book services. Although e-books are convenient and easy to search, keep in mind that the vast majority of published books are not available as e-books. Over one million books are published worldwide on an annual basis. Most of these books are not available in electronic format. Comprehensive searching of books for an MSEM report, research paper or project therefore requires checking for both print books and e-books.
To begin the process of looking for books, try the following resources which will help you to locate potentially relevant print and electronic books.
