1. The Future of Reading in a Digital
Age: What Does it Mean – or not
Mean – for Us?
Tony Horava, University of Ottawa
Charleston Conference
Nov. 8, 2012

2. What does this shift mean for us?

3. Outline
• The act of reading in today’s world
• Reading as a lightning rod for a multitude of
issues for libraries
• Trends
• Ebooks & mobile culture
• Implications of the rise of e-reading
• Issues and ideas to consider
• Various conclusions

4. Libraries and reading
"Libraries are not about books; they were, are, and will be about
facilitating communication across time and space. Books have
been a way to do that historically, but today there are other, often
better, ways to accomplish this. Libraries need to become facile at
supporting all sorts of media, and they must continue to embrace
the new, or face the consequences of losing relevance to the
mainstream culture.“
- Mark Sandler, “Collection Development in the Day of
Google” Library Resources & Technical Services 50(4): 240
Whatever the media we provide or support, libraries
are about reading….

5. Reading as a lightning rod
for the role of libraries
• Connecting authors to readers; connecting publishers with
readers
• Core values such as intellectual freedom, privacy, literacy
and learning, and democracy
• The future of the book/ebook
• Collection development
• Information literacy & digital literacy
• Scholarly communication initiatives
• Digital tools
• Services to persons with disabilities
• Research services

6. University libraries & the reading
tradition: what has changed?
“University libraries, by their sheer physical nature, tell
you something about the value of reading. Universities
tend to perpetuate the sacred aura of reading in
general and of books in particular, and students pick
up on that — even if it is an engineering student who
never reads much and never intends to read much.
Universities are part of the reproduction of the
prestige and sacred quality that is associated with
reading … . [There is an] ideology of reading. Reading is
a sacred activity “
- Wendy Griswold, 2008. Regionalism and the reading
class. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

7. Various Trends….
“Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America ”
National Endowment for the Arts, 2004
Was a large-scale survey, the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts,
conducted by the Census Bureau in 2002 at the request of the National
Endowment for the Arts
17,000 people sampled.
The results were compared with data from similar surveys in 1982 and
1992
The overarching conclusion:
“Literary reading in America is not only declining rapidly among all
groups, but the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the
young. “

11. “The Rise of e-reading”
Pew Internet and American Life Project
http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading
“The average reader of e-books says she has read
24 books (the mean number) in the past 12
months, compared with an average of 15 books by
a non-e-book consumer”
“30% of those who read e-content say they now
spend more time reading, and owners of tablets
and e-book readers particularly stand out as
reading more now. “
“In a head-to-head competition, people prefer e-
books to printed books when they want speedy
access and portability, but print wins out when
people are reading to children and sharing
“
books with others.”

12. Why do people like to read?

13. “Libraries, Patrons, and Ebooks” Pew
Internet study, June 22, 2012
http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/06/22/libraries-patrons-and
12% of readers of e-books borrowed an e-book
from the library in the past year. But a majority of
Americans do not know that this service is provided
by their local library.
E-book borrowers say they read an average (the
mean number) of 29 books in the past year,
compared with 23 books for readers who do not
borrow e-books from a library.
Perhaps more striking, the median (midpoint)
figures for books reportedly read are 20 in the past
year by e-book borrowers and 12 by non-borrowers

14. More key findings….
46% of those who do not currently borrow e-books from
libraries say they would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to
borrow an e-reading device that came loaded with a book they
wanted to read.
Asked where they look first when they are trying to find an e-
book, 47% of those who borrow e-books from libraries say
they first look at online bookstores and websites and 41% say
they start at their public library.

15. Time shifted reading (Pocket app)
“Aside from a quick lunch hour at their desk, iPad owners are no longer
doing the majority of their reading on their computers. They are saving
it for their personal prime time, when they can relax comfortably, iPad in
hand and burn through the content they found during the day.”
Is Mobile Affecting When We Read?
http://readitlaterlist.com/blog/2011/01/is-mobile-affecting-when-we-r

16. Four spikes:
6am - Early morning, breakfast
9am - The morning commute, start of the work day
5pm – 6pm - End of the work day and the commute home
8pm – 10pm – Couch time, prime time, bed time
Is Mobile Affecting When We Read?
http://readitlaterlist.com/blog/2011/01/is-mobile-affecting-when-we-r

17. A Facebook Planet
• With over 500 million users, Facebook is now used by 1 in every 13 people
on earth, with over 250 million of them (over 50%) who log in every day.
The average user still has about 130 friends, but that should expand in
2011.
• 48% of 18-34 year olds check Facebook when they wake up, with 28%
doing so before even getting out of bed.
• The 35+ demographic is growing rapidly, now with over 30% of the entire
Facebook user base. The core 18-24 year old segment is now growing the
fastest at 74% year on year. Almost 72% of all US internet users are on
now Facebook, while 70% of the entire user base is located outside of the
US.
• A form of communication that is shaping how we read…
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/

18. Studies on print reading and
screen reading
• Many studies out there
• Drawing conclusions on the strengths and weaknesses of
screen vs print reading is a tricky business
• Results are mixed; can’t be generalized
• Various reasons – methodology & experimental design;
rapidly evolving technology, complexity of reading practices,
subject selection and background, technological savvy, etc
• The more important question is, How do we remain sensitive
to the range of reading preferences and how this affects our
strategies for what we acquire and how we deliver services?

19. Different reading devices, different modes of reading?
JGU Media Convergence Research Unit study on reading devices vs. paper
(20 Oct 2011) http://www.uni-mainz.de/eng/14685.php
• “Almost all participants stated that reading from paper was more comfortable than from an
e-ink reader despite the fact that the study actually showed that there was no difference in
terms of reading performance between reading from paper and from an e-ink reader. “
• “This study provides us with a scientific basis for dispelling the widespread misconception
that reading from a screen has negative effects," explains Dr Stephan Füssel. "There is no
(reading) culture clash – whether it is analog or digital, reading remains the most important
cultural technology.“
• “Tablet PCs actually provide an advantage over e-ink readers and the printed page that is not
consciously perceivable: the information is processed more easily when a tablet PC is
employed. Furthermore, while there were no differences between the three media
employed in terms of rates of reading by the younger participants, the older participants
exhibited faster reading times when using the tablet PC.”

20. Characteristics of older and newer
forms of reading
Print reading Screen reading
Typically a private act Can be private or social
Single medium Multiple media
Frequently linear Non-linear/power browsing
Artifact-based Technologically volatile
Self-contained Optimization driven by search algorithms
Attention abundance Attention scarcity (a state of ‘continuous
partial attention’)
Static objects Radical impermanence
The fixed page as the unit of experience The user-defined screen as basis for
experience: ‘breaking the page’
Autonomous & private act Tracking and surveillance of reading –
how will this be used?

21. Older and newer forms (cont’d)
Print reading Screen reading
Materiality of content, ie the work is Immateriality of content, ie the work is
embedded in the container (the pages) detached from the container (a digital file
that is invisible and distinct from the
device)
Hand-eye interaction focused on page Hand-eye interaction is a constant
manipulation activity, focused on touch screens and
keypads and new stimuli
The architecture of the codex book The architecture of the web and digital
governs the reading process, such as technology governs the reading process.
navigating tables of contents, chapter Navigation and orientation is user-driven.
divisions, footnotes or endnotes, index,
etc.

22. Ebooks & reading
• E-books have transformed the experience of reading
due to portability, e-ink technology, expansion of
content, mimicking of print reading habits, and new
functionality
• Choice of devices, display, use of collaborative tools
• Interactive fiction, where readers choose the
outcome of a story
• Visual images balancing text to inform the narrative
• Embedded links to video or audio files, reference
tools, and instant posting and sharing of thoughts
• Highly dynamic, customized experience

23. Mobile world
• Saturation in rich media as the new normal
• Mobile reading: being in control of time and space (e-readers,
smartphones, tablets)
• Easy sharing, annotating, reviewing, ranking, saving.
• Profound transformation of the reading experience, from
solitary to communal
• New reading communities such as Library Thing (600K
members) and Good Reads (1.8M); online book clubs are
flourishing
• The app world: making reading more social, more connected,
more personal.

24. New reality of reading*
• Intensely interactive; the growing use of social media to
share, review, annotate, etc.
• Discontinuous & fragmented: immersive experience is rare
• Highly editable and moveable
• ‘Squirreling behaviour’ (downloading files aside for future
reading…will it really be read later?)
• Text boundaries become porous and blurred
• A visual culture: meaning is informed by pictorial input
(images, animations, video) much more than ever before
• Steady expectation of new stimuli to punctuate the
experience: the urge to click is irresistible.
*Terje Hillesund, “Digital Reading Spaces” First Monday, Volume 15, Number 4 - 5
April 2010

25. Materiality and reading
• The experience of reading is fundamentally dependent on the material
support, eg print book, e-reader device, desktop pc, microfilm viewer,
etc.*
• With a print book, the material form embodies the text: the words are
tangibly ingrained on the physical page
• Hand-eye relationship and technological manipulation bear upon the
experience – think of touch screen interaction versus that of a printed
book. Very different relationship.
• With an ebook, the work is disembodied from the material support- an
intangibility and a distancing between the work and the platform
• The tactile quality of the interaction is profoundly different
* Anne Mangen, ‘Hypertext fiction reading: Haptics and Immersion’ Journal of Research in
Reading 31(4) 2008: 404-19

26. The iPad – a revolution in the reading experience for the
digital age….far beyond the Kindle.

27. ALA TechSource Webinar ‘The
Book as iPad App’ with Nicole
Hennig.
http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2012/07/archive-of-our-bo
The book as iPad App allows for a new & porous
reading experience:
Text interacts with video, audio clips, animation,
images, special features, links to social media.
With the tablets, the medium is indeed becoming
the message…

28. Inkling e-textbooks: a game-
changer for the way reading
and learning are carried out
https://www.inkling.com/about/

30. Reading in an attention-challenged
society
“In a world influenced by a powerful online culture, we must remain
committed to motivating our students to take the time required for in–
depth reading. Independent learning, which continues to be based on in–
depth reading, will always take time.”
“In addition, learning how to learn is also a process that takes time. …
Therefore we may need to remind ourselves of the importance of
teaching transferable critical reading skills
- Barry Cull, “Reading Revolutions: Online Digital Text and Implications for Reading in Academe”
First Monday, Volume 16, Number 6 - 6 June 2011

31. ‘Every Reader His or Her Ebook: An Ebook Advocacy Statement
from the Duke University Libraries’ (Section on Reading)*
• Accommodate personal preferences in research, teaching, and learning by
allowing reading of a desired e-book title on the device preferred by the
researcher.
• Allow annotating, highlighting, and bookmarking of the text and the
downloading or saving of reader annotations in an open format to allow
sharing of comments and notes.
• Aid in the sequential reading of a logical argument by providing
orientation to the layout of the e-book.
• Provide intuitive navigation to facilitate browsing within an e-book.
*http://library.duke.edu/ebookstrategy/e_book_advocacy.pdf

32. Duke Ebook advocacy statement
(cont’d)
• Allow for easy printing of substantial portions of the e-book, including a
reasonably priced POD (Print on Demand) copy.
• Anticipate and provide source-specific and discipline-specific formats; for example,
historical sources will be reproduced as an exact copy to simulate interactions with
the original object.
• Be downloadable for reading off-line (portable format).

33. Thinking about ‘critical reading’ in
the new era
Some questions to consider:
• How does reading in various forms promote learning and
teaching outcomes? How does the interaction of textual,
visual, and audio elements affect the reading experience?
• How can we assess public services and collections through the
lens of critical reading practices- the richness of the reading
experience in different technological environments
• Do vendors incorporate reading research and usability studies
into their products?
• How do interfaces incorporate social media into reading?
• What are the evolving strengths and challenges in digital
reading?

34. The gamification of reading (and
writing)
• Is becoming more prevalent for children’s literature
and popular literature….how will it influence
teaching & academic writing?
• Involves game-thinking as a vehicle for reader
engagement: using milestones, competition,
rewards, and fun as learning approaches.
• We are a game-saturated culture. Digital reading is
self-directed, involving multiple pathways and rich in
media - fertile ground for learning styles that involve
gaming elements

35. A Publisher’s view
“When people hear the term ‘gamification’ they might think I
mean ‘let’s make a space explorer game out of this book. But
that’s not it. I mean that we need to take lessons of the game
and apply them to other forms, to implement parts of the
game framework — such as levels, incentives, and a social
network. I’m not asking publishers to become game
companies, but to take the finer points and insert them into
their models.” Think of a series such as Scholastic’s 39 Clues,
and you have one example.
Gabe Zichermann, “Ready Reader One: Why Gamification is Key to Publishing’s
Future” http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/09/gamification-key-publishing-
future/

36. Some conclusions
• Reading and readers remain fundamental to the role of libraries and our
core values. As new reading technologies develop, reading needs to
become format-agnostic, platform-agnostic, portable, and simpler (eg no
DRM) to enable greater success.
• The experience and definition of reading in our culture is being profoundly
reinvented. There is a major shift from ‘intensive’ reading (few works) to
‘extensive’ reading (sampling of extremely wide range of works and
medias)
• Is this the very long twilight of the codex book? We are rapidly
transitioning from a text-based culture to a visual, networked culture.
New reading communities are flourishing across digital media.
• The intimacy of reading - The formerly private quality of reading is being
transformed into a more mobile, social, interactive experience: how does
this impact what we learn and how we learn?

37. Some conclusions (cont’d)
• Reading as enabling conversations to generate new forms of
knowledge (David Lankes)
• Paradox of speed and broad connectivity – reading becomes a
power browsing and squirreling activity, while attention
becomes scarcer
• The importance of advocating best practices with vendors for
reading and usability to enhance the experience
• E-reading becomes a database interaction: a user-constructed
path than a pre-determined one. How do the dynamics of this
interaction effect us?
• ‘The ways in which the stories are displayed come and go, and
what matters are the stories and the storytelling’ (Joseph
Janes)

38. “As electronic literature matures, it develops
rhetorics, grammars, and syntaxes unique to digital
environments. Learning to speak digital, it calls forth from
us new modes of attending --
listening, seeing, moving, navigating -- that transform
what it means to experience literature ('read' is no longer
an adequate term).”
- N. Katherine Hayles, “Deeper into the machine: the future of
electronic literature. Culture Machine 5 (2003):
http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/2
45/241

39. Thanks!
Any comments or questions?
Tony Horava
thorava@uottawa.ca