Reading, Discovering, Sharing eBookssdg1/pdfs/ebooks.pdfStanza (iPhone) Aldiko (Android) Free/Open Source Calibre Bookworm (web-based) Okular FBReader Sugar Read activity... Sayamindu

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Reading, Discovering, Sharing eBooks

Sayamindu Dasgupta

One Laptop Per Child

FOSS.IN 2009

Sayamindu Dasgupta Reading, Discovering, Sharing eBooks

ReadingDiscovering

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A Brief History & Current StatusThe EPUB standardEPUB Readers

A Brief History

Can be traced back to 1971 (Project Gutenberg)

Considered a niche area/product till recent times

Major pain pointsMultiple formats, some proprietary, some notLack of specialized devicesDisplay (mostly resolution related) issues


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A Brief History





ReadingDiscovering

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A Brief History





ReadingDiscovering

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A Brief History





ReadingDiscovering

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A Brief History





ReadingDiscovering

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A Brief History





ReadingDiscovering

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A Brief History





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Current Status

New reader devices announced every month

Everyone wants a piece of the pieGoogleAmazonBarnes and NobleSony. . .


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Current Status

New reader devices announced every month

Everyone wants a piece of the pieGoogleAmazonBarnes and NobleSony. . .


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Reasons for the Explosive Growth

Moore’s law

“Electronic paper”

Parallely evolving software standards


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Reasons for the Explosive Growth

Moore’s law

“Electronic paper”

Parallely evolving software standards


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E-Ink

Most visible e-paper technologyAdvantages

High resolutionLow power

DisadvantagesSlowMonochrome


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E-Ink





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E-Ink





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Overview of EPUB

Developed by the IDPF (International Digital Publishing Forum)

De-facto standard (almost. . . )

Combination of open, established technologiesOpen Publication Structure v2.0Open Packaging Format v2.0OEBPS Container Format (OCF) v1.0


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Overview of EPUB





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Overview of EPUB





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Overview of EPUB





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Open Publication Structure

Standard for representing the content in eBooks

Two preferred vocabulariesXHTML

Subset of CSS

DTBook

Also supports various image formats, SVG and “XML Islands”


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Subset of CSS

DTBook



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Subset of CSS

DTBook



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Subset of CSS

DTBook



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Open Packaging Format

Standard for representing the “rest” of the eBookReference, description of all eBook components (files, images,etc) (a manifest)Metadata

Dublin Core with extra attributes

Linear reading order (spine)Declarative reading order (for better navigability, etc)

NCS (Navigation Center eXtended)

OPF also specifies fallback components for non-standard items inthe eBook


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OEBPS Container Format

Standard for putting the eBook together

ZIP as container

Specifies the “root” OPF file for the eBook


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ZIP as container



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ZIP as container



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A Typical EPUB File Structure

/META-INF

container.xml........points to the ebook root – ‘OPS/book.opf’

mimetype.........................must be “application/epub+zip”

OPSbook.ncx..........contains declarative reading order – “navMap”

book.opf .................. contains metadata, manifest, spine

cssstyle.css

main0.xmlmain1.xml...images

cover.png...


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/META-INF





cssstyle.css


cover.png...


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/META-INF





cssstyle.css


cover.png...


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/META-INF





cssstyle.css


cover.png...


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Hardware Devices (dedicated)

Sony Reader

Barnes and Noble Nook

IRex Digital Reader

BeBook

. . .


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Software

ProprietaryAdobe Digital EditionsStanza (iPhone)Aldiko (Android)

Free/Open SourceCalibreBookworm (web-based)OkularFBReaderSugar Read activity

. . .


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Software

ProprietaryAdobe Digital EditionsStanza (iPhone)Aldiko (Android)

Free/Open SourceCalibreBookworm (web-based)OkularFBReaderSugar Read activity

. . .


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OPDSOnline/Offline OPDS Usage

OPDS: Open Publication Distribution System

Standard for distributing eBooks

Based on Atom XML

Work in progress (draft)


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OPDS for Discovery

Discovery via OpenSearch Query Syntaxhttp://foo/opensearch?q=Missourihttp://foo/opensearch?q=creator:Mark+Twainhttp://foo/opensearch?q=language:hihttp://foo/opensearch?q=title:perl+AND+provider:OReilly


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OPDS for Discovery

Discovery via OpenSearch Query Syntaxhttp://foo/opensearch?q=Missourihttp://foo/opensearch?q=creator:Mark+Twainhttp://foo/opensearch?q=language:hihttp://foo/opensearch?q=title:perl+AND+provider:OReilly


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OPDS providers and clients

Online providersThe Internet ArchiveFeedbooks.comO’Reilly

Client implementationsSugar Get Books activityAldikoIbis Reader


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OPDS providers and clients

Online providersThe Internet ArchiveFeedbooks.comO’Reilly

Client implementationsSugar Get Books activityAldikoIbis Reader


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OPDS Offline Usage

Implemented in Sugar’s Get Books activity“Library on a Stick” = USB Drive + EPUB files + OPDS XMLcatalog

Equivalent of an entire library’s collection in a USB thumb-drive

Sneakernet/Chappalnet support


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OPDS Offline Usage

Implemented in Sugar’s Get Books activity“Library on a Stick” = USB Drive + EPUB files + OPDS XMLcatalog

Equivalent of an entire library’s collection in a USB thumb-drive

Sneakernet/Chappalnet support


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With OPDS

iTunes like book-sharing

Reading system publishes OPDS catalog of selected eBooks

Neighbouring reading system discovers catalogs and renders it

Zeroconf used for publication and auto-discovery (yay! for Avahi)


ReadingDiscovering

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With OPDS

iTunes like book-sharing

Reading system publishes OPDS catalog of selected eBooks

Neighbouring reading system discovers catalogs and renders it

Zeroconf used for publication and auto-discovery (yay! for Avahi)


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Without OPDS : the Sugar Way

Sharing built in (using Telepathy)

Verb based interface

Child invites friend to current Read activity

eBook being read automagically gets shared


Appendix Ideas about the Future

Audio-Visual elements (already happening)

Wiki-like eBooks

Microworlds, programming shells

. . .


Documents

Reading, Discovering, Sharing eBookssdg1/pdfs/ebooks.pdfStanza (iPhone) Aldiko (Android) Free/Open Source Calibre Bookworm (web-based) Okular FBReader Sugar Read activity... Sayamindu