Week Eleven Prompt

            The recent medium of ebooks means serious business in relation to public libraries. The change has affected the role of libraries, since libraries “have struggled to understand their role in communities as technology has changed.” (Vinjamuri, 2012, n.p.). Library patrons will also have an increased dependence on public libraries from the great and increasing amount of ebooks that are curated in libraries (Vinjamuri, 2012, n.p.). In addition, librarians will need to observe how a new “format affects the reader’s approach to the material” (Katie, 2011, p. 325).

            The change in the medium of paperback or hardback books to the medium of visual and electronic content in ebooks or the audio and electronic content in audiobooks does not significantly alter the appeal factors of the content of genres for stories or information. However, the presentation of the content is altered in a specific manner, so a new context or new information is created in relation to the original information of physical books. In other words, a new context or new information can lead to a different perception of the original content for a story or information. So, appeal factors will still have a great significance in ebooks and audiobooks; the use of the appeal factors has only altered through the presentation of content.

            Personally, the lack of concreteness or a tactile sense of a book’s physical weight or feel is disturbing and significant in relation to ebooks. Readers may be discouraged by the lightness of an ebook and may prefer to read the content of a certain item in a physical hardback or paperback book (Katie, 2011, p. 327). Nevertheless, the sensation of not being able to feel the physical weight of a book in one’s hands does not significantly affect one’s knowledge of a genre.

            Also, a minor reason for the impact that the knowledge of the genre exerts on a reader is “the lack of physical indication as to how much left you have of the book to read” (Katie, 2011, p. 328). The lack of physical indication can cause readers to shun detailed books (Katie, 2011, p. 328), since the readers can’t scan the ebook quickly and don’t know how to jump between certain areas in an ebook (Katie, 2011, p. 328). Readers that appreciate reading an ebook more than once may also become frustrated from not being able to physically guess where certain parts of the ebook are (Katie, 2011, p. 328).

            One’s knowledge of a genre is primarily affected by the difference in weight between a physical book and an ebook, and there is only a difference of a degree of weight and no weight at all in respect to the difference in weight between a physical book and an audiobook. Physical weight can alter one’s perception or one’s remembered associations with an object. So, I think the idea of nostalgia or recognizing distinct associations with an item at a certain time and place or multiple times and places can shape one’s perception or memories of the content of a story or information.

            In relation to ebooks, readers should be able to affect the pacing and tone of the content of ebooks in a number of significant ways. In relation to both pacing and tone, one should recognize that the “impact of digitization of books and stories on appeal factors is most prominently felt with pacing” (Katie, 2011, p. 328). So, pacing is the most impressionable appeal factor of ebooks. In addition, the digital format in ebooks has altered “some appeal factors considered inherent to the book reading experience” (Katie, 2011, p. 328).

            In general, changing the font of ebooks will create a dramatic emphasis on certain words or will create a distinct feel or association towards the text. It should be noted that display “options are the most easily understood component in determining appeal factors in regards to e-book readers” (Katie, 2011, p. 327). Also, pacing is impacted “by how much text is visible on the screen, so the larger the text, the less there is to indicate how quickly the story is moving” (Katie, 2011, p. 328). In addition, the tone of ebooks is affected by the font size of the text, since the layout of a page can “affect the tone of the story” (Katie, 2011, p. 328).

            In general, altering the line spacing will create dramatic pauses and tension at distinct places in the text. Also, the tone of ebooks is affected by the positioning of “large blocks of text” (Katie, 2011, p. 328), since the amount of text can display a detailed story (Katie, 2011, p. 328). In addition, the tone of ebooks is impacted by line spacing through short paragraphs with dialogue that can create “snappy or quick-witted characters” (Katie, 2011, p. 328).

            Also, changing the color of the text will form certain associations with the text. Changing the color of the text may also make reading easier or more difficult for library patrons. For instance, from my own experience and judgment, altering the color of the text to red will increase the difficulty of reading the text while changing the color of the text to green will make the text easier to read.

            The pacing and tone of audiobooks is greatly altered by track length, narrator choice, and the presence of music. In terms of audiobooks, the track length for each section can make an individual section of an audiobook easily speed up or slow in relation to pacing. If an audiobook’s audible chapters are short, the pacing of the chapters is quick. However, if an audiobook’s chapters are long, the pacing of the chapters is slow. Also, in a similar fashion to ebooks, audiobooks’ application of the presence of short paragraphs with dialogue can form “snappy or quick-witted characters” in audiobooks’ track lengths (Katie, 2011, p. 328). So, I would argue that these short paragraphs can affect tone in audiobooks’ track lengths, since characters are given distinct attributes that help establish the tone of audiobooks.

            From my experience, the effect of a narrator on appeal terms for an audiobook is highly subjective and is based on a user’s own memories, experiences, and knowledge of common or universal perceptions in relation to stereotypes and the construction of words and names in conveyed information. Nevertheless, if an individual has experienced a large amount of common or universal perceptions in a stereotypical manner, there is a noticeable effect on appeal terms from a narrator of an audiobook.

            So, the choice of a narrator can impact the pacing of an audiobook. One should note that pacing operates “differently in audiobooks than in print” (Saricks, 2015, p. 131). Narrators can create a positive impact towards pacing by speeding up “the reading of suspenseful chases” in audiobooks (Saricks, 2015, p. 131). However, if narrators read “too quickly for comprehension” (Saricks, 2015, p. 131), they may be difficult for patrons to understand. Narrators can create a feeling of danger through reading rapidly and form a contemplative mood and pace during detailed areas of information in the audiobooks (Saricks, 2015, p. 131). In addition, it should be noted that “a poor match between the pace of the story and the pace the narrator uses can cause a reader to stop listening to an audio book” (Mediatore, 2003, p. 319). So, the pace of the story “must be matched to the pace the narrator uses” (Mediatore, 2003, p. 319).

            Also, the choice of a narrator has an impact on the tone of audiobooks. The choice of narrators can affect tone by mirroring and enhancing the author’s tone (Saricks, 2015, p. 131). Also, narrators’ accents can assist in creating geographical settings in relation to the tone’s aspects of background and setting (Saricks, 2015, p. 131).

            The presence of music in audiobooks affects the frame or tone of the audiobooks. For instance, the tone is enhanced by music or certain sound effects (Mediatore, 2003, p. 319), and these audible additions can ultimately “elevate the quality of the recorded book” (Mediatore, 2003, p. 319). However, pacing is not tremendously impacted by the style of music that is utilized in audiobooks. Although, the speed of the music can affect the aspect of pacing by being fast or slow.

            In addition, the choice of a narrator affects certain appeal factors besides pacing and tone. Notably, there are three other appeal factors for audiobooks; these factors are: storyline, characterization, and audible presentation (Saricks, 2015, p. 131). For instance, narrators need to effectively organize the story line (Saricks, 2015, p. 131), and narrators must also “interpret visual cues from the print version” of a text during the track of an audiobook (Saricks, 2015, p. 131). Also, characterization can be effectively conveyed by narrators when narrators adopt “a persona from which to relate the story” (Mediatore, 2003, p. 319). In addition, the audible presentation of audiobooks depends tremendously on narrators’ skill in avoiding mispronunciations, creating accents to form characters’ identities, and forming an effective cadence of the audiobooks’ prose through their unique rhythm of speech (Saricks, 2015, p. 131).

References:

Katie, D. (2011). E-books and Readers' Advisory. Reference & User Services Quarterly, (4),

325. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=cc48cb01-ceab-463b-a048-5487de401e17@sessionmgr103

Mediatore, K. (2003). Reading with Your Ears: Readers' Advisory and Audio Books. Reference

& User Services Quarterly, 42(4), 318-23. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=bba02510-4317-4971-87a8-309ce3f9c95e@sessionmgr102

Saricks, J. (2015). At leisure with Joyce Saricks: listening for the appeal of audiobooks. Booklist,

(19-20). 131. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a6e0abf2-0684-4d40-bcf6-2f91ea6555e2@sessionmgr4007

Vinjamuri, D. (2012, Dec. 11). The wrong war over ebooks: Publishers vs. libraries. Forbes.

         Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2012/12/11/the-wrong-war-over-ebooks-publishers-vs-libraries/