I love the heft of a good book,
the wonderful feeling of flipping pages, getting lost in the text sans
distractions. For me there is a stark and somewhat strong divide between
reading on paper versus on screen. Initially I was very reticent about reading
on screen, I would print out readings for class so I could mark them up. I have
since resorted to reading it on screen and making notes on paper- which arguably
takes a bit more time. For pleasure reading I only resort to the iPad when I am
desperate: either I am waiting for the book to come in at the library (yes I am
that impatient, I feel anxious when I am about to finish my book and don’t have
the next one at the ready) or in the sad case where it only exists as an ebook
(such as Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure
by Ronald Anderson).
My preference for reading on
paper is not just about the physical book. It is so easy to get distracted on
screen. It is easy for mind to wander as I am reading, wondering if I should
maybe check my email? Or see what other books the author has written? That
being said, my reading experience is not completely devoid of technology. On the
contrary, I usually have my phone nearby and whenever there is something I do
not understand- or in the case of the current book I am reading Five Days at Memorial by Sherri Fink,
that I cannot picture- I search for it. In the case of the book I am currently
reading, it enhanced my reading experience, being able to see the conditions being
described in the book. I also use an Amazon wish list to track what I have read
and what I intend to read.
I am not fully against reading
on an iPad, it does have its upsides. There was one summer when I had decided
to read Proust’s In Search of Lost Time.
I downloaded a tome to my iPad for when I went on vacation. In the app I was
able to select words and look them up in Wikipedia, which helped a lot. It is
also instant and convenient. If you finish your book unexpectedly (who knew
that The Torrents of Spring by Ernest
Hemingway was so short!- had I been reading the paper version I would have
known) and find yourself unable to get to a library (maybe while staying at a
small B&B in the English countryside?) ebooks can come to the rescue!
Reading on paper and on an
ereader is by no means the same experience. Studies have shown that readers don’t
retain as much when reading an ebook as opposed to a paper book. The reason for
this is the physical page flipping creates a memory marker, linking what was
just read with the memory. With an ereader the reader has more control over the
text layout: they can change the font and its size, and the backlighting. They have
more control over navigation of the book, it is easy to skip to different
sections or search for terms. What is interesting about comparing paper books
and ebooks is the ghost of past readers. When you borrow a book from a library
you may find it has been annotated by a previous reader- possibly influencing
your reading of the text. With an ebook you receive a clean slate,
unadulterated by previous readers. There is a loss of connection to other
readers, there is no dialogue there. With
a paper book there is more of a relationship between reader and text, not just
in turning the pages, but being able to annotate the text and read previous notes,
seeing how far into the book you are. These factors create a more engaged
reading experience.
REFERENCES
Kraft, Amy. “Books Vs. eBooks:
The Science Behind The Best Way to Read.” CBS
News. Last modified December 14, 2015. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kindle-nook-e-reader-books-the-best-way-to-read/
Mangen, Anne, Bente R. Walgermo, and Kolbjørn Brønnick. "Reading Linear Texts on Paper Versus Computer Screen: Effects on Reading Comprehension." International Journal of Educational Research 58: 61-68 (2013). doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2012.12.002. http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/08830355/v58inone_c/61_rltopvcseorc
Nuwer, Rachel. “Are Paper Books
Really Disappearing?” BBC: Future.
Last modified January 25, 2016. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160124-are-paper-books-really-disappearing
Ramasubbu, Suren. “Paper Books
Vs. eBooks: The State of the Art of Reading.” Huffington Post. Last modified
May 11, 2016. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suren-ramasubbu/paper-books-vs-ebooks-the_b_9890584.html
"Studies have shown that readers don’t retain as much when reading an ebook as opposed to a paper book. The reason for this is the physical page flipping creates a memory marker, linking what was just read with the memory." It's so interesting that studies have actually /shown/ that we remember things better when we read them on paper! In my post for this week I wrote about my anecdotal experience of forgetting ebooks I've read more quickly than physical books, but I didn't bring in any scientific evidence to back up my argument. I didn't realize it existed! The Mangen, Walgermo and Bronnick study you link is particularly interesting, thank-you for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteI found their observation of some wider effects this could have interesting too, such as on essay marking, which at least in my experience is increasingly moving toward being done on screens (p.63). I've found that many of my professors have been resistant to marking on screens though, and I wonder if this impeding of comprehension that screens have is a reason why professors are so resistant.
That is so true about the resistance to mark on screen. I have often submitted an essay electronically only to receive a paper copy marked up with pen and my grade. There was a related study about how much is retained when taking notes on paper vs on a laptop. Maybe it something with screens? The passiveness of it?
ReplyDeleteI've never had a professor actually print out a paper a submitted digitally, that's taking resistance to electronic marking to a new level! But I've heard that too about retaining notes better on paper. Maybe it's something to do with writing things out by hand versus typing them out? When we write things by hand we physically shape the words ourselves, but I don't think the same is quite true of typing... Definitely seems more passive, like you say.
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