Digital Text Is Not What You Can See: Some Thoughts on Intricacies of Digital Publishing

• In Event: Digital Publishing: Considering Form and Formats

Abstract

Since the advent of the digital age there has been an ongoing discussion about the particular features making up a scholarly digital publication. The usual expectation is that digital publications look like and behave like printed ones. As a result, file formats such as PDF have become extremely popular during the last decade as they seemed to be a perfect extension linking the print to the digital world. Yet, in circles that seek to take advantage of the possibilities the new media had to offer, it soon became apparent that formats like PDF could pose serious limitations on the use and representation of digital content. The paper proposes to address the issues related to the use of PDF and to discuss alternative concepts that seem more appropriate for digital publishing.

Author

• Thomas Stäcker, Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel