Book Reviews
Universal Designs for Web Applications
by Wendy Chisholm and Matt May
O'Reilly, Nov 2008. 179pp pbk £24.99
This is as user-friendly as one expects from O'Reilly. The authors are authoritative, interested in promulgating the best but realising that in reality one encounters a whole host of pitfalls. Their enthusiasm for good websites and the opportunities offered by developments in technology shines through. 'Universal design' is defined as making Web content work as efficiently as possible across the range of capabilities exhibited by both people and their chosen browsing technologies, with the goal of increasing usability for people with disabilities and in scenarios involving mobile and embedded devices, while avoiding the need to build an interface for every kind of browser.
The book says it is intended for:
• Web developers looking to build universal design practices into their work
• Managers and trainers looking to help their organisation do the same
• Accessibility advocates looking for advice relevant to modern web design practices
• Anyone with web development or design skills who needs a refresher.
I would say it achieves its intention, as a reference book focussed on the process of design. It is not a tutorial on how to claim conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, but imparts understanding of the elements of WCAG and their purpose.
To get the most from this book readers should be familiar with Web page technology, particularly (X)HTML and CSS, but there are over 30 useful pages on the importance of accessible and universal design, on Web standards available to guide the developer, and on the importance of metadata, which are a readable introduction to the principles without techy jargon. Examples and statistics are included; there are references to follow up if you want more depth or detail.
Other chapters give readable and pithy guidance on structure and design, forms, tabular data, video and audio, scripting, the developing areas of Ajax and WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications), rich Internet applications – Flash, Flex, Silverlight – and realistic tips on integrating universal design processes into the work flow of an organisation of any size or type – you may need the patience of a saint if your organisation is bigger than a one-man-band! It emphasises that accessibility and universal design must be built in from the outset of a project to avoid extensive reworking of a product, site or application further down the line.
It warns against blindly accepting evaluation tools, briefly suggests criteria for selecting development tools and content management systems, and gives a list of some of the tools and resources available, including websites offering videos of people using screen readers and Blackberry simulators.
There is a list of 20 questions to help the reader gauge whether a site follows the principles of universal design; tools are listed for each question that will help explore the site to find the answer. Suggested tests include trying a site with the mouse unplugged, or using a screen reader with the monitor turned off, for instance – and this is for the most basic level of accessibility.
It is possible that if you are a professional reader of technical manuals that you will find it frustrating not to have all the information within the covers, but if you have dabbled a bit and feel universal design is important for disseminating information inclusively you may welcome the opportunity of a page-turner overview with invitations to follow further threads online.
Anita Littler [anita.littler@surreycc.gov.uk]
Technical Support Officer, Environment Service
Surrey County Council
Content
Selected essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future
by Cory Doctorow
Tachyon Publications, 2008. 224pp. £12.50.
The name of Cory Doctorow will be familiar to many who take an interest in all things related to life on the Web and information freedom in particular. He is perhaps best known for being co-editor of the technology website Boing Boing (a site that my work Web filter was sufficiently concerned about a few years ago that I had to explain to my manager what I was up to).
“Content” is a collection of his work from 2001 to 2007 broadly covering the topics of copyright, Digital Rights Management (DRM) and the impact of the Internet. It combines mostly short pieces published in the physical and virtual presses. The book is an easy and often entertaining read.
There are some great essays here. Doctorow makes discussion of copyright far more palatable than is often the case. There are thought-provoking pieces on eBooks, online tagging and the roots of wikipedia (remember Everything2 ?). The case for reducing the restrictions placed on sharing of digital content through DRM, licensing and legal wrangling is well made.
The book does suffer from the way it has been assembled. A number of the essays are repetitious with topics and examples just gently reshuffled. In some cases there is a feeling of shifting audiences with the degree of background knowledge assumed varying. The book also faces the same issue as any work dealing with current technology in being instantly out of date. There is no mention of Spotify. Plenty of Wikipedia editorial argumentation remains just around the corner. Pirate Bay is not yet a political party and so on.
I would love to read a book of new material by Doctorow on the topic. I will definitely be looking out more recent articles and watching a few recordings of him speaking on YouTube. In line with his ideas on content Doctorow has made the full text of this book available online (note that the URL may trigger Web filters, though the content is fine). I would be happy to recommend dipping into it in this fashion, though I am less sure that it merits a physical purchase. Read Chapter 10 (Giving it away) to see why Doctorow would be more than happy with that conclusion.
Alan Fricker, Knowledge & Library Service Manager
Newham University Hospital NHS Trust
www.newlib.demon.co.uk
Books in the Digital Age
The Transformation of Academic and Higher Education Publishing in Britain and the United States
by John Thompson
Polity Press, 2006 480pp. £19.99
I was interested in reviewing this book because of my changing role at work. Having moved from subject librarian to digital assets, I am keen to get my hands on anything that will help with the transition. Although somewhat daunted by the size of the volume, just over 400 pages long, not exactly made for beach reading…, and the close typeset makes skim (or dipping in) reading near impossible! Having said that, once read it was so informative that these concerns became minor irritations as I grappled with understanding an industry that was new to me.
As an industry, publishing has been changing as technological advances allow the mechanisation of many of the technical processes involved in publishing. The changes are considered from the industry itself, from academia and for society at large. Thompson is in a good place to comment, as he was Director of Polity Press and is both academic and practitioner. However there is not that much around that allows you to get a useful overview and review what is happening (and what may happen) in that industry. This books goes a long way to dealing with that void. Although repetitive in parts, the volume is well arranged and thought through, and constitutes the first major study of book publishing.
There are four parts to the book: the publishing business; the field of academic publishing; the field of higher education publishing and the digital revolution. Complemented by over 60 tables and figures, it seeks to provide a summary of the large-scale changes that have affected the industry since the early 1980s. Of interest to academic librarians is the decline of the scholarly monographs market
Of specific interest to UKeiG members is the section on the digital revolution and more directly the chapter on the hidden revolution: reinventing the life cycle of the book. This chapter considers the demise (or otherwise) of the ebook. On the contrary it appears that more books are being produced as the digital back files kindle our passion for other titles that publishers are keen to make available.
I was disappointed that there was no discussion about the effect of the open access movement and the effect on different publishing models which this entails, especially given the focus on academic publishing. It would have proved useful (I think) if the volume had concluded with suggested solutions rather than a “too many variables to make any predictions”
I found it extremely useful to use as a potted history of a new area of interest for me. It would need to be revised and kept up to date especially given the rapidity with which the publishing industry is having to react to events (print on demand machines, the open-access movement) but it has certainly acted as a good grounding in the publishing industry.
Tracy Kent
Digital Assets
University of Birmingham
t.k.kent@bham.ac.uk
Recent books for review Here are some book titles that UKeiG members might be interested in reading about. The list isn't exhaustive; members are welcome to suggest other books for review. If you are interested in reviewing any of these titles, or if you are publisher and you have titles that you think would be of interest to the UKeiG readership, please contact Michael Upshall ( michael@consultmu.co.uk ).
Baker, David, and Wendy Evans. Digital Library Economics . Chandos Publishing, 2009.
Browne and Jermey, The Indexing Companion ( Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Byron , Berry , Haug & Eaton: Using Drupal (O'Reilly, 2008)
Devine, Jane, and Francine Egger-Sider. Going Beyond Google: the Invisible Web in Learning and Teaching . Facet Publishing, 2009.
Engard, Nicole (editor): Library Mashups (Facet, September 2009)
Gilchrist, Alan, editor: Information Science in Transition (Facet Publishing, April 2009)
Goldman: Facebook Cookbook (O'Reilly, 2008)
JISC e-book ‘The e-Revolution and Post-Compulsory Education: Using e-Business Models to deliver Quality Education' (new edition, Sept 2009)
Lessig, Lawrence: Remix – Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy (Bloomsbury 2008)
Markless, Sharon (editor): The Innovative School Librarian: thinking outside the box (Facet, 2009)
Newson, Alex: Blogging and other social media (Gower, 2008)
Nicholas, Dave. Digital Consumers: Re-shaping the Information Profession (Facet Publishing, 2008)
Phillips, Angus & Cope, Bill: The Future of the Book in the Digital Age (Chandos, 2006)
Sauers, Michael. Searching 2.0 . Facet Publishing, 2009.
Sy, Dux: SharePoint for Project Management (O'Reilly, 2008)
Zeng, Marcia Lei, and Jian Qin. Metadata . Facet Publishing, 2008.
Currently being reviewed for a future issue of eLucidate :
Orna, Elizabeth: Making Knowledge Visible: communicating knowledge through information products (Gower, 2005)
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