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Online readers herald a new chapter in the history of books

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

July 16, 2010 | 2 min read

A leading literature professor, Dr Bill Bell of Edinburgh University, has predicted that books in their current form may not survive changes in our reading habits arising from the electronic age.

Bell predicts that devices such as the iPad and Kindle e-reader are encouraging new styles of reading and books will have to evolve with these changes to remain relevant.

These include incorporating more information links for readers to skit between files as people opt to multi task over reading texts through from start to finish in a linear fashion.

Dr Bell believes we’re in the midst of a “seismic shift” in the way we experience books, pointing to: “A new generation of authors are starting to think in more multi linear ways about the way they can structure narrative.”

Talk of the death of books was regarded as premature however with the most likely scenario seeing traditional books being superceded by electronic books, but with a substantial “nostalgia” market for handmade texts.

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