Evolving definitions of authorship in Ebook design¹

Issue title: 16th International Conference on Electronic Publishing – ELPUB 2012 – Social Shaping of Digital Publishing: Exploring the Interplay between Culture and Technology

Guest editors: Ana BaptistaGuest Editor, Peter LindeGuest Editor, Niklas LavessonGuest Editor and Miguel A. BritoGuest Editor

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Martin, Celeste^{; *} | Aitken, Jonathan

Affiliations: Emily Carr University of Art+Design, Vancouver, Canada

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Celeste Martin, Assistant Professor, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, 1399 Johnston St., Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6H 3R9. E-mail: [email protected].

Note: [1] Paper also published in the Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Electronic Publishing, ISBN 978-1-61499-064-2.

Abstract: The development of ebooks for tablet devices offers a rich space for collaboration between writers and designers. This paper examines how this emerging media affects ideas around collaboration and authorship. Specifically it considers the changing role of designers in shaping meaning and content and how this may affect existing paradigms of authorship. Using class-based projects as case studies, the paper presents and discusses examples of how designers have shifted their role from historic notions of “crystal goblet” design or expressive design to genuine collaborators and authors.

Keywords: Enhanced ebook, authorship, designers as authors, collaboration, co-authorship, digital book applications

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2012-0643

Journal: Information Services & Use, vol. 31, no. 3-4, pp. 139-146, 2011