ebooks - how do you use them?

[Gen List Lass]

Hi

I've found loads of old books and directories online and free to download. All very useful for genealogy.

Great resource but ease of reading is not one of their strong points.

Anyone have any tips to make them easier to read and No, I don't have a Kindle (yet!)

Gen in NBL England

[Nick29]

If you Google for ebook reader software you will find a lot listed, including many free applications 

You don't need a Kindle to read ebooks - there's even a PC application to read Kindle ebooks.  Having said that, I wouldn't like to part with my Kindle 

[macbeth]

I use Calibre ebook organiser, which has a reader, among other things (google "Calibre ebook"), though the kindle software for PCs isn't bad, either.
I agreed with Nick29. I am totally won over by my Kindle

[Billyblue]

Gen
If you are referring to the directories, parish records etc. on www.archive.org, you don't need a special reader.
You can either:
download the file as a .pdf which takes ages because they are usually quite big, but it is then easier to read and search through etc.;  or
read it online, which can get a bit tedious waiting for each page to show, and the OCR gives some strange results when you put in a search word - it shows on the page as a highlight but on the line above or below the line the word is actually on.

Dawn M

[sstarr2008]

I'm sticking with either reading them online or downloading the pdf.'s and reading those with Foxit reader.

I find that all the other readers tend to use OCR to turn the books into text which causes all sorts of errors, especially with genealogy books which are full of lists of names, use latin phrases and have archaic spellings.

The only exception is the text only files which, although they may be full of errors are much easier to search than pdf.'s which, especially the ones on Google, are not always searchable.

Stu

[Redroger]

Agreed Foxit is the best way to read old books. Regarding Kindle, I downloaded the Amazon Free Kindle app for my Android phone, and frankly I have been very impressed with the quality of the text on the phone screen. To the extent that I don't see a Kindle as being needed if you have a compatible smart phone.

[Braindead]

I have a smart phone and use the Aldiko app as an ebook reader. I aso have the Kindle app, but I find Aldiko much easier to use. It is a different format of ebooks though.
The only problem with a smart phone is the size of a screen, especially for using as a pdf reader. I haven't come across any gadget better than a computer for reading pdfs yet.

[Gen List Lass]

Interesting range of replies...

I don't have a Kindle or Smartphone, I download the ebooks to my notebook PC.

The problem I have is actually reading the downloads. I wear varifocals and find by the time I have read to the end of each line, I have lost my place for the beginning of the next line.

I can get around this by changing the text into Word and making shorter columns but this seems a little long winded.

I've just been speaking to someone who prints out his ebooks and his book binder wife, binds them nicely for him to read. Lucky man!

Gen in NBL England

[Calverley Lad]

If your problem is just an eyesight thing, (I have the same problem) I got some cheap reading specs which I only use for the computer.
 Brian