An audience member at The Affinity Lab Morning Report: The Future of Publishing panel asked, “what’s a book, what’s not a book?” In response a panelist asked if the Odyssey was a book? An audience member chimed in with, is Wikipedia was a book (yes, you can get a Wikipedia book…sorta)?
According to dictionary.com, a book is,
- a written or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
- a number of sheets of blank or ruled paper bound together for writing, recording business transactions, etc.
- a division of a literary work, especially one of the larger divisions.
According to wikipedia.com, a book is,
a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of ink, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page. A book produced in electronic format is known as an electronic book (e-book).
In the end, the panelists concurred, the determination of what is or isn’t a book has less to do with the binding or e-reader and more to do with whether or not the person doing the reading considers it a book.
What say you? What do you think a book is?
