I'm a professor too, and I know about those citation formats. Some of them are for online e-books, which can be easily checked or searched with a browser. You usually use this when you have no other choice.

You can't browse an iPad or kindle version in the same way, where the page number can vary not only according to the zoom level but also according to the chosen portrait/landscape orientation(which is an absurd).

My biggest gripe is again the lack of consistent page numbers. You can't distribute reading assignments easily, when some have printed books, some Kindles and other iPads. Once I had to take home a kindle from this graduate student so that I could check his interpretation over multiple passages. Didn't like the experience. How many readers I''ll have to take home next time?

The solution I pointed above would be easier: just indicate where there's a page break in the text, no matter zoom level or device orientation. You could have "fake" page numbers in the bottom, but on the sides, we would have the "original" page number for the edition where the e-book was based upon.

I'm not saying you can't use e-books, but use common sense. Don't use it for graduate level assignments, or any work where you think you'll be citing A LOT from. Don't use it when you disagree with the canonical interpretation of that work. Casual references are fine, sometimes you're just showing off your research anyway.

Stick to the canonical interpretation, and avoid citing controversial passages - of course people will think: "did the author REALLY said this? huh. Interesting, who knew? Where was that again? Let me check my copy. Oh, I can't, I don't have the exact page..." IMHO, it won't make you look serious, even if you follow all the above guidelines.

But thanks for posting all this, I'm sure it will help a lot.

thanks for further explanation - I had obviously missed the point you were trying to make!

When it comes to comes to writing essays, I will tale your advice into consideration and limit my reliance on e -books for reference material.

The website "Son of Citation Machine" can help you out with any citation problem you have. Simply enter the type of citation you need, fill in the blanks that appear, and it will present you with a properly formatted citation that you can cut and paste into your paper. It's a real boon if you write a lot of papers.

Son of Citation Machine

Originally Posted by USBill

The Kindle reader now thinks I have three iPads!

I know this is an old question and hopefully you have figured it out by now, but just in case...

Go to your account at Amazon and select Manage Your Kindle. Scroll down a bit and you will see a list of all your registered devices. This is where you can de-register the ones you are no longer using.

Gizmodo today (link):

The upcoming update for last year's Kindle will add real page numbers, plus public notes and newspaper/magazine layout tweaks. Real page numbers means you can actually share where you're at in a book (also good for class assignments). [Kindle]

From Amazon:

Real Page Numbers – Our customers have told us they want real page numbers that match the page numbers in print books so they can easily reference and cite passages, and read alongside others in a book club or class. Rather than add page numbers that don’t correspond to print books, which is how page numbers have been added to e-books in the past, we’re adding real page numbers that correspond directly to a book’s print edition. We’ve already added real page numbers to tens of thousands of Kindle books, including the top 100 bestselling books in the Kindle Store that have matching print editions and thousands more of the most popular books. Page numbers will also be available on our free “Buy Once, Read Everywhere” Kindle apps in the coming months.

Kudos to Amazon. I'm going to buy a Kindle, now, definitely.

EXACTLY what I was pointing at in my review. Your turn, Apple!

Originally Posted by Ripplinghurst

Gizmodo today (link):

The upcoming update for last year's Kindle will add real page numbers, plus public notes and newspaper/magazine layout tweaks. Real page numbers means you can actually share where you're at in a book (also good for class assignments). [Kindle]

From Amazon:

Real Page Numbers – Our customers have told us they want real page numbers that match the page numbers in print books so they can easily reference and cite passages, and read alongside others in a book club or class. Rather than add page numbers that don’t correspond to print books, which is how page numbers have been added to e-books in the past, we’re adding real page numbers that correspond directly to a book’s print edition. We’ve already added real page numbers to tens of thousands of Kindle books, including the top 100 bestselling books in the Kindle Store that have matching print editions and thousands more of the most popular books. Page numbers will also be available on our free “Buy Once, Read Everywhere” Kindle apps in the coming months.

Kudos to Amazon. I'm going to buy a Kindle, now, definitely.

EXACTLY what I was pointing at in my review. Your turn, Apple!

Thanks for the update. Perhaps I can finally start using electronic versions for my book club reading now.

Another professor (emeritus, that is) checking in!

My biggest complaint about ebooks is in the technical area. Google, or whomever, is extremely sloppy in scanning in technical books: the math equations often show up as gobbledygook and figures are missing. I've even seen fingers and large portions of hands as shadows where the person scanning the book was too careless.

That said, I love reading ebook fiction on both my iPad and my Nook.

would be interesting to know if it syncs with media monkey!

Thanks for the review. This helped me to know about what i have to expect about my new iPad

Regards to the textbook issue:

I imagine that one could search for a figure or chapter number, a title would also work. We're used to page numbers, but that's because formatted pages are ubiquitous. Figure 37.5 in a textbook will still be figure 37.5 in an ebook. Right?

These would have been SO great when I was in massage school!