Purpose This paper provides an analysis of the current state of the art in e-books, and attempts both to set the scene and provide reasons for their low uptake. MethodologyThe different approaches to e-books of academic librarians, authors, publishers and readers are considered, using the results of a recent survey commissioned by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). Findings and ValueThe findings of this study make it clear that those who know about e-books see them as potentially useful tools. However, a number of users of ICT resources are still unaware of e-books even when their academic libraries' e-book holdings is high. The lack of promotion from within the university, particularly from the academics, and to a certain extent from the librarians, is indeed a major reason for this knowledge gap. Practical implicationsPublishers, e-book providers and aggregators, academics and intermediaries (i.e., librarians and information specialists) should concentrate on raising awareness of what is available and what are the advantages related to e-books for specific categories of users. At the same time e-book suppliers should make e-books easier to find and purchase. Crucially, both the research and commercial development communities have to address these major issues:• Definition of common bench marks for research to progress; • User-centred design as a paradigm; • Better and stronger links with all stakeholders. This paper will offer a stepping stone for all parties interested in moving forwards to achieve this common goal.

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Although women now vote in national elections at the same rate as men, they are still less politically interested. Using regression analysis and two new scales to tap an orientation toward women's place in the public arena (Traditional Feminine Role Scale) and political interest (Political Apathy Scale), this article seeks to test the utility of the three standard explanations for women's political orientations (situational, structural, and sex-role socialization) in understanding the continuing "gender gap" in political interest. Other than education, situational and structural factors are found to have minimal explanatory capacity. Aside from education, political dispositions far outstrip situational and structural factors as predictors of attentiveness. Strongest support for the impact of socialization is provided by the different predictors of interest among different age groups. Among women under 30 education is less important as a predictor than is partisanship. Among women over 45, the Traditional Feminine Role Scale emerges as an increasingly important predictor as they age. We also report different motivations behind men's and women's decisions to vote or to abstain.

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Although scholars have long known that most Americans are woefully ignorant of foreign affairs (Almond 1960; Kriesberg 1949), they are uncertain about how the U.S. public's knowledge of international politics compares to that of people in other countries. We address this uncertainty with a study of citizens' knowledge of foreign affairs in five western democracies: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and the United States. The focus is on the roles each country's mass media play in the process by which citizens learn about international politics. The study found that Germans are the most knowledgeable about international politics, citizens in Britain, Canada, and France displayed moderate knowledge, and Americans had the least knowledge. We conclude that people learn about foreign affairs due to their opportunity, defined by their location in the social structure, and their motivation, indexed by attention paid to news accounts of world politics. The better educated and more politically attentive citizens also proved to be more informed in each country, whereas citizens who most often watched popular television entertainment programs proved to be less informed about foreign affairs.