Some say that print books are an endangered medium-that their future is on the line. Whether that future will be completely online remains to be seen. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and manuals are obvious candidates for databases and hypertext searching. At the same time, a reference book such as Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell s exhaustive print list of leveled books is an unlikely candidate for an electronic database because it demands portability-for frequent checking of titles on a shelf, for reference to the word count after completing a running record, and for convenient access when organizing a literacy program for the first time. There are other compelling reasons for print.
Bound volumes maintain the author s orderly, coherent structure.
Similarly, Toni Buzzeo has created a planning guide for author, illustrator, and storyteller visits. 8 Information bound in print makes sense for such titles because the linearity of the text is preserved. Words and ideas that demand careful reading are satisfying and sensible in print volumes. For example, a handbook of analysis, context, and criticism of works of literature from developing nations is more accessible as a book. 10 Lastly, a series of essays from a conference and a volume with a governing thesis about the connections between Shakespearian plays and contemporary books are best served as print volumes because they assume a reflective reader, annotating and speculating.