The Army is pushing knowledge to the point of need by making e-Publications, or EPUB, available for download to soldiers’ mobile devices.
Doctrinal publications are accessible as Portable Document Formats, also known as PDFs, on personal computers and some mobile devices, but viewing them on mobile devices is less than optimal.
The Army was expected to have converted many of its doctrinal publications to an EPUB format by the end of last month. The move makes it easier to read the documents on computer tablets and smart phones. Depending on the device’s sophistication, users can bookmark, highlight and insert notes on the publications.
Doctrinal publications, including the Army Doctrine Reference Publication, or ADRP 1, the Army Profession are available at the Army Publishing Directorate in both PDF and EPUB formats. The FM-6-22, Leader Development, will also be converted.
Some soldiers have been spending their own money purchasing publications from online services or, they’ve found out-of-date Army publications on the Internet.
“Soldiers deserve to have the most current authenticated material at their fingertips when it’s needed and without spending their hard-earned paychecks,” said Remily, who leads the Fort Eustis, Virginia, organization responsible for the move to electronic publishing.
In addition to EPUBs, select doctrinal manuals will be available as e2Book Doctrine Supplements. These publications will have videos, animations and other imbedded multimedia. You can find the first e2Book, ADRP 1 Doctrine Supplement on the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic website and the Central Army Registry, or CAR.
Preparing publications for e-publishing is a complicated task. Remily’s team had to ensure that the publications were compatible with Android, Apple and Windows devices. The e-publishing effort will greatly increase the accessibility of publications and will reduce printing costs as e-publication gains more readers.
“These innovations will immerse the individual in the content and improve learning by increasing understanding and retention, which improves performance,” Remily said.
From the Defense Department’s Armed with Science blog, please go to http://science.dodlive.mil/.