So often words are spoken that we have heard but really do not understand their meaning. For many these words just become part of our vocabulary without finding their true meaning. In the eBook world this can be unusually confusing. Below are some of the most popular words associated with the eBook world and their meaning.

Adobe Acrobat & Acrobat Reader
Acrobat is Adobe's software for viewing Portable Document Format (PDF) files. PDF has become one of the most commonly used ebook formats but the formatting does not always work well with eBook Readers.

DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI ) is an identification system for intellectual property in the digital environment. Developed by the International DOI Foundation on behalf of the publishing industry, its goals are to provide a framework for managing intellectual content, link customers with publishers, facilitate electronic commerce, and enable automated copyright management.

DRM (Digital Rights Management)
Digital Rights Management (DRM) covers the description, identification, trading, protection, monitoring and tracking of all forms of rights usages over both tangible and intangible assets including management of rights holders.

eBook
Electronic Book ~ eBooks can be anything from the digital version of a paper book, to more interactive content that includes hyperlinks and multimedia.

EBX (Electronic Book Exchange)
The EBX Working group was developed to create a standard (EBX) for protecting copyright in electronic books and for distributing electronic books among publishers, distributors, retailers, libraries, and consumers.

Encryption
A method used to translate digital information into a code that cannot be accessed without the necessary secret password or key that unencrypts it.

Electronic Paper
Is a relatively new concept that most of eBook Readers use today. E-Ink is another term for electronic paper. Displays the images on a screen as if it is a piece of paper, thus eliminating eye strain.

ePublisher
An epublisher is much the same as a traditional publisher, except that epublishers. Like most publishers, the epublisher would usually pay the author royalties, as well as edit the work.

ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
A 10-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally.

LCD (liquid crystal display)
A type of display used in most PDAs (like Palm, Windows CE & Pocket PCs). Desktop machines typically use CRT (cathode-ray tube) screens. LCD displays work by passing an electric current through the liquid causing the crystals to align, allowing light to pass through or to be blocked from getting through.

OEB (Open eBook)
OEB usually refers to the Open eBook Publication Structure specification. This specification for eBook file and format structure is based on HTML and XML, the languages used to create information for Web sites.

OEBF (Electronic Book Forum)
The OEBF was formed to create and maintain standards and promote the successful adoption of electronic books.

POD (Print on demand)
Print on demand is seen by many to have a promising future as traditional printing methods become unprofitable when doing small print runs (less than a thousand or two books) -- printing books as they are required, instead of printing and then hoping the demand is there. Theoretically this could mean that books never go out of print, because tools exist to simply print more in a very automated fashion (be it one copy or one thousand). POD is supposed to make it faster, easier and cheaper to print books than traditional methods.

Reader
What else? A person who reads ebooks.

Reading device
A reading device is the hardware a user uses to read an ebook.

Reflow
Reflow is a commonly used term to describe the way the content of a page can resize (or reflow) to fit the size of the screen displaying the content. What this means for the ebook devices and software that supports reflowing is that the reader is able to alter the size of the text on the screen to suit their preferences -- the text of the page resizes meaning more or less will be displayed on the screen.

Download
The process of copying a file from the Internet onto your hard drive. The length of time needed to download a file depends on the size of the eBook you order and the speed of your computer's modem.

DRM
Digital rights management (DRM) systems help protect the copyright of materials by defining how the content can be used. These rights are determined by the publishers.

eBook Reader
A software program or hardware device that allows you to read a book in electronic form. eBook readers present the text in a way that is as easy to read as printed books and offer features like built-in dictionaries to enhance the reading experience.

Encryption
The process by which the text in an eBook file is rendered unreadable to everyone but the person who has paid for the eBook. .

p-Book
The term used by the digital world to describe books in print form. eBooks are digital and p-books are printed and bound.

Public Domain Title
Any book for which the copyright has expired -- usually a book published before the 1920s. Public domain eBooks are generally encrypted at a lower level of security.

Hope this helps you with some of the most common words used in the eBook industry.