[OP]
Contributor
Footnotes
I’m reading a book with many footnotes. If I’m interested in a particular footnote I have to go to the back of the book and look up the footnote. Why can’t the footnote be on the bottom of the page I’m reading? It will do two things: allow me to save time going back and forth in the book and, more importantly, read the relevant footnote.
Dennis
Contributor
At one time footnotes were indeed at the bottom (foot) of the page. They are now called endnotes and may be at the end of a Chapter, or (more typically) at the end of the book. This change began in the 1980s.Originally Posted by dennis thompson
The change was driven in part (a big part imo) by cost. For a printed book the typesetting had to be altered for a footnote. If a change was made in the main text, typeset had to be changed again.
I can't speak for eBooks.... I avoid them altogether.
It really came down to convenience (cost) to the publisher vs reader convenience. Publishers won.
And FWIW I am very pro- footnote and anti- endnote. I dislike endnotes with a passion for the very reason you state.
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What Patty mentions is pretty true, although unlike her, I only read e-books.
Now a good solution is to just read fiction. Footnotes/endnotes are rare, although some authors do provide additional content with similar references.
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Unless it is a technical reference book with diagrams I tend to only read e-books although this is mitigated a bit because I usually read at night, often in bed, and an illuminated e-reader beats a paper book. They are also lighter and the middle of a new book is as easy to keep open as any other part of the book. Also, if I come across a word I'm not familiar with I get an easy lookup of the word definition. But that's not the issue here.
Modern word-processing programs can handle foot, chapter-end or book end notes without much work and I imagine the notes are already in place before the printing starts.
I do like foot-notes the best but chapter-end notes ae OK too, end-of-book notes are the least liked. I often don't bother with them unless it is about something that really grabs my attention or doesn't make sense.
Contributor
The Terry Pratchett 'Discworld' books are (in)famous for those: it was where he parked his worst/best puns. In the printed versions they are true footnotes. (I have the full set, so I have no idea how badly they got butchered in the ebooks.)Now a good solution is to just read fiction. Footnotes/endnotes are rare, although some authors do provide additional content with similar references.
I have a few "pop-physics" ebooks (e.g. Brian Greene or Tyson) that are almost unreadable due to the end-notes, so I have sympathy for the OP.
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It could be a printed book is static; an e-book's pagination can usually be modified by font size, etc. which would play havoc with bottom of page footnotes.
Contributor
My simple solution to endnotes is to use two bookmarks.
Finished Bookmark Shooting Board.jpg
They are easy to make from thin pieces of scrap wood.
Some have been made with a hole in them so ribbon(s) can be tied in to mark multiple pages.
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Bookmarks of any sort work and I use them.
That is, I've gotten used to flipping back and forth from text to end notes. But I do not like them.
It was so much easier to just glance down for a minute or two (if that) and then return to the text.
Even with book marks one may still have to move down an entire page looking for the Note Number amidst potentially 30 Notes.
Did I mention that I loath them?
Last edited by Patty Hann; 10-05-2023 at 5:53 PM.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
[OP]
Contributor
I do use two bookmarks, but very often I don’t bother because of the interruption it causes, I’d be much more likely to read them if they were on the bottom of the page
Dennis
Friend of the Creek
For historical books that I am honestly interested in reading, I enjoy the end notes. Indeed, I'll often google or Wikipedia the footnoted points while I'm reading to add context and depth. As a result, it probably takes me 15-30 minutes to read a page, but that is part of the enjoyment of reading about the subject and at the end, I actually know more than I would have, had I only read the text.
Regards,
Tom
Contributor
I like the notes and always read them, wherever they are located. However, I would much, MUCH prefer them to be footnotes and not endnotes.
(I also read any Introductions, Forwards, Prologues, Epilogues, Appendices, and Bibliographies)
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
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Not necessarily. See D.F. Wallace's Infinite Jest.
Now a good solution is to just read fiction. Footnotes/endnotes are rare, although some authors do provide additional content with similar references.
For the best footnotes see judicial rulings, for instance https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...-nys-v-trump-1
[OP]
Contributor
I am reading Michael Lewis’ book, “ Going Infinite” about the FTX fiasco and it actually has footnotes not endnotes !
Dennis
Contributor
I blame foot — Edishists ! Who want to walk all over some some types and bring people to heel. They seem to have No soles.
Last edited by Mel Fulks; 10-22-2023 at 8:51 AM.
Contributor
I prefer real footnotes too. But I read the end notes, and I agree that end notes break the flow of my reading. But whatcha gonna do?
At least in ebooks, the publisher might “link” the end note to the text to make it less of a pain.
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