gets to see and make notes on their own copy of the document. These advantages are seen particularly with individual articles (perhaps downloaded and printed), but even
with large books, the medium is readily manipulated and
does little to impede the social interaction between people.
The readers can sit in whatever space is available, without
being constrained by the technology, and with minimal physical intrusion from the reading medium. While these benefits enhance the collaborative experience, however, they
do give rise to some practical problems. For example, referencing a specific section can be tricky - the reader who is
guiding their colleagues to a particular place must identify
its physical location, and this can give rise to co-ordination
problems. A second issue is that the readers' individual
notes are separate and sharing ideas can lead to considerable duplication of effort.