Quick guide to E-Book formats
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Comparison of E-book FormatsWikipedia - most likely to be updated regularly!
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azwAmazon's propietary DRM restricted format.
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epubAn open e-book standard created by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). It features reflowable text, inline images and the ability to use Digital Rights Management (DRM) such as Adobe Digital Editions. Google E-Books use epub. This is the most compatible format.
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pdfA document sharing format created in the early 90s. It is best for highly formatted content and has the ability to use Digital Rights Management (DRM) such as Adobe Digital Editions.
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prc (mobi)The Mobipocket e-book format based on the Open eBook standard using XHTML; can include JavaScript and frames. It also supports native SQL queries to be used with embedded databases. There is a corresponding e-book reader.
E-Reader Comparison Chart
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E-book Readers and Devices : File Formats and SpecsNOTE: Devices are listed by size. Scroll down for the bigger devices.
ePub Resources
ePub is the most common and most compatible format of E-books
Acknowledgement
Thanks to both Elisabeth Tully (Phillips Academy) and Julia Daniel Walkuski (Univ. of Michigan) who contributed to the concept upon which this guide is based, and identified several of the resources that it contains. Also MIT, Penn State and Virginia Tech Libraries