TEXTBOOKS in the
21ST CENTURY
A Discussion
Master Teachers Guild
April 2012
Paradigm Changes
Who is using e-Textbooks?
Surveys:
• Pearson Foundation 2012
– Tablet ownership among
college students has more
than tripled from a year
ago.
– A majority of college
students now prefer to
read digital books
• Student Monitor 2011
– 5% bought e-textbooks in
2010
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2011 2012
Options for PRINT Textbooks
• New or Used:
– Buy
• Bookstores (e.g., Matthews)
• E-bookstores (e.g. VitalSource)
– Rent
• Rent a print book (new or used) for contracted time
periods; uses express mail
• e.g. BookRenter.com, or Chegg.com
• Compare prices (e.g., BigWords.com)
Sources: Publishers
• Publishers’ on-line material
– Most have electronic content that supplements the
print textbook (via scratch-off passwords/CDs)
• E.g. Elsevier’s StudentConsult
• But some sell true e-textbooks (but not many
medical titles so far)
– Elsevier’s Pageburst
– Thieme’s E-library (20 titles)
– Lippincott/W & W’s Inkling
• Informal survey of publishers in 2012: trying
multiple formats; not moving too fast
• “let the end-user decide”
Sources of e-Textbooks:
e-Vendors & Consortia
• Amazon
• Apple
– iBooks 2 textbook platform: McGrawHill, Pearson,
Houghton (undergraduates)
• Consortium: Five publishers in “CourseSmart”
– e.g., Mark’s Biochemistry
• Some will sell a single chapter (Inkling)
• Sell to individual subscriptions or institutional
licenses
Library
(Learning Resources Center)
• Access Med
– Link to e-textbooks
– Many of Lange’s medical textbooks are available
– e.g., Harrison’s Medicine on-line
• MD Consult
– Link to e-textbooks
– e.g., Robbins Pathology on-line
• More emphasis on reference works and manuals
than textbooks
Library
• Cost issues
• Usage stats*
– Total electronic usage of electronic Harrison’s,
1/1/12 to 3/21/12 = 1652
– Total circulation usage of print Harrison’s, 1/1/12
to 3/21/12 = 15
• Future of library and bookstore
* Scott Thomson
Sources: “Free”
• “FreeBooks4Doctors”
• e.g. Stryer Biochem. ‘02; Jakubowski biochem e-Text
• Not many titles in English
• “FlatWorld Knowledge” (few titles)
• PDF files scanned from originals
– No interactive features
• Copyright issues
– Provenance?
Sources: Pirates
• TouchTextbooks
• BitTorrent
• Protocol for peer-to-peer sharing of downloads
• “…all students have this”
• BitTorrent Trackers
– e.g. Demonoid = site in the Balkans: get free downloads
• Compliance Office
• Information Technology
E-Authors
• You can self-author your custom textbook
using software that uses file-types that are
used by e-readers (e.g. EPUB)
• e.g., Woods Hole marine ecology course
• Several course contributors used a wiki approach to
combine lectures notes and images, and created an
iPad app – no royalties, but counts for promotions
• If you already have a print textbook, the
publisher may also offer an e-version, and the
royalty arrangement may differ.
Other Universities
• E-readers pre-loaded with all textbooks
– e.g., an iPad pre-loaded with textbooks is part of
tuition & fees
– Universities negotiate for volume discounts
– But students resent limitation of hardware choices
• Textbook bundling to reduce costs
– But bundles may contain unwanted books
RESEARCH
• Folb (2011) Health Library at Pitt: survey
– Use of e-books = 55%
• 21% faculty assigned an e-book for class
• 86% of interns, residents, fellows used an e-book to support
clinical care.
– Prefer PRINT for texts and manuals; prefer ELECTRONIC for
reference books, research protocols, & pharmaceuticals.
• Heaviest users used both
• Cal State and Nature Publishing Group
– Side-by-side comparison of old and new textbooks
– Ongoing – no data yet
E-Textbooks: Pros & Cons
• Advantages:
• Extra features, annotating & indexing, light weight, fast
updates, costs, fast switching between texts, ecological,
interactive use in classroom.
• Disadvantages:
• Variations in readers, ephemeral & no resale, damage
or loss of readers, costs, ecological.
CONCLUSIONS
• Change is already here
• Individual faculty solutions versus institutional
decisions
• Issues of cost and intellectual property
DISCUSSION
Summary of topics:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Print vs electronic
Publishers
Library & bookstore roles
Sources, legal & illegal
Authoring e-books
Individual vs institutional solutions
Research on e-texts
Pros/Cons