E-BOOKS AND E-TEXTBOOKS
Possibilities and pitfalls of academic digital monographs
Tara Radniecki
&
Niamh McGuigan
Focus on Teaching and Learning
Loyola University Chicago
Spring 2012
E-BOOKS
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Sales worldwide in 2011: $3.2 billion
Predicted up to 50% of all books sold in the US
will be e-books by 2014
Sales worldwide predicted at $9.7 billion by 2016
2011 Horizon Report name e-books as an
emerging technology poised to enter mainstream
higher education within the year.
HISTORY OF THE E-BOOK
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1971: Project Gutenberg
Internet as a syndication tool
100th e-book in 1994
Over 36,000 titles today
1987: Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University)
1990: Library of Congress begins American Memory
Project
1991: First CERN web servers go online
HISTORY OF THE E-BOOK
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1996: Internet Archive
2,355,344 items in text collection (as of 1/11/12)
1998: NetLibrary is the first commercial
publisher
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2004: Google Book Project
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2011: Amazon sells more e-books than print
PRINT: ADVANTAGES
Print is easy to use:
 No power or Internet connection required
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Nothing can break, crash, shut down, become
unresponsive
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No need for accounts or passwords
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People don’t need to be taught how to use books
PRINT: ADVANTAGES
Clear ownership rights:
 When you own a book, you can do what you want
with that book.
 Lend it to someone else, write in it, carry it
around, use it whenever you want.
Preservation:
 Books are durable
 Books are easy to store
PRINT: ADVANTAGES
Reading Experience:
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Research indicates that print formats may
promote a higher quality reading experience
Books allow physical interaction - note taking,
bookmarking, flipping back and forth
PRINT: DISADVANTAGES
Preservation:
 Despite being durable, books do get worn,
damaged, written in
 Books take up a lot of space
Limited format options:
 Books only contain material that can be printed
on a page
PRINT: DISADVANTAGES
Access:
 One reader at a time
 Time needed for libraries to order and process
books
 Time needed for patrons to retrieve a book from
the stacks
Portability:
 Books are heavy!
E-BOOK: ADVANTAGES
Access:
 Multiple users (in most cases)
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Quick or immediate purchasing and processing
for libraries
Quick or Immediate access for patrons
E-BOOK: ADVANTAGES
Portability:
 There’s no need to carry an e-book around with
you
 In most cases, an e-book can be accessed from
any computer and from different types of devices.
 In many cases, e-books can be loaded onto a
portable device and used without an Internet
connection.
E-BOOK: ADVANTAGES
Reading Experience:
 Searchable
 Format allows inclusion of content in multiple
media
 Potential for more interactivity
 Format allows linking to other resource
E-BOOK: DISADVANTAGES
Not always easy to use:
 Requires a device of some sort - computer, tablet,
e-reader, etc
 Requires Internet access
 Requires a lot of administration in the form of
accounts, passwords, proxy access
 Concerns about e-books and the visually
impaired
 “Digital Divide”
E-BOOK: DISADVANTAGES
Ownership isn’t so clear:
 Restrictions on how e-books can be used
 Limits on the number of users or the number of
uses
 Limits on the ability to print, copy, or download
 Restrictions on what type of patron can use the
book
E-BOOK: DISADVANTAGES
Preservation:
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Libraries face many unknowns in preserving ebooks
Will archived e-book files always be usable?
E-BOOK: DISADVANTAGES
Reading Experience:
 Screen reading may not match print reading
experience
 Many users, including students, prefer long form
reading in print
Cost:
 In the library world, e-books usually cost more
than print books
 E-books can also come with hidden
administrative costs
ACADEMIC E-BOOKS
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Content type varies: Reference to fiction to
serials to anthologies to technical manuals and
more.
Loyola ended FY2011 with over 350,000 e-books
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Continues to grow with patron driven acquisition and
subject specialist collection development
E-books @ Loyola University Libraries
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E-books Subject Guide
SCHOLARLY E-BOOKS:
POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE
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University presses are exploring new models:
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Institutionally supported open access
publishing
Free online/pay for print
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Digital Culture at University of Michigan
University Press e-books consortia
 Project Muse and JSTOR
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SCHOLARLY E-BOOKS:
POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE
E-book creators exploring new formats and content:
Woolf Online
 Mark Twain Project Online
 Rotunda from UVA Press
 Butterflies and Moths of North America
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TEXTBOOKS: CHARACTERISTICS
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Content
Dense, complex ideas
 A small slice of a much larger topic/discipline
 Images: tables, illustrations, etc
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Format
Chapters & Sections: digestible portions
 Indexes: Allows for quick reference work
 Built-in Study Aids: summaries, quizzes, further
readings
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ALL IMPORTANT FORMAT
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With other e-books, consumers are generally
most concerned with getting the same content as
the print counterpart.
With textbooks, the format is just as important.
Structure is need to create a desirable learning
experience.
PRINT TEXTBOOKS: ADVANTAGES
No power or internet required
 Physical Interaction
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Bookmarking
 Highlighting
 Making notes
 Flipping back and forth
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Research says print may support a higher quality
reading experience
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Students often report they do not retain the
information as easily reading from a screen.
PRINT TEXTBOOKS: DISADVANTAGES
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Lengthy publication schedule for textbooks
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Inevitably include outdated information
Passive medium for transmitting information,
requires no active role on the part of the student
Limited by their physical form. Large, heavy, no
multimedia. (O’Shea, Onderdonk, D. Allen, D.W. Allen, 2011)
Expensive
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Average student spends $1168 on course materials
this year (collegeboard.com)
With the disadvantages to print textbooks,
publishers have long tried to utilize technology to
make a better digital version.
WHERE ARE WE & HOW DID WE GET HERE?
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Experimentation: 2000-2003
Textbook publishers created non-PDF, non-standard,
custom-reader products
 No market and technology could not support them
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Early Markets: 2004-2006
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Many publishers returned to PDF format
Flash became a predominant technology
WHERE ARE WE & HOW DID WE GET HERE?
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Proliferation & Integration: 2007-2008
Cost of e-textbook production drops
 Major publishers support multiple formats & readers
 XML becomes more prominent
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Profitability & Social Learning: 2009-2011
For-profit virtual universities (e.g., U of Phoenix)
drive e-textbooks’ growth
 Widespread adoption of mobile devices
 E-textbooks begin to offer multimedia features and
integration within social learning networks.
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WHERE ARE WE & HOW DID WE GET HERE?
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Standards & Disaggregated Distribution: 2012-2014
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Emergence of a common standard textbook XML
Move from a single book to collection of malleable
content assets which can be mashed up with other
digital products
Greater focus on design for smartphone and tablet use
Open textbooks
More integration of social features
(Rob Reynolds, http://blog.xplana.com/2010/09/the-five-waves-of-e-textbooks-in-the-u-s-200-2014/)
E-TEXTBOOKS: THE FUTURE
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Must incorporate dynamic and interactive
features
Social reading features (like Subtext or Readmill)
Tools to highlight, take & share notes, discussion
forums
Embedded links to outside resources, such as predefined searches in library databases
E-TEXTBOOKS: THE FUTURE
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Fully customizable in content and format without
publisher constraints
Integration with online CMS
E-textbooks will be less like books and more like
e-learning environments.
They won’t be cheap.
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E-textbooks save many students only $1 (chronicle.com)
E-TEXTBOOK OPTIONS
LOYOLA’S E-TEXTBOOKS
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CourseSmart
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Major textbook publishers, including
Pearson,McGraw-Hill, and John Wiley & Sons
launched CourseSmart in 2007
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More than 20,000 digital titles
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Available from University Bookstore
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Rental options only
COURSESMART FEATURES
Offline reading (currently in beta)
 Note taking and highlighting ability
 Search features
 Print 10 pages at a time
 Send information from text to classmates
 App
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Cost
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About half the price of a new hardcover
OPEN MODEL
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Aims to bring students free, or inexpensive, etextbooks by using or creating open-access
educational materials
OPEN MODEL
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Washington State: Open Course Library
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Funded by Washington state legislation and the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation
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Faculty course designers selected through bid process
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Resources for 42 courses
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Students pay no more than $30
OPEN MODEL
University of Massachusetts at Amherst:
 Open Education Initiative
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University funded: 10 faculty grants
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Created and used freely accessible materials
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Worked closely with Library to integrate subscription
online sources & create hosting platform
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Estimated to save 700 students $72,000 in 2011-2012
OPEN MODEL
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Flatworld Knowledge
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Company recruits scholars to build peer-reviewed
texts
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Creative Commons license allows anyone to edit and
customize
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Currently 3,000 instructor users
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55 e-textbooks available
VENDOR LEVEL CUSTOMIZATION
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AcademicPub
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Arranges payment of royalties and compiles material
for publication
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~ E-text for $15, print for $27, hardcover for $45
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2 million items of content from 75 publishers
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Instructors can pull in any open web content
VENDOR LEVEL CUSTOMIZATION
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McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Create
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Allows instructors pick and choose from the
company’s textbooks
Macmillan Publishers: DynamicBooks
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Allows instructors to add freely available content to
their existing e-titles
KNO
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Non-customizable
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Rented 6 months, some can be purchased
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Available on web, iPad or Facebook
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Over 100,000 titles
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Cost
Renting: ½ the purchase price
 Purchase: Varies, but more expensive than hardcover
print version
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KNO: FEATURES
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Journal
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Transfer any highlights, pictures, stickies or notes from your
textbook into a digital notebook.
Pen
 Quiz Me
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Smart Links
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Maps instructional videos, images, and photos to formulas &
concepts in your book – includes Khan Academy
Kno 3D
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Turns any diagram in your textbook or PDFs into an instant quiz
Lets you rotate, spin and zoom objects
Dropbox Integration
INKLING
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Creates multimedia e-textbooks versions for the
iPad
Currently 111 publications – new partnerships
with Pearson and McGraw-Hill will grow
Engineers and designers work with content and
education experts to reimagine existing print
textbooks
INKLING FEATURES
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Less Search
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Search text, glossary, and personal notes
Test Prep
 Images, audio, video
 Social features
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Follow others using your book – see their notes &
highlights, have discussions
E-books and E-Textbooks:
Possibilities and pitfalls of academic
digital monographs
Questions?
Tara Radniecki
tradniecki@luc.edu
twitter.com/tradniecki
Niamh McGuigan
nmcguigan@luc.edu