E-BOOKS AND E-TEXTBOOKS

Possibilities and pitfalls of academic digital monographs

Focus on Teaching and Learning

Loyola University ChicagoSpring 2012

Tara Radniecki&

Niamh McGuigan

E-BOOKS

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

1971: Project GutenbergInternet as a syndication tool100th e-book in 1994Over 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

1996: Internet Archive2,355,344 items in text collection (as of 1/11/12)

1998: NetLibrary is the first commercial publisher

2004: Google Book Project

2011: Amazon sells more e-books than print

PRINT: ADVANTAGES

Print is easy to use: No power or Internet connection required

Nothing can break, crash, shut down, become unresponsive

No need for accounts or passwords

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:

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)

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:

Libraries face many unknowns in preserving e-books

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 printCost: In the library world, e-books usually cost

more than print books E-books can also come with hidden

administrative costs

ACADEMIC E-BOOKS

Content type varies: Reference to fiction to serials to anthologies to technical manuals and more.

Loyola ended FY2011 with over 350,000 e-books Continues to grow with patron driven acquisition

and subject specialist collection development

E-books @ Loyola University Libraries E-books Subject Guide

SCHOLARLY E-BOOKS: POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE

University presses are exploring new models:

Institutionally supported open access publishing

Free online/pay for print Digital Culture at University of Michigan

University Press e-books consortiaProject Muse and JSTOR

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

TEXTBOOKS: CHARACTERISTICS

Content Dense, complex ideas A small slice of a much larger topic/discipline Images: tables, illustrations, etc

Format Chapters & Sections: digestible portions Indexes: Allows for quick reference work Built-in Study Aids: summaries, quizzes, further

readings

ALL IMPORTANT FORMAT

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

Bookmarking Highlighting Making notes Flipping back and forth

Research says print may support a higher quality reading experience Students often report they do not retain the

information as easily reading from a screen.

PRINT TEXTBOOKS: DISADVANTAGES

Lengthy publication schedule for textbooks 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 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?

Experimentation: 2000-2003 Textbook publishers created non-PDF, non-

standard, custom-reader products No market and technology could not support

them

Early Markets: 2004-2006 Many publishers returned to PDF format Flash became a predominant technology

WHERE ARE WE & HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Proliferation & Integration: 2007-2008 Cost of e-textbook production drops Major publishers support multiple formats &

readers XML becomes more prominent

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.

WHERE ARE WE & HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Standards & Disaggregated Distribution: 2012-2014

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

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 pre-defined searches in library databases

E-TEXTBOOKS: THE FUTURE

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. E-textbooks save many students only $1

(chronicle.com)

E-TEXTBOOK OPTIONS

LOYOLA’S E-TEXTBOOKS

CourseSmart

Major textbook publishers, including Pearson,McGraw-Hill, and John Wiley & Sons launched CourseSmart in 2007

More than 20,000 digital titles

Available from University Bookstore

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

Cost About half the price of a new hardcover

OPEN MODEL

Aims to bring students free, or inexpensive, e-textbooks by using or creating open-access educational materials

OPEN MODEL

Washington State: Open Course Library

Funded by Washington state legislation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Faculty course designers selected through bid process

Resources for 42 courses

Students pay no more than $30

OPEN MODEL

University of Massachusetts at Amherst: Open Education Initiative

University funded: 10 faculty grants

Created and used freely accessible materials

Worked closely with Library to integrate subscription online sources & create hosting platform

Estimated to save 700 students $72,000 in 2011-2012

OPEN MODEL

Flatworld Knowledge Company recruits scholars to build peer-reviewed

texts

Creative Commons license allows anyone to edit and customize

Currently 3,000 instructor users

55 e-textbooks available

VENDOR LEVEL CUSTOMIZATION

AcademicPub Arranges payment of royalties and compiles

material for publication

~ E-text for $15, print for $27, hardcover for $45

2 million items of content from 75 publishers

Instructors can pull in any open web content

VENDOR LEVEL CUSTOMIZATION

McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Create Allows instructors pick and choose from the

company’s textbooks

Macmillan Publishers: DynamicBooks Allows instructors to add freely available content

to their existing e-titles

KNO Non-customizable

Rented 6 months, some can be purchased

Available on web, iPad or Facebook

Over 100,000 titles

Cost Renting: ½ the purchase price Purchase: Varies, but more expensive than

hardcover print version

KNO: FEATURES

Journal Transfer any highlights, pictures, stickies or notes from your

textbook into a digital notebook.

Pen Quiz Me

Turns any diagram in your textbook or PDFs into an instant quiz

Smart Links Maps instructional videos, images, and photos to formulas &

concepts in your book – includes Khan Academy

Kno 3D  Lets you rotate, spin and zoom objects

Dropbox Integration

INKLING

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

Less Search Search text, glossary, and personal notes

Test Prep Images, audio, video Social features

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 Radnieckitradniecki@luc.edutwitter.com/tradniecki

Niamh McGuigannmcguigan@luc.edu