TEXTBOOKS in the21ST CENTURY

A DiscussionMaster 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

20102011 2012

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

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