E-Books

Ithaka's 2006 survey of faculty members sought to determine their attitudes related to online resources, electronic archiving, teaching and learning and related subjects.  This study affords the opportunity to develop trend analysis of many measurements collected in the 2003 and 2000 faculty surveys. As in the past, Ithaka developed a robust set of disciplinary and other demographic analyses that have allowed them to learn more about how best to serve the needs of different types of faculty members. Findings include;

Predicting when e-textbooks will become a viable alternative to the dead-tree variety churned from printing presses to millions of college students a year is a bit like asking whether newspapers will give way to the Internet. Everyone thinks they will, but it’s a question of when, and what the new paradigm will look like.

Would-be reformers are trying to beat the high cost -- and, they say, the dumbing down -- of college materials by writing or promoting open-source, no-cost online texts.

The Gutenberg-e project was created as a bold experiment to explore whether peer-reviewed, born-digital monographs would alter the way historical scholarship is presented, whether scholars would receive the same professional credit for these publications as they would from work published in print, and whether the project would enable the publication of monographs that would otherwise be turned down for financial reasons by university presses. The project has a history that includes both exciting breakthroughs and significant challenges. A number of the authors have created completely new models of collaboration in the scholarly communication process as well as new models of historical scholarship and narrative. We have come to understand that e-books require a significant level of investment in both editorial and technical staff time in order to create publications that reach their full potential as works of digital scholarship. We have also learned that integrating and sustaining this work within a collaborative publishing, library, and technology organization presents significant challenges and great opportunities.

What is the reality with respect to e-books? Will e-books finally take off? After nearly two decades of talking about how e-books are right around the corner, have we finally reached the corner?

E-text readers designed for use in higher education will reduce textbook pricing and address environmental concerns.

The issues addressed in this article are not about the E-Book market outcome, but the factors influencing the process of E-Book adoption.

This ECAR research bulletin examines the hype and the reality of e-books in higher education. Some experts predict that 2007-2009 will be transition years for the higher education e-book market, with large growth expected in both digital textbooks and digital library collections. Publishers and campuses alike are exploring the use of e-books and other forms of digital content. Are we approaching the tipping point in e-book usage on college campuses from occasional oddity to a mainstream technology?

Citation for this work: Nelson, Mark, R. "E-Books in Higher Education: Nearing the End of the Era of Hype?" (Research Bulletin, Issue 1). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.