E-Textbooks

With the cost of textbooks soaring, many colleges and universities are looking to alternatives to the traditional paper text. The electronic textbook field is still emerging, and higher education is experimenting with the concept in various modes. Explore this resource site—a collection of all EDUCAUSE resources related to E-Textbooks.

EDUCAUSE and Internet2 E-Text Pilots

EDUCAUSE and Internet2 are implementing a series of e-text pilot efforts with colleges and universities to evaluate technologies and business models in the fast evolving migration from traditional textbooks to electronic content. Learn More >

E-Texts Constituent Group

Intended for general discussion in addition to news about the pilot, the E-Texts Constituent Group discusses the rapidly evolving domain of digital textbooks, multimedia supplements, tutorial websites, e-reader/annotation software, and related materials. Learn More >

New Resources

7 Things You Should Know About the Evolution of the Textbook, ELI 7 Things, April 2012. This resource examines a new breed of rich-media publishing tools that offer an evolving set of opportunities both for the creation process and for the kinds of resources that can be produced.
Developing a Digital Textbook Strategy for Your Campus, Florida Distance Learning Consortium, February 2012. This one-day symposium examined institution and state level digital textbook initiatives, including national trends and prevailing models for both publisher digital textbooks and open textbooks.
eTexts: A Perishable Opportunity for Higher Education?, EDUCAUSE Live!, January 24, 2012 - This EDUCAUSE Live! program addressd the strategic, business, and policy implications for institutions in light of a changing world of consumer electronics and new models for digital educational resources such as eTexts, website tutorials, and other licensed content.

Articles, Papers, and Reports

A Study of Four Textbook Distribution Models, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, December 2011. In preparation for campus-wide e-text adoption, Daytona State College completed a two-year comparative study of four textbook distribution models: print purchase, print rental, e-text rental, and e-text rental with e-reader device.
Digital Texts and the Future of Education: Why Books?, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, March 2011. Abilene Christian University and GYLO partnered to investigate student attitudes and perceptions of the impact of using a mobile device as a supplemental tool for teaching statistics.
7 Things You Should Know About Open Textbook Publishing, ELI 7 Things, March 2011. Open textbooks can be offered by commercial publishers or found in open repositories. Open resources can promote active learning through student interaction with the text, particularly when they contribute to authorship.
A Cover to Cover Solution: How Open Textbooks are the Path to Textbook Affordability, Student PIRGs, September 2010. This report evaluates cost-reducing options from the traditional textbook market—rentals, e-books and e-readers—and open textbooks as potential next steps to reduce the high cost of textbooks.
E-Textbooks: “An Interesting Ride”, EDUCAUSE Review, March/April 2010. An interview conducted at the EDUCAUSE 2009 Annual Conference about the use of digital textbooks in higher education.
E-Books in Higher Education: Are We There Yet?, ECAR Research Bulletin, January 2010. This ECAR research bulletin presents an update to the rapidly changing e-book and e-textbook landscape and provides some higher education stakeholders with a clearer view of the road ahead.
A Campus-Wide E-Textbook Initiative, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, July 2009. This article focuses on the process that Northwest Missouri State University followed in studying the feasibility of transitioning from the rental of traditional textbooks to the rental of e-textbooks, along with the extensive integration of e-textbooks across the university’s academic environment.

Presentations, Podcasts, Seminars, and Videos

Got Open Textbook? ELI Online Fall Focus Session, September 2011. This session speaker discusses resource discovery, implementation issues, and the pros and cons of using open-source materials and concludes with some recommendations applicable for any stage of open-source resource adoption.
Textbook Affordability: Emerging Solutions in Ohio, ELI Web Seminar, March 2011. This webinar discusses why textbook costs have skyrocketed; how textbook costs impact students, faculty, and institutions; and current initiatives by the University System of Ohio to address textbook affordability and learning outcomes.
Digital Content in Higher Education—Practical Findings, ELI Web Seminar, March 2011. This webinar provides an overview of the digital textbook landscape as it currently exists and a glimpse into the emerging trends that will shape higher education digital content in the near future.

EDUCAUSE Staff Picks

7 Things You Should Know About the Evolution of the Textbook, ELI 7 Things, April 2012. This resource examines a new breed of rich-media publishing tools that offer an evolving set of opportunities both for the creation process and for the kinds of resources that can be produced.
eTexts: A Perishable Opportunity for Higher Education?, EDUCAUSE Live!, January 24, 2012 - This EDUCAUSE Live! program addressd the strategic, business, and policy implications for institutions in light of a changing world of consumer electronics and new models for digital educational resources such as eTexts, website tutorials, and other licensed content.
A Study of Four Textbook Distribution Models, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, December 2011. In preparation for campus-wide e-text adoption, Daytona State College completed a two-year comparative study of four textbook distribution models: print purchase, print rental, e-text rental, and e-text rental with e-reader device.
7 Things You Should Know About Open Textbook Publishing, ELI 7 Things, March 2011. Open textbooks can be offered by commercial publishers or found in open repositories. Open resources can promote active learning through student interaction with the text, particularly when they contribute to authorship.

Library Items on this Topic

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EDUCAUSE Library Items for E-Textbooks

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Computer-Related Incidents in Colleges and Universities: Factors and Categorization: January 1, 2004

This presentation provides preliminary findings from the first phase of the Computer Incident Factor Analysis and Categorization (CIFAC) project, exploring the relationship between job responsibili…
Helping Faculty Hurdle Barriers: How Two Disparate Departments Collaborate to Support Teaching with Technology at UNH: January 1, 2004

According to Butler and Sellbom (2002), the three most common barriers faculty face when attempting to adopt technology are unreliability, learning curve, and impact on learning. Learn how the Univ…
Virtual Reference Desk Online Proceedings 2003: January 1, 2003

The VRD 2003 Online Proceedings offers presentations, handouts, models, papers, and other materials presented at the VRD 2003 Digital Reference Conference in San Antonio, TX, on November 17-18, 200…
CampusEAI: MyCase, A Community-Source Portal Strategy: January 1, 2003

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) needed to cost-effectively integrate its enterprise applications and databases in real time to provide better teaching, learning, and research services. After…
Using Open Source Tools: January 1, 2003

Open-source firewalls offer significant cost savings and flexibility over commercial solutions, yet they also present new challenges in both deployment and operation. The session will focus on miti…
Digital Rights Management 2003 Conference papers and resources: January 1, 2003

This site consists of papers, articles, and other resources from the 2003 Digital Rights Management Conference. This site consists of papers, articles,…
The 2nd International Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Systems (IPTPS '03)Proceedings: January 1, 2003

The goal of this workshop is to examine peer-to-peer technologies, applications and systems, and also to identify key research issues and challenges that lie ahead. In the context of this workshop,…
CAUSE 1993 Proceedings: January 1, 1993

The Proceedings of the 1993 CAUSE Annual Conference. The Proceedings of the 1993 CAUSE Annual Conference. …
CAUSE 1994 Proceedings: January 1, 1994

Many of the papers presented at CAUSE94 are available through these electronic proceedings. Many of the papers presented at CAUSE94 are available throu…
CAUSE 1995 Proceedings: January 1, 1995

The Proceedings of the 1995 CAUSE Annual Conference. The Proceedings of the 1995 CAUSE Annual Conference. …