-
Research
and PublicationsStay -
Conferences
and EventsAnnual Conference
October 15–18, 2013
Save the date!Events for all Levels and Interests
Whether you're looking for a conference to attend face-to-face to connect with peers, or for an online event for team professional development, see what's upcoming.
Stay -
Career
DevelopmentEDUCAUSE Institute
Leadership/Management Programs
Explore MoreCareer Center
Leadership and Management Programs
EDUCAUSE Institute
Advanced Programs
Project Management
Jump Start Your Career Growth
Explore EDUCAUSE professional development opportunities that match your career aspirations and desired level of time investment through our interactive online guide.
Stay -
Focus Areas
and InitiativesLatest Topics
EDUCAUSE organizes its efforts around three IT Focus Areas
Join These Programs If Your Focus Is
Stay -
Connect
and ContributeFind Others
Get on the Higher Ed IT Map
Employees of EDUCAUSE member institutions and organizations are invited to create individual profiles.
Stay -
About
EDUCAUSEUncommon Thinking for the Common Good™
EDUCAUSE is the foremost community of higher education IT leaders and professionals.
Stay
Subscribe
Filter by type
Filter by Publications
Filter by Presentations
Filter by Library Taxonomy
- E-Textbooks [x]
- E-Content (104)
- Libraries and Technology (104)
- Information Technology Management and Leadership (62)
- E-Books (41)
- Teaching and Learning (41)
- Openness (34)
- Digital Publishing (28)
- Open Content (24)
- Instructional Technologies (23)
- Open Educational Resources (OER) (22)
- E-Readers (19)
- Distributed Computing (18)
- Institutional Management (18)
- Mobile Computing (18)
- Federal Policy and Law (17)
- Policy and Law (17)
- E-Learning (14)
- Tablets and iPads (12)
- Affordability (10)
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
EDUCAUSE Library Items for E-Textbooks
-
E-Textbooks: "An Interesting Ride"
-
April 15, 2010
© 2010 Paul Musket, Darla Runyon, and Robin Schulze EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 45, no. 2 (March/April 2010): 12-13 Paul Musket ( musketp@missouri.edu ) is Associate Director of t…
-
E-Books on Campus: Are We There Yet?
-
March 9, 2010
|
A session at the NERCOMP Annual Conference 2010
As more and more e-book and e-textbook readers and application are introduced into the market, higher education campuses and libraries are exploring the opportunities to supplement teaching, learni…
-
7 Things You Should Know About E-Readers
-
March 4, 2010
E-readers are portable, low-power, high-resolution devices that display digital versions of written material from books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed sources. They typically use e-ink…
-
Open Education Week Starts Today
-
March 5, 2012
The first-ever “ Open Education Week ” starts today and runs through Friday, March 10. Launched by the Open Courseware Consortium with the participation of nearly 100 colleges, unive…
-
E-Books in Higher Education: Are We There Yet?
-
January 26, 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. As T…
-
The Promise of Accessible Technology, Part 3 - Colleges and Universities
-
February 15, 2012
At the recent U.S. Senate hearing on technology accessibility that focused largely on higher education, “ The Promise of Accessible Technology: Challenges and Opportunities ,” Mark Turner,…
-
Textbooks for Rent ... Everywhere
-
January 12, 2010
Major bookstore chains announce plans to launch or expand rental programs, suggesting a market shift. Major bookstore chains announce plans to l…
-
EDUCAUSE Now - #48 - 1) Using Metrics 2) Indiana University's E-Text Program
-
February 9, 2012
Subscribe to the EDUCAUSE NOW RSS feed This episode of EDUCAUSE Now features: Using Metrics (:35-5:08) Using metrics is crucial to the success of your organization . B…
-
Professor Faces Obstacles in Testing E-Reader Device for Digital Textbooks
-
January 7, 2010
A professor at the Catholic University of America has been testing a new e-book reader that hasn't yet hit store shelves but that is designed with textbooks in mind. …
-
Understanding Ed. Publishing to Understand Apple's eTextbook Efforts
-
January 23, 2012
The following post from the Wired "Epicenter" blog provides a very useful overview of the education publishing industry and how Apple's recently announced e-textbook projects …

















