A leading publisher in health-science textbooks is the latest to add interactive tools to online books and one of the first to offer e-textbooks without an expiration date.
Elsevier introduced the Pageburst service this week, with interactive features such as social networking, integrated multimedia, and incorporated grade-book tools. Daniel Behan, the company’s product director for e-books, said health-science students were a good market for interactive, permanent e-textbooks because they often need to reference multiple texts throughout their education.
Flipping through pages of material every time they need information is too time-consuming for students, Mr. Behan said.
“Obviously we aren’t going to fundamentally change student behavior,” he said, “Students today aren’t going to act the way that students did 15 or 20 years ago, where they were willing to sit down and read.”
Pageburst now offers more than 550 e-textbooks for laptop and desktop computers and is compatible with smartphones such as the iPhone. Mr. Behan said Pageburst may expand to e-readers such as the iPad later. The e-textbooks typically cost at least 80 percent of the print price.
Educators and publishers are catching on to student demand for e-textbooks with expanded features, said David Bousfield, vice president and lead analyst for the publishing and information-research company Outsell. He said students wanted to move away from the linear style of print textbooks and have access to information quickly.
“People don’t read textbooks from Page 1 to the last page,” Mr. Bousfield said. “They tend to read backward and forward. It’s characteristic of the learning process.”
Mr. Behan said many students toward the end of their college careers still preferred the look of a printed textbook for a digital version. But younger college students are showing more interest in nontraditional versions of their course material.
“It’s truly a transition for users,” Mr. Behan said. “Those who have been using a printed textbook opened on their desk for years are going to be more comfortable” with the current Pageburst look, which resembles a traditional textbook, he said. “But with an 18-year-old student, they may be more comfortable with an HTML format.”
Introductions to Pageburst for students and faculty members are now available on the product’s Web site.
8 Responses to Elsevier Introduces New Features for Online Health-Science Textbooks
peter_murray - January 28, 2010 at 6:16 pm
From the story: “The e-textbooks typically cost at least 80 percent of the print price.”Only a 20% price discount for content that is temporarily licensed and not actually owned?
ccapot - January 29, 2010 at 9:05 am
To Peter Murray,I do PR work with Elsevier and saw your comment. As Daniel Behan states in Jill’s story, the license to the e-textbooks does not expire. For more information on Pageburst, check out http://www.pageburst.com, thanks.Chris Capot, 203-379-8019
lauramacleod - January 29, 2010 at 9:43 am
Peter – only 20% of the price because the bulk of the costs associated with creating textbooks are NOT in the manufacturing – they are in the labour costs. Editors, proofreaders, indexers, designers, art creation, peer review, typesetters, programmers, etc. None of that changes with the delivery method.Laura
lauramacleod - January 29, 2010 at 9:48 am
I forgot to mention the authors! Their labour needs to be paid for as well!Laura
g8briel - January 29, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I think it is great to see publishers taking advantage of digital formats to expand features and include more ways in which students can interact with the content.That said, quotes like, “Students today aren’t going to act the way that students did 15 or 20 years ago, where they were willing to sit down and read,” make me think twice. Aren’t we losing something here? What happens to the contemplative and reflective process that the codex seems to support when you move to messier, hyper-linked and distracted digital formats?
mbelvadi - January 30, 2010 at 10:06 am
To pick up on g8briel’s comment, I’m just a bit worried that the textbook publishers are in fact “colluding” with the students in finding sneakier ways to avoid doing required reading, at worst even finding ways to facilitate cheating. After all in a closed book exam it’s pretty hard for a student to sneak a huge textbook open on their laps, but how many stories have we heard about students being able to sneak their smartphones onto their laps for texting purposes during exams? If they have the entire textbook in their smartphone, they don’t even need the friend!
koshkamat - February 8, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Why can’t Elsevier give you a list of available titles? Perhaps I am overlooking something on their web site. I don’t think most faculty members want to be bothered filling out some form AND having to talk to a rep. I know I’m not! Just my two cents…
davidvictor - February 11, 2010 at 4:21 pm
It is about time that college text books are starting to go digital. For most things, the internet is the source of choice for information. In the case of health science, this can be dangerous because misinformation is worse than no information. Unfortunately, nobody is going to search through a text book when they can just google something. If medical professionals can have access to texts on a PDA or iPhone, they will be much more efficient and reliable.DaveLive Life Naturally