[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #428: Digital vs. print textbooks

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OPLIN 4cast #428: Digital vs. print textbooks
March 11, 2015

[image: textbooks]There are conflicting signals coming of out colleges
lately in regard to digital textbooks. Are they the wave of the future or
are print textbooks better? There's a considerable amount of money at stake
here (I think we all know how crazy-expensive college textbooks can be),
and textbook companies by and large seem to be placing their bets on
digital and getting out of the print business. Students, on the other hand,
don't seem to be convinced, with a couple of studies indicating that they
prefer print.

   - Should college textbooks go digital?
   <http://tech.co/college-textbooks-digital-2015-02> (TechCocktail | Scott
   Huntington) "In this digital age, we carry around much of the world's
   collective knowledge and history in our pockets. So why are college
   students asked to pay thousands of dollars for heavy doorstops that are
   technologically on par with something out of the Bronze Age? This is
   especially true in fields like science and economics where the information
   is changing so often that books can be out-of-date before they even hit the
   shelves."
   - The death of textbooks?
   <http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/03/the-death-of-textbooks/387055/>
   (The Atlantic | Terrance F. Ross) "Nostalgia aside, it may come as a relief
   to many, then, that textbooks are becoming anachronistic. Digital in-class
   learning materials, like software that adapts to the ways in which
   individual students acquire information, and other forms of virtual
   education content are becoming more effective and intelligent.
   College-affordability advocates and others hope this growth could result in
   the normalization of less costly or even free materials down the road."
   - Why Chegg is abandoning a business worth over $200 million a year
   <http://www.fastcompany.com/3042789/fast-feed/why-chegg-is-abandoning-a-business-worth-over-200-million-a-year>
   (Fast Company | Ainsley O'Connell) "Over the next 18 months Chegg will
   liquidate its print inventory and refocus on its digital products,
   including self-guided homework help and on-demand tutoring. Students will
   continue to rent through Chegg's platform, with the company taking a 20%
   take on the print textbooks and relying on Ingram to manage operations. The
   new strategy will widen the scope of Chegg's digital operations in order to
   better serve student needs at a time when other companies in the higher
   education and professional training markets are looking to do the same."
   - Students reject digital textbooks
   <http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2015/03/students-reject-digital-textbooks.html>
   (Shinyshiny | Diane Shipley) "Given how heavy textbooks can be, you'd think
   ebooks would be a huge bonus of being at university now, as opposed to ten
   years ago. And not only do they weigh less, you can buy or borrow them
   instantly instead of having to schlepp to the university bookshop or
   library, search within them easily, and highlight and make notes without
   being accused of defacing anything. So you'd think students would be all
   over digital textbooks. But they're not."

 *Articles from Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Digital textbooks: Show me the future!
   <http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=b851f460-fc63-40ee-8d79-a2ec71f859c7%40sessionmgr4004&vid=0&hid=4112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=cph&AN=87800792>
   (*Internet at Schools*, May/June 2013, p12-16 | Victor Rivero)
   - The book that learns.
   <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=29e8f793-26b3-4abb-933a-7082905440ab%40sessionmgr115&vid=0&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=sch&AN=97652818>
   (*New Scientist*, 8/23/2014, p17 | Aviva Rutkin)
   - Addressing the major information technology challenges of electronic
   textbooks.
   <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=710de26f-a74b-4314-9fe3-5b299fb91bad%40sessionmgr113&vid=0&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=100357469>
   (*Journal of Computer Information Systems*, Winter 2015, p40-47 |
   Heejeong Jasmine Lee and Kok-Lim Alvin Yau)

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