Seeking Details on Websites for Digital Textbooks
This topic is a bit far from "library technology" but part of my day job at OhioLINK has been involved with research on digital textbooks. To that end, I've been looking at companies that sell a digital form of the printed-and-bound textbook. The sites that I've found are summarized below; I would appreciate comments (public or private) that list other sites that you know about so this list can be as comprehensive as possible. Also, if you happen to be researching the same area, please get in touch if you are interested in comparing notes. The list is broken down into two parts, and the companies are listed alphabetically within each part.
Page-for-Page Replications
This is the most prevalent category -- those companies that offer a page-for-page replication of the paper edition of the textbook.
- Bedford Freeman Worth Publishing, BFW only
- Books On Board, multi-publisher
- CourseSmart, multi-publisher
- Digital Textbooks, multi-publisher
- iChapters, Cengage Learning only? (formerly Thompson Learning)
- Primus, McGraw-Hill only
- VitalSource, multi-publisher
- Zino Digital Textbooks, McGraw-Hill only
Enhanced Digital Editions
In addition to the text of the textbook, these enhanced editions include video, audio, simulations, pre- and post-tests, online glossaries, and/or links to supplemental materials. Part of our research is testing the extent to which these enhanced editions can improve educational outcomes. I'm aware of sites for specific textbooks, but for the purpose of this list I'm seeking out sites that aggregate the sale of many textbooks under one banner.
- Eduspace, Houghton Mifflin only
- Wiley Plus, Wiley Publishing only
If you know of other sources -- for either type of digital textbooks -- please get in touch with me.
The text was modified to update a link from https://ebooks.primisonline.com/eBookstore/index.jsp to http://create.mcgraw-hill.com/wordpress-mu/welcomeprimisuser/ on November 13th, 2012.
The text was modified to remove a link to http://create.mcgraw-hill.com/wordpress-mu/welcomeprimisuser/ on September 26th, 2013.