A very cool idea!

Now, here’s the real kicker I can foresee: would professors be allowed to have ereserves added to the student’s ereader? Then there would be no excuse for them not to have the supplimental reading. BUT, of course, then how much is the fee to add those articles? What would it take to get permissions or pay for those article contents that built into library fees before?

There is some logistics to this, but I think it works towards a “print on demand” ideal for textbooks.

Also, some of the stuff I’ve read have complained that ebooks are too much like print books and don’t take full advantage of what digital offers.

If I were to place bets, I think the future will have print books and books identical to print books that are available for ereaders — but that a new story/entertainment format will develop and be just as healthy alongside the existing “book” format. Sort of like how TV has yet to kill off either film or plays.

Requiring students to purchase or “rent” e-textbooks would affect course reserves quite a bit in most institutions, whether or not they were research libraries. Even libraries that do not collect textbooks may have professors’ copies on reserve for the students to use. Would that still be necessary if students were all required to have access to the texts in digital format? I’m not sure. It would be ideal if academic libraries could place e-readers on reserve, stocked with all the textbook titles in use that semester — that would provide access for students who had forgotten their e-reader or just needed to look up a quick quotation or fact, without putting an undue strain on libraries’ time, budget, or shelf space. It may be a redundant service, though, if all the students always had their e-readers with them.

As has been said multiple times, including on this blog, why does it always have to be digital vs. print? The more formats information is available in, the better.

I think that e-textbooks are a wonderful option; my college roommate could have been saved a lot of back strain if she’d been able to carry her four huge business textbooks in digital format instead of a bursting-at-the-seams messenger bag. I wouldn’t have shown up to class realizing that I’d grabbed the wrong book on my way out the door if my lit-class texts all been on a Nook or something similar.

Students already pay enough mandatory fees, however, and I am against forcing students to adopt a particular format. Some students will love digital textbooks; some may want to stick with paper and highlighters, at least until annotating capabilities are perfected. Why should we take away students’ freedom to access the information in the way that makes the most sense to them as individuals? Oh, wait. Because we can make more money off of them that way…