Digital content services provider Ingram Digital, US, has announced that the Northwest Missouri State University has selected its VitalSource Bookshelf e-textbook platform for e-textbook delivery for students.
VitalSource e-textbooks can be accessed from a PC anytime, anywhere. Delivered through Bookshelf, VitalSource's leading edge e-book reader, they can be highlighted and annotated and searched. In addition, Bookshelf stores, indexes and displays VitalSource e-textbooks and functions as a virtual meeting place for readers to trade notes, tips and techniques.
The university chose the VitalSource Bookshelf platform after conducting pilot tests of the leading formats among some 500 students in seven courses. Students were asked to keep track of the number of hours they spent reading texts, how they used their texts, the ease of using the e-textbook and its interactive features, and their perceptions of e-textbooks versus print textbooks. The University surveyed students several times and considered both qualitative and quantitative results when making their decision.
Students surveyed cited the ability to search their entire collection of e-textbooks for information; the ability to highlight their e-textbooks; and the ability to conduct keyword searches on content notes and shared notes as the most appealing features of e-textbooks.
78 percent of students surveyed said they liked the idea of e-textbooks and would use them for at least some courses.
