McGraw-Hill's SmartBook

Last week, McGraw-Hill unveiled a new series of e-books known as SmartBooks. These digital college textbooks will adapt to student learning needs and act as tutors, changing the content of the e-book the more information it gathers from the user.

When I heard about this, it reminded me of the GMAT, which I took when applying to business schools. The test was a standard multiple choice test (think shading in the bubbles with your #2 pencils), except I took it at a computer terminal. As I answered each question, the test changed. For instance, every correct answer prompted the computer to bring up a more difficult question next, and every incorrect answer brought an easier one; as the difficulty increased, so did the possibly points. I knew about this ahead of time, as our instructors advised us that the earliest questions set the tone for the rest of the test. This helps the computer get a more accurate assessment of a user's grasp of a topic instead of just letting him blindly fill in bubbles before time runs out. 

A product like this, which will be available on multiple devices, gives a taste of where educational publishing can go with electronic publishing. Interactive books means personalized learning for every level, which is great for teachers and publishers trying to sell to every niche market. 

This is interesting news coming out of McGraw-Hill, especially since they're selling off their textbook division to private equity firm Apollo Global Management this year. Of course, one of the reasons they've cited for this is the instability of educational publishing from the ebook shakeup.

San Antonio's Bookless Library

A Texas judge is spearheading the creation of what will be America's only bookless library. The library, which will be known as BiblioTech, is being developed for San Antonio's South Side neighborhood. Judge Nelson Wolff describes it as similar to an Apple store; he got the idea from reading Steve Jobs' biography. 

Standard libraries, like the Boston Public Library, are joining in by partnering with the Overdrive Media Console, which lets member "rent" temporary ebooks and audiobooks for various devices. We'll talk more about Overdrive and my experiences with them on an upcoming post. 

What makes BiblioTech different is that the library will be entirely digital. Wolff sees this as a cost-effective way to bring library services to more people in the county. They're even going to have personal devices that members can rent for two weeks at a time. 

Welcome!

Hello and welcome! I love books and over the last few years I've become more interested in ebooks as well. I decided to start this blog about electronic publishing and how it is changing the industry. 

A little about me: I've been working in the publishing industry for nearly ten years, most of which has been in educational publishing. I have seen the industry undergoing a lot of changes recently, with more in sight. Electronic publishing continues to shake things up. A lot of publishers don't know what to do about the ebook, and they seem to treat it as a nuisance or an obstacle. However, the ones that embrace and adapt with the changes will be better off in the long run. We're going to discuss the many opportunities that ebooks provide us, and what's going to happen to the publishing industry. 

In my day to day duties, I work in copyright permissions securing, so I will be discussing permissions and digital rights management issues as they apply to e-publishing. 

On a personal note, I use Barnes and Noble's Nook Color. I've had it since 2011 and I really enjoy reading on it. I also like that it has some basic tablet functions. I never got around to rooting it, and at this point I will probably just wait and get a better tablet/reader down the road. For now, I'm happy with my Nook books and a small selection of apps. I plan on writing about various readers and tablets as well.