Journal of Educational Media and Library Sciences


Vol. 42 No. 2 , Pages 275 - 312 , 2004

The Feasibility Study of Digitalized Textbooks Published by National Open University (Article written in Chinese)

Hsin-Chieh HUANG & Shih-Hsion HUANG

Abstract

This study is intended to explore the feasibility of the textbooks in the format of digital publishing to be employed by NOU. This study is conducted via the survey of the NOU students and the interviews with the faculty members and administrators. The students can express their opinions in the two different ways, either via an online questionnaire, referred to as the online group, or with a hardcopy, referred to as the hardcopy group. The results of this study indicate the following major findings:

After performing the survey, we found out that the students and faculty members in NOU prefer paper text the most. Statistically, paper textbooks are still what both the students and faculty members online survey. This research shows that currently in NOU, both paper and digitalized textbooks should be utilized in the same pace. Digitalizing textbooks utilizes POD (Published On Demand) and online publication. This could solve the problem of students unable to purchase the required textbooks, and it is also environmentally friendly, saving papers and printing costs. It should be able to build on the management idea of actual “zero storage” textbook publication. It is strongly recommended that digitalizing textbooks can speed up the process of editing, reviewing, and renewal of a textbook’s life cycle. It is recommended that the PDF file format can be considered as the standard of the NOU textbooks of digital publishing. It is concluded that the textbook in the digital format that link to the development of the digital media and contents can lay a solid ground for integrating with the online learning in the future.

Keywords: digitalized textbook; digital publishing; Web publishing; electronic book (e-book); print on demand (POD)

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