Member Article

University of Liverpool launches student e-textbook pilot

The University of Liverpool is working with leading academic bookseller Blackwell’s on a pilot to make key digital textbooks available to students on a one to one basis.

Blackwell’s has been working closely with universities, lecturers and students throughout the country over the past few months to ensure that the platform has been developed with features that match exactly what they need. Using the online platform, which is complemented with free to download Apple and Android apps, students and lecturers alike can access eBooks on any device, including tablet, computer and smartphone wherever and whenever they happen to be online. They can also read offline by downloading the Blackwell’s app. Other features include the ability to create references in seconds, the ability to add multiple bookmarks, create notes or access lecturers’ notes, highlight text and sync progress between devices.

University of Liverpool will be provided with usage analytics, which will include detail of how much a particular book, or chapter, is being engaged with by students, whether a cohort of students on a course, or an individual student, as well as ranking the students on their course. The analytics are intended to be formative rather than summative, and Blackwell’s will be working with Liverpool staff and students to develop its analytics on the basis of the experience in the pilot.

On-site support is also being provided to academic staff particularly around the platform’s shared annotations feature.

“We want to see what effect this model has on student experience and perceptions of the library service,” says Emma Thompson, Learning and Teaching Lead at the University of Liverpool Library.

“We have worked closely with our colleagues in the Law School and this has enabled us to select key modules and titles. Our academic staff are very much on board.”

“Learning via a digital platform is emerging as a proven way to provide students with a more engaging experience, improving both retention rates and student satisfaction, and that is set to increase as the tablet generation reaches university age,” explains Tim Kilmartin, Head of Corporate, Professional & Institutional Sales at Blackwell’s.

“eBooks offer particular advantages in terms of accessibility, and we’ve continued to harness this by introducing a read-aloud feature to our eBook platform in order to make our service more inclusive of sight-impaired users, as well as providing an invaluable benefit for international students working to improve their spoken English. We look forward to continuing work with the University of Liverpool to ensure their students receive a learning outcome worthy of their investment,” he adds.

University of Liverpool Librarian, Phil Sykes, comments:

“I am delighted that we are working with Blackwell’s and with colleagues in Liverpool Law School on this exciting e-textbook project. It is a perfectly timed initiative, in line with three of the Library’s current priorities: our commitment to improving the supply of core textbooks to our students; a determination to work innovatively; and our desire to develop fruitful partnerships, both within the University and with external partners. We are convinced that this pilot will help to improve the satisfaction of our Law students with library provision; and we look forward to working with Blackwell’s and our colleagues in Law on the project.”

Blackwell’s campus bookshop at Liverpool is also heavily involved in the pilot, delivering on-site support to students and staff, negotiating with publishers, and fulfilling the administrative part of the project.

“Even with digital schemes such as this, a physical bookshop remains an integral part of the operation,” continues Kilmartin. “The value that a bookshop brings to a university campus, in terms of being a source of engagement, encouragement and inspiration, need not be sacrificed to switch to digital.”

Sarah Yates, Blackwell’s Bookshop Manager at Liverpool University says:

“We’re thrilled to be working with the University of Liverpool Library on such an innovative scheme. This will enable us to further support the University in achieving its goal of a fantastic student experience. As a Campus Bookshop we are at the heart of the university, understand students’ changing requirements and are therefore excited to be providing the front line support for this new initiative.

The pilot will focus initially on Law, and students will be able to access digital textbooks via the Blackwell’s platform during semester two of the 2015/16 academic year. Ends.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Howard Robinson .