The willingness of IU to do so was the first key step. The university can negotiate with publishers and provide valued services in ways that individual students cannot. When the university enters the picture and negotiates with publishers on behalf of students, this changes. They can, and often do, game the system at the margins-but at the end of the day, they have little or no power or influence. Students can complain, but they have little power to alter the terms of the deal. Faculty decide which books are required, and publishers set the prices and terms of the transaction. Students, the direct consumers, have little or no ability to significantly influence the textbook market. To achieve these goals it was clear that the university, as an institution, needed to become an active player in the textbook market. Develop a sustainable model that works for all stakeholders involved: faculty, students, authors, and publishers.Enable adaptive learning platforms and new tools for teaching and learning-for instance, annotations in an eText that can be shared with other users.Provide faculty with the high-quality materials they desire.Reduce the costs of course-related materials for students.The Indiana University (IU) eTexts program began and continues with four goals: What is unique is the economic model and the systems and practices put in place to implement the model. Creating digital versions of print materials or creating new learning objects using digital technologies is not what makes IU’s eTexts program unique. The eText as a digital learning object is not unique to the IU eTexts program. (At IU, these include digital learning tools that instructors incorporate to offer interactive instructional materials and adaptive learning experiences for students.) These objects are provided using a specific economic model and a set of systems and practices that compose the “eTexts program.” Lewis, IU Assistant Vice President for Digital Scholarly Communication and Dean of the IUPUI University LibraryĪn “eText” is a digital object, usually a textbook but sometimes another type of learning material. The Indiana University eText Experience: Getting Started 1 Background: eText and the eText Program Defined David W.

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