University textbook publishing is flying to the cloud

University textbook publishing is flying to the "cloud"

"On the tuyere of the 'Internet', pigs can also fly. I also want to become a pig and try it on the tuyere. This is the witty expression of Zhang Zimao, president of Beijing Jiaotong University Press, at the University Press Digital Publishing Forum. Representatives from the IT industry, university libraries, and presidents, editors-in-chief, and editors of more than 100 university presses across the country recently participated in the Digital Publishing Forum and Editorial Forum of University Presses held in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, to exchange their thinking, attempts and experiences in the integration and development of traditional publishing and new media.
Product innovation: M BOOK and Cube Book
Textbook publishing is the core business of University Press, and it is also an important area for University Press to explore digital transformation. In the digital transformation carried out by university presses in China, M BOOK and Cube Book are eye-catching.
The M BOOK version of "Electric Locomotive Brake" published by Beijing Jiaotong University Press is the first M BOOK variety launched by the Society, and the textbook has been used as an ISLI international standard application demonstration project, and included in the 2015 National Press and Publication Reform and Development Project Library. According to Zhang Zimao, the society treats this textbook as a project. A QR code is printed in the M BOOK of "Electric Locomotive Brake", and by scanning the QR code, the application supporting the textbook can be installed on the mobile phone, and in the application, the publishing house organically integrates the paper publication with a variety of media materials in the mobile terminal through image recognition and augmented reality technology. Students can use their mobile phones to scan the locomotive graphics in the textbook while using the textbook, observe the three-dimensional structure of the electric locomotive on their mobile phones, and disassemble and assemble individual parts by touching, etc. Moreover, the QR code logo in the textbook is "destroyed after scanning", and a QR code in the textbook can only be registered by a mobile phone number, leaving no room for textbook piracy.
Although it is also a QR code scan, the cubebook created by Zhejiang University Press is quite different from M BOOK. The multimedia materials provided by Cube Book are not developed by publishers, but are provided by teachers, who provide resources and grasp data on the PC side, and students receive and use these resources on the mobile phone. According to Jin Gengda, vice president of Zhejiang University Press, the cubebook is printed with QR codes for book chapters and internal QR codes, including courseware, videos, knowledge points, test papers, and extended resources, etc., through which students can enjoy personalized value-added services, such as my class, my books, my exercises, my mistakes, my questions, my answers, etc. At the same time, students can interact with teachers and classmates through the Internet. Cube book textbooks are open and interactive.
Process Innovation: Digital Information Platform
Transforming the digital resource production process, reducing repetitive work, and improving production efficiency is an important boost for the development of university presses. In this digital publishing forum, the digital information platform of the publishing house introduced by Xiamen University Press is such a tool.
The digital information platform of the publishing house is mainly developed by Shi Gaoxiang, vice president of Xiamen University Press. Shi Gaoxiang is a typical "science and engineering man", in the 90s of the last century, when he first entered the publishing house, he used his spare time to develop software to improve the management of the publishing house, 20 years, under the insistence of Shi Gaoxiang, Xiamen University Press has a more complete digital information platform. Through this platform, authors, editors, typesetters, and proofreaders can share manuscript information in real time. For example, authors, editors, typesetting personnel, and proofreaders can process the manuscript at the same time through different terminals, and the manuscript can be sent to the printing house for printing after completion, or it can directly generate an e-book. Moreover, the system can realize process integration, and the ERP system originally used by the publishing house can be directly combined with this platform. The platform can also be used for digital resource sales management and integration of multiple data.
"Associating the ERP system with the content management system, associating the content of the editorial organization with the user, and realizing the integrated development of the content will greatly enhance the editorial value and the commercial value of derivative products." Regarding the digitalization of management, Liu Jian, editor of Southeast University Press, has a very representative view in the university publishing industry.
Library distribution market: There is an urgent need for high-quality e-books
University libraries are the big users of digital books in university publishers, so what kind of digital publications can impress university library managers the most? The University Press Digital Publishing Forum also invited Liu Chunhong, deputy director of the library of the Chinese University of China, to analyze digital publishing.
According to Liu Chunhong, in the past 10 years, there have been more and more funds for the procurement of literature resources in university libraries, and electronic books have also become an important part of university library procurement. At present, due to the lag in the publication of domestic Chinese e-books, it cannot well meet the needs of university libraries, and there is a strong demand but insufficient supply of domestic Chinese e-books. Therefore, the introduction of original foreign language e-books by 985 colleges and universities far exceeds the purchase of Chinese e-books. This also shows the lack of high-quality e-book resources in China.
Liu Chunhong said that the procurement of e-books in China's university libraries is mainly divided into four steps: first, preliminary research, mainly to understand the overall situation of the e-book market, the quality and types of books on the system platform, sales models, copyright confirmation, etc.; the second is to analyze the situation of e-book resources, e-book providers, e-book content, e-book demand, etc., and determine the willingness to purchase; the third is the trial of the e-book platform to collect feedback; Fourth, it is procured in accordance with the established e-book procurement standards. There are many factors that affect the procurement of university libraries, mainly including whether the content quality of e-books meets the requirements of university teaching and scientific research, whether they are published in a timely manner, whether the pricing model and sales model of e-books are clear, whether the e-book system platform is easy to use, and policy influence. Of course, the library's bibliographic funding also determines the number of e-books it purchases. Liu Chunhong believes that with the existing conditions of China's university libraries, as long as the content of the books is of good quality and basically synchronized with the paper books, the probability of being purchased by the library is very large.
Liu Chunhong suggested that e-book suppliers should understand the needs of libraries, do a good job in quality screening, copyright control, market expansion, and build an easy-to-use system platform. Textbook publishers in colleges and universities should try their best to control the academic quality of e-books, the rhythm of e-book publishing and paper book publishing, and solve the copyright problem.