Best Practices for Creating Interactive Textbooks

[fiume]

Hi,

I'm new here. I work for a college that produces its own textbooks, and I'm looking into creating more interactive ones. We use reflowable epubs exported from InDesign and currently our interactivity is limited to different hyperlinks taking you to key words, learning objectives, etc. in the text.

I'm just wondering if there are any best practices or common interactive features we're missing. I know this is a bit vague but that's kind of because I think there has to be more we can do so any tips are welcome.

[JSWolf]

Best way to make interactive textbooks is to make them into apps.

[charis9]

Maybe you can get some ideas from here. Not sure will all tips suite you but at least expand ideas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z5WtDhdg58

[HarryT]

Moved to the "Workshop" forum.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by fiume

Hi,

I'm new here. I work for a college that produces its own textbooks, and I'm looking into creating more interactive ones. We use reflowable epubs exported from InDesign and currently our interactivity is limited to different hyperlinks taking you to key words, learning objectives, etc. in the text.

I'm just wondering if there are any best practices or common interactive features we're missing. I know this is a bit vague but that's kind of because I think there has to be more we can do so any tips are welcome.

As you don't know me--which gives you no basis to adjudicate or weigh my comments--I own a business which has made 3500+ eBooks since ~2009.

The problem with increased "interactivity" a la iBooks is that essentially, that's all you're doing--making them for iBooks. You're certainly not making them for Amazon or B&N devices. If you know, factually, that your entire student body is exclusively using iBooks on iOS, then, yea for you and you can kind of do what you want.

But very few environments are so homogenous or so controlled. And the minute that you enter that situation, you've created problems for the students that don't have iOS devices--you've created a second tier of student, if you see what I'm saying. The Haves, and the Have Nots.

Until you have that controlled environment, it's exeedingly difficult to do much else, other than links. Even "pop-up" footnotes only work in a handful of devices, to this day. My question to clients, when they come to us with this request is this: are you really adding value, and giving the buyer/reader something they need or even want, or are you adding foof? Foofery is all well and good, but it's not necessarily functionality.

Now, you probably already know all this. And you are possibly making fixed-layout ePUBs, as well--which is another issue altogether. (I could be wrong there, but 99 times out of 100, when we get an ePUB from someone that made it using INDD, they send me FXL, not a reflowable ePUB.)

I doubt that what I said helps you a lot--as you asked for "best practices," but if you have any specific questions, I'm certainly delighted to answer whatever I'm able.


Hitch