IBooks

From MPublishing

Revision as of 16:52, 7 February 2012

Notes on iBooks 2 and iBooks Author

iBooks 2 Highlights

• runs on all iOS devices
• built in dictionary
• search/web lookup
• highlighting and saving highlighted material (with any color)
• underlining
• able to take notes
• All your notes and highlights automatically appear on study cards. Flip them over and find the definition of a glossary term or the note attached to the highlighted passage.
• bookmarks the page your on automatically
• can download a small sample of a book before purchasing
• also stores PDFs
• swiping/touching options to make chapter and section navigation easy
• pinch and slide to return to Table of Contents
• interactive media, diagrams, 3D images, zoom, etc.
• Can download updates to textbooks, at no additional charge.

iBooks Author Highlights

• free app
• The application includes templates to quickly create books, but users can also drag and drop images and video into the title. To add text, users can drag and drop a Word file, automatically creating sections and headers.
• auto formatting
• no programming experience needed
• Has a built-in tool, Dashcode, for creating widgets.
• templates (customizable) OR create one
• type or drag/drop
• instant text flow
• widgets create interactive elements (keynote, 3D, slideshows, can be web-based so always up to date)
• portrait or landscape views (portrait = more text-based with thumbnails in margin)
• Can export final content to iBooks store, PDF, text
• iBooks Author uses VoiceOver technology to make content accessible to those with vision impairments

Publishing Industry Webcast Notes:

   Bruce Marcus, Chief Digital & Information Officer, McGraw-Hill Education
   Samir Kakar, Chief Technology Officer, Aptara
   Matt Mullin, Programming Director, Digital Book World

• Goal = dynamic/adaptive learning
• Very helpful as another tool for differentiated education
• Creates a very different pricing model for higher education
• Reinventing the education publishing value-chain

-born-digital emphasized

• McGraw Hill = does their work on a textbook outside of iBooks Author (in a CMS), and then uses it as a tool to deliver material (one of many outlets)

Constraints * stand alone – only on apple platform (what about multiple channels?) * version control * missing review component (to share/review before publishing, various people working on it at the same time) * workflow management * web only or desktop view? (not practical for everyone to have iPads) -should have print, desktop, and mobile * broad audience and publishing (ePub3?) * Publishers who want to use javascript, html, 3D, etc. may still need to find outside help * Does not allow for versioning * Who is validating the uploaded content? Is apple reviewing? * copyright and permissions problems * Need Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later or higher to download iBooks Author

Resources

Book Publisher FAQ http://www.apple.com/itunes/content-providers/book-faq.html

Adding PDF to iBooks Library http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4227#