As an undergraduate student majoring in chemistry and biochemistry, I spent a lot of money on science textbooks. When classes ended, I kept all of my books instead of selling them back for pennies on the dollar. I thought that I would be able to use those books as references in graduate school and beyond. Sadly, I never cracked open most of them again, and now they’re too outdated to sell.

The main problem is that textbooks are not research-oriented, nor are they up-to-date. Most are already behind the times by the time you buy them. Of course, the relevance of having an updated textbook is field-dependent. Topics in biochemistry and molecular biology change much more quickly than those in general chemistry. Nevertheless, for many fields, an up-to-date textbook could be a useful tool, both for the professors who have to teach from it and for any students that continue in the field.

Textbooks are also falling behind when it comes to technology, as any interactive content has to be provided via separate media. Thus, it was exciting to see the implementation of what's being claimed as the “first interactive textbook” called Principles of Biology. Introductory biology courses in the California State University (CSU) system will use Principles of Biology as the primary text for the 2011/2012 academic year. We got in touch with Vikram Savkar, senior vice president and publishing director at Nature Publishing Group (NPG), to get the details on how students can benefit from interactive, digital textbooks.

Ars Technica: Can you tell us what the “interactive” label means?

Vikram Savkar: We didn’t just write a traditional textbook, scan it in, and put PDFs online. This was built from the beginning to be a true digital book. The interactivities are mixed in to help students understand the material. We have videos and we show diagrams as they are being drawn to students. There are tests at the end of every module, so a student can be tested on the material and receive recommendations on where to go next. We also have traditional material. There’s plenty of text; there are plenty of still images.

Ars: What if a student likes to have printouts of the book and take notes on those printouts? Is there an option to print material from the book?

Savkar: Yes, we have beautiful PDFs of every chapter in full color. We understand that some people would like to have physical copies of the book, so we allow people to download and print PDFs.

Ars: Are these textbooks completely open access and free for students, or is there a charge?

Savkar: No, these textbooks are not free, but they are affordable. We think it’ll be possible to be affordable. The price will be around $49 per student, and it’s a lifetime access. A person will always have access to the book. Our editorial team will also keep the textbook current. Twenty years from now, you can still read it and get updated on the world of biology. It’s a living edition, not something stagnant.

Ars: Would a student be able to read these interactive textbooks on laptops, iPads, Android phones, and other devices?

Savkar: Our textbooks are born digital, which means we created it for what digital can do. As I said before, we didn’t write a regular textbook, make PDFs, and put it online. Our textbooks will be available for iPad, smartphones, Androids, and other devices. These textbooks are born accessible.

Ars: Will students be able to use the interactive features of the textbook offline? In essence, will students be able to download the entire book to a device and use it even without Internet access?

Savkar: Many of the interactive features will be available offline (for example, several of the Flash pieces). Some features, however, require a live connection to work properly, and won't be part of the offline version. For example, in some places we expose students to quite rich data sets and allow them to perform analyses . . . these data sets are only available online, so the feature as a whole will not be included in the offline version. Overall, the offline version is not a complete replica of the online experience, but it's a very useful complement to it.

Ars: Will there be licenses for libraries? There are textbooks reserved for students at university libraries. Will NPG do something similar for the interactive textbooks?

Savkar: Right now there's no specific library license. Partly because the resource tracks the progress of each student individually, our intention is for each student to have her own copy. I can imagine that we would add on a model like this in the future, though.

Ars: You mentioned that once a student buys the book, they will have access to it for life, and the material in the book will be kept updated. Who will be doing the updates? Also, who generated the original content?

Savkar: Unlike a typical college level textbook, our content will be research-oriented. We want to make sure that students understand that science is an ongoing process. Our material will come from a variety of sources to achieve that goal. For some topics, particularly emerging ones, we will ask the leading researchers of the field to write a section. Our editorial staff will work with researchers to make sure that the content is approachable for college students. As a journal publisher, we have access to many scientists. Some of our content will also come from educators, like college instructors. Our own team of editors, writers, and artists will create content, as well.

Ars: How will you introduce digital textbooks to university professors and instructors? They’re the ones who will ultimately choose textbooks for classes.

Savkar: California State University is the first to adopt the interactive textbook, so they’ve helped spread the news. We only announced our plan for the textbook about a month ago, and 800 faculty members from colleges signed up the first day to get a demo. We’re working with those people. We can use the power as a journal publisher to connect with instructors.

Ars: Are you seeing interest from bigger universities, community colleges, or somewhere in-between?

Savkar: The interest comes from all centers. People are attracted to the idea of affordability. Some are attracted to the interactivity, but the biggest attraction is the research focus. One of the things we can do is bring a true research process to the learning process. It’s a living process that is currently being carried out by researchers now.

Ars: Right now there is biology textbook; do you have an idea of what will be covered next if the first book is a success?

Savkar: We have thought about it. We could cover a range of fields and make books about chemistry, physics, and so on. We could also pick up from biology and go from there and cover topics like genetics and developmental biology.

Ars: Finally, why did the Nature Publishing Group choose to make a new style of textbook? NPG is known for publishing many high impact journals, so why add college books to the list?

Savkar: The Nature Publishing Group has around 80 journals now. About three years ago, we took a major focus on science education. We wanted to take some steps to strengthen the quality of science education in the world.

Science education is suffering, and the quality is not what it should be. In developed countries like the US, there is plenty of access to higher education. But plenty of students with talent drop out because they don’t find the kind of experience in high school and college that they are looking for. On the other hand, in third world countries, students don’t have the access to teachers and labs.

We are incomplete as a journals publisher if we don’t take on education. It’s incomplete if we aren’t helping to create the next generation of scientists that will publish new material in our journals.

We can use the power that we have as a publisher to breathe new life into science education. We have access to great content and great perspectives from leading scientists. We have hundreds of editors in staff. We can create a new textbook that will engage students in the US and provide quality material for students in countries that lack access to current books.

As a student, I would have appreciated an interactive textbook, particularly one that would be constantly updated through my lifetime. Whether or not NPG will succeed in presenting their books to colleges will depend on the details of execution. If they can avoid a DRM nightmare, keep the prices affordable, maintain high quality content, and truly allow these books to be accessible on multiple devices, then interactive books could be widely adopted. If NPG succeeds, other publishers and societies might join in. For example, the American Chemical Society and the American Physical Society could create interactive books that leverage the knowledge base of their membership network.