Abstract.Student and faculty frustrations with traditional higher education textbook models continue to escalate.These frustrations present an opportunity for academic libraries to forge partnerships with teaching faculty and vendors to repurpose existing library resources. Library and teaching faculty at Southern New Hampshire University collaborated to develop a textbook alternative option from subscription ebook content contained in the Books 24x7 database. This alternative consisted of a series of links embedded into the Blackboard learning-management system. This partnership provided students with significant financial relief, allowed students to experiment with using e-book content, and increased library resource awareness and use.Keywords: Electronic books, textbooks, faculty partnerships, collaboration, vendor relations,
BlackBoardWhile there may be no definitive role for academic libraries in the textbook, e-textbook, or open educational resource debate, this article discusses how library and teaching faculty at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) collaborated to leverage existing electronic library resources to serve as the foundational "textbook" for an introductory business course. The purpose of this article is threefold: to introduce a study that measured undergraduate student perceptions of a library resourcedriven textbook alternative, to outline for the reader the steps taken by library and teaching faculty toThe Embedded Textbook 2 produce this textbook alternative so that it can be replicated, and to emphasize the positive impact library and teaching faculty collaboration can have on student learning experiences.The study conducted by library and business faculty provided undergraduate marketing students (N=87) with three content options: traditional textbook only , embedded e-book links from the Books 24x7 database, or a combination of the two. These three options served as the foundational content for three sections of an introductory marketing course. Throughout this pilot course, faculty members monitored student feedback on their experiences using both the traditional textbook and embedded ebook link options via responses to online surveys posted on the course Blackboard site at intervals throughout the semester. Results suggest that students are not fearful of using e-books as a foundational textbook source, and that library subscription resources may be viable options for textbook alternatives or replacements. Students reported high satisfaction levels on cost savings and the convenience of using e-books. Moreover, the library experienced increased use and awareness of its Books 24x7 e-book collection.The results of this study are important in light of the body of literature indicating that college students prefer print books and textbooks to their electronic counterparts. However, perhaps the more valuable outcome of this study is the potential benefit to students when library and teaching faculty collaborate to redefine part of the library's collection to support course curriculu...