Creating a new type of e-textbook: Using Primary Sources

As my role as General Editor of the open access e-textbook Using Primary Sources: a practical guide for students comes to an end after three years, this article is a chance to reflect on the project, and to think about the future of e-textbook publishing.1 I helped co-ordinate this e-textbook project, combining the efforts of academics, librarians, publishers and software designers. The e-textbook will be wide-ranging, accessible and practically focused. Over 30 historians from the UK and the USA have written nearly 30 thematic chapters. The first version launched in January 2017, with more chapters being added throughout the year. This seems like a good moment to sum up how the project started, how it progressed, how we see the resource fitting into our teaching in the months ahead, and how we might sum up our experience of creating an e-textbook