Assessing e-book model sustainability

The project described in this article explores the transition from a paper-based book, which deals with higher education (HE) ranking tables, namely The Times Good University Guide (GUG), to a fully customizable e-book. This article sets the background of the project, identifies design research as the general methodological approach, examines the existing e-book models and describes the current state of the research. It concludes, based on a set of real-life full prototypes that have now been live on the web for three years, that current e-book model propositions are too limited in terms of implementing a fully customizable and dynamic league table web application. The article's originality lies in the specific nature of the book being digitized and the nature of that digitization. The GUG is an entire book based around a university league table. What is envisaged is not just the translation of this league table, and corresponding information into a digital format, but a fully customizable and dynamic web application that fully explores this table in ways that would not be possible in a paper-based form.