The Evolution of the Geoscience Textbook: The AAPG's Petroleum Geology Etextbook

I will present and demonstrate my eTextbook in Petroleum Geology, recently published by the American Association of Petroleum Geology (AAPG) in 2007.

Acknowledged as the first peer-reviewed electronic textbook in geoscience, this CD-Rom based publication is a significant departure from the traditional textbook and previous web-based eText experiments because of the depth, breadth and scope of material that is contained within this publication. For the first time, an introductory textbook in geology is able to combine the traditional look of a textbook with a very large number of colour images, animations, video clips, and immersive images (e.g., virtual microscope); but also include an interlinked 'library' of classic, peer-reviewed, journal articles, book chapters and contributions by professionals within the industry. This eTextbook also contains many of the petrophysical logging charts that are so frequently used by the professional petroleum geologist, and demonstrates the utility of such charts and diagrams by including several worked examples.

From a teaching and pedagogical perspective, this publication platform enables the presentation of concepts and instructional material in a much more accessible way. This, of course, readily suits the teaching of geology, which is a highly visual discipline. The ability to include limitless full colour graphics, or use various forms of multimedia that facilitate the learning process, without the limitation of cost, which is typically problematic for senior undergraduate textbooks.

Is this publication platform a mere publication oddity? It would appear not, since the AAPG already has other electronic publication projects in various states of production and others in the planning stage. The relatively low cost of publication, a high degree of portability, the freedom from bandwidth restrictions and an independence from the internet and browser quirkiness are giving other publishers reasons to take this publication platform seriously.