Text books will be digital and publishers will drive the adoption of eBook readers from the likes of Sony and iRex, said Chairman Peter Wiley and Stephen Smith, Wiley senior VP for Europe & International Development. The scientific and academic publishing giant is predicting the demise of printed text books in higher education, but a bullish text book future.

"Text books will be digital, but I'm not sure when," Smith said. Citing the transition of academic journals from print to digital in recent years, Smith said, "Print is already disappearing in journals." Chairman Peter Wiley though was more pessimistic about print's demise, " There's some comfort in print and I'm not sure it [digital] is the same for teachers."

Smith sees eBook readers as the key to the success of electronic text books and indicated that Wiley and other text book publishers may be getting involved in driving up adoption of the devices. "We may have to try to influence the tipping point of eBook readers," Smith said. "The ability of government and teachers to keep pace with technology is difficult. Anything that comes along to help learning is critical, and it is important that publishers play a part."

Wiley said the process has begun, "We are already educating the educators in the US. Faculties that are not comfortable with tech are now included in a network that teaches them about electronic information." Smith was excited by the potential for a new eBook reader to be launched at Frankfurt and the growth it could give to the medium.

"We can offer more value online, the upfront costs of the technology are higher, but as publishers we can sell more content to more students more of the time," Smith said, adding that text books have a strong future, "We are in a rocky transition period right now." Wiley himself believes that the technology will bring the price of text books down. "Students and professors can interact with content and use them as part of assessment. We are targeting the students. " Currently institutions and students purchase entire text books, but may only use part of the content held. Wiley said that electronic text books will "fit the courses".

Smith said Wiley is re-assessing the business model for text books and hasn't ruled out site licence deals like those for software or journal access, and digital market places. Print sales still dominate the Wiley revenue figures, but the US giant, which acquired Blackwell Publishing last year, is seeing rapid digital growth. Wiley said of the changing marketplace, "You once sold a book and went away, now we are integrally involved in the education process."

The Wiley company is currently developing a search driven platform to deliver all its content on, whether book, journal or text book. Wiley said, "The big picture is all Wiley, all the time."