A Framework of Expertise in Publishing Academic Electronic Textbooks: A Delphi Study

The aim of this study is to identify a framework of needed expertise for publishing academic electronic textbooks according to the characteristics of this kind of books. Therefore the final result focuses on needed experts through the consensus method. Delphi technique using the researcher made questionnaire was done in four rounds. The research population was composed of forty experts in the field of E-book، E-learning، digital libraries، and electronic education by purposeful sampling. Out of forty eight items (expertise) in the questionnaire and from different rounds، nineteen expertises were found essential in publishing user friendly academic electronic textbooks. These expertises included interactive content producers، interactive content providers، educational designers، university professors، educational resources designers، E-learning experts، accessibility experts، interactive content authors، authors، E-book software developers، E-book hardware producers، media experts، content developers، E-book producers، HCI experts، publishers، cultural experts، rules and regulation experts، and educational technology experts. Originality: According to previous studies، this research tries to identify the framework of needed expertise in publishing academic electronic textbooks for the first time. Also Delphi technique was used as a new method in E-book studies.