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It has been almost ten years since the first edition of Essentials of Glycobiology was published, and it is not only the science that has changed. The original edition was thought of as a traditional book, to sit on a shelf and be used as a work of reference. However, in late 2002, we at the National Center for Biotechnology Information were approached by the book editors, who expressed an interest in making the book available on the NCBI Bookshelf. This meant that the complete text would be available for searching and browsing via the Internet, therefore extending the use of the book to those who might not have access to the hard copy. The publisher of the book, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, was on board to try the experiment, and so, in early 2003, Essentials of Glycobiology became one of the pioneering textbooks to be distributed electronically.
In the intervening years, hundreds of people every week have continued to look at Essentials of Glycobiology online. These readers are geographically dispersed, including from parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. The audience is also educationally dispersed: The book is referenced in Wikipedia, university libraries all over the world list and link to the electronic book, and major Internet search engines index the content. All of which has extended the reach of this enduringly valuable text.
Today’s freshmen were only nine years old when that first edition came out. This generation of students has grown up with online information as an integral part of the information resources they use—the first port of call for many homework assignments is now an Internet search rather than a trip to the library. Furthermore, knowledge seekers from all walks of life—for example, high-school students or those seeking health-related information on the web—now have the opportunity to use the book. In recognition of the wider audience and changing ways in which students learn, this new edition of Essentials of Glycobiology will be made freely available online simultaneously with the appearance of the printed edition of the book.
This novel approach to textbook publishing is the result of a three-way collaboration between John Inglis and CSHL Press, the NCBI, and the Academic Editors of the book. However, this first is to the enormous credit and vision of Dr. Ajit Varki and the editors and authors of the book, who, having labored long and hard to write the book, now seek to maximize its use by all.
