Today’s Grow Custom highlight is on Virdocs (CAMEX booth #2521). Virdocs is a new sponsor of the Grow Custom initiative.
1) What do you see as the future of custom course materials?
- We see the textbook market as a whole moving towards custom. As digital textbooks become more of the norm, they’ll become more flexible. We’ll move away from a digital text built off of the structure of a paper text and into a more malleable content delivery platform. The biggest hurdle is getting the content to be written to stand alone and then producing a very fluid, simple process for professors to package their desired course materials. There will always be a place for the one-stop-shop standard textbook, but going custom tailors the content to your course and that is good for students.
2) What role do you see for stores with custom course materials in the future?
- In our opinion, right now is a very important phase for stores and their involvement in the future. As things move towards digital, they have the opportunity to get on board or be passed over. The biggest asset a store has is its proximity to the content creators, Professors; and that isn’t changing. If they can implement an effective digital platform, that absorbs custom materials, they’ll be in a strong place to control their future.
3) What makes your product or service unique? What products or services do you offer in this space?
- We give stores the tools to do what they otherwise could not. We have built a cost-efficient, cloud-based platform tailored to higher education, which allows stores to make their custom course materials available digitally. Our mission is to provide stores with a digital platform that seamlessly integrates into their current operations. The stores maintain control; we don’t take over permissions, we don’t take over printing, they are still the contact with professors, etc. Simply, we are a technology company that partners with bookstores and print shops so that they can offer a digital option to their customers.
4) Who should stores contact for more information?
