Have more questions? Contact Scholarly Communication and Publishing at scpub@library.illinois.edu for more information and guidance or visit our website.
On the web version of Pressbooks, each "chapter" functions as a single scrollable webpage. When working with a lot of content per-chapter, it is important to consider how the organization of the book will work best for your content and readers using the book.
A publication created in Pressbooks is structured like a standard book with familiar types of sections and chapters:
You can embed limited types of media throughout the chapters in your Pressbooks publication, or have a special section at the end for media objects. In the end, your Pressbooks publication will look like a type-set publication.
Pressbooks automatically creates a title page, copyright page, and table of contents.
| Pros | Cons |
| Single-scrolling page | Can be overwhelming when there is too much content |
| All chapter content is in one place | Can be too busy when text, media, and interactive content is combined |
| All interactive exercises are embedded in a chapter | With textbooks, it is not as easy to get back to earlier content or review it |
To overcome the challenges of the single-scrolling page, you might use Anchors throughout the chapter. Anchors are links that take you to a specific place on the page. These could be placed at the top of a chapter to link to section headings.
| Pros | Cons |
| Reads more like a traditional book | Adds a lot of "chapters," crowding the table of contents and navigation |
| Content is broken up into pieces, so readers can pick and choose what they want to read | People may skip important content |
| Items can stand alone (interactive exercises, media, other content) | Needs more thought to structuring up-front |
The multi-chapter method of organization can be made more manageable by using Parts to contain the chapters.
When gathering material for your digital exhibit, it is important to be aware of copyright and licensing restrictions.
If an image or text is taken from an electronic database (e.g. ARTStor) or a website owned by an organization (e.g. The Getty, DPLA), there are often restrictions on how you can re-use and display these materials. Some material might even be in the public domain—books, images, scores, etc. published pre-1924—but the holding institution can still apply licenses and restrictions.
Learn more from the Copyright Reference Guide and Copyright and Digitization of Library Materials or set up a consultation with the Copyright Librarian.
