My iBook: Introduction to Macroeconomics
It has been a while coming, but my small iBook is now available on the Apple iTunes Store. The book is titled Introduction to Macroeconomics and is an interactive learning resource, with images, graphs, diagrams, rich data and review questions. Click on the link for a free download. You will need to have access to an iTunes account where iBooks are available (sorry Singapore and NZ) and an iPad.
The process of writing an iBook,with the eventual intention to sell, is fraught to say the least. I will blog about this more at some stage but a few of the highlights were…
- Obtaining a US Tax Number without being in the US.
- Getting an ISBN Number, thankfully they are free in Singapore from the National Library.
- Creating an iTunes Connect Account and using iTunes Producer
- Surviving two attempts at the iBook approval process from Apple and then figuring out how to lock the orientation on a Book to Landscape. The switch from landscape to portrait tends to ruin any customised layouts.
- Learning how to use iBooks Author, which is very easy and intiutive including the widget tools.
Over the next few months, I anticipate publishing the full Macroeconomics chapter as a side project and blogging more about the process. I look forward to a few summer nights to write up the last few sections of this book. I intend to sell this for a small price and hope it will be a good resources for Economics students and this studying for the International Baccalaureate examinations.
The IMF’s Finance & Development magazine has recently published two online compilations of articles that may be useful to your students.
They are rich collections of material that are totally free!!
1. Back to Basics — explaining some fundamental concepts in Economics
2. People in Economics — a collection of profiles of leading economists and policymakers, including 10 Nobel Prize winners.
Go to Back to Basics http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/index.htm
Go to People in Economics http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/people/index.htm
Thanks for writing and posting. My students in Mexico City with iPads have been downloading your book – positive feedback so far!
I’ve been writing a chapter on market failure and externalities with an eye on a larger market structures and environmental economics ‘book’ through iBooks. I agree that it is very intuitive and easy to use but the writing process is still very different from the way I normally do lecture notes and the like.
Thanks again for the free chapters!
Andrew, congratulations on the iBook. Very cool! I began one a while back but quickly felt textbook fatigue and switched my focus to developing the app instead… Let me know if you’d be interested in collaborating on future chapters, perhaps with some video lecture integration!