The Institute for the Future of the Book is pleased to announce the launch of next\text, a new project designed to encourage the creation of born-digital learning materials that will enhance, expand, and ultimately replace the printed textbook.

There are two stages to the next\text project. The first is a curated website showcasing significant projects currently in the field. The aim is to draw attention to a broad range of experiments that identify ways in which digital media and networks are expanding the potential of textbooks, redefining the role of teacher and student, and converging to create new ecologies for educational institutions. These areas include, but are in no way limited to: "expanded" multimedia textbooks; "open-source" textbooks continually improved by teachers and students; dynamic, networked textbooks with live or regularly updating components; collaborative work spaces; and multi-user games.

The curated site will serve as the planning stage for an invite-only symposium to be held some time in the coming year where the innovators behind these projects will meet and engage. Also present will be editors and publishers who are exploring alternatives to the traditional textbook, as well as representatives from foundations and government funding agencies who are interested in supporting potential projects (and, in the interest of keeping the discussion lively and honest, a few thoughtful outsiders to bring a fresh perspective). We see the meeting as a match-making event where like minds can find each other and lay the foundations for pioneering work.

We invite readers to visit the next\text site and review the material presented so far, which we see as a kind of seed group -- things that have gotten our wheels turning -- to be grown and expanded by the collective intelligence of the community. We encourage you to visit regularly, comment on the material, suggest other projects of interest, and bring your insight to bear on this process.