Posted by unregistered user at 4/14/08 5:42 p.m.

As a child of the computer age, I believe that the cost of "publishing" books has gotten less expensive when you can just download it to your computer. I went to college for four years and I looked forward to those classes that had only "E-Books". I could read them on the screen and did not kill a tree to learn how to graph a quadratic equation.

Posted by hans at 4/14/08 6:14 p.m.

Absolutely bravo! The academic publishing industry has attached itself leach-like to the lifeblood of scholarly communication. In teaching (I am a TA with my own class at the UW) I wrote my own notes precisely because the textbooks (of which there are two) are so tremendously overpriced. Admittedly, the well-edited textbooks are better than my own notes. But I could not, in good conscience require $190 worth of textbooks for students who are likely to have several other classes.

Even outside of textbooks, ordinary scholarly publishing has fallen into the hands of an oligopoly of businesses. In research, even the UW libraries worry about subscription costs to journals (UW library is phenomenal--one of the top in the country); smaller schools simply have to do without. All because of the greed of a few academic publishers.

The current system of academic publishing--textbooks, research monographs, journals, etc.--borders on criminal. Universities in nations which do not have the funding we have here simply can not access huge swaths of scholarly work. Journals are simply too expensive. Overpriced textbooks are, likewise, enriching the publishing industry at the expense of those least able to pay: students. It is simply outrageous.

It is time for a change and these professors are doing the right thing.

Posted by unregistered user at 4/15/08 1:52 p.m.

The current contracts don't allow the publishers to make as much money from a digital media. They argue that the cost is in the royalty, not in the printing. It really depends who side you are on for every issue in the textbook debate. Every point has a counter point.

The truth is that students need to help themselves out. They need to work with the professor to understand the needs of the class before school begins. Then they need to use a site like www.campusbooks.com to find a less expensive book.

With time and planning they can save money. You would not go out and buy the most expensive TV without research. So why would you walk into the bookstore and pay full retail when tools are available to help you save money.

Posted by unregistered user at 4/16/08 7:08 a.m.

College professors are a major reason why textbook prices are so high. The GAO study concluded that the single factor that is driving up textbook prices is that students are subsidizing the free materials that professors want from the publishers. Publishers are creating their tests, lectures, presentation materials, and supplying lots of free books to the professors. Professors don't care how much you pay for your books because they get everything for free. Legislate that professors stop getting free materials and suddenly they will make decisions that take economics into account.