[A2k] NYT editorial on textbook price disclosure, openly licensed books

[Dave Rosenfeld]

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Hello all:



A well done New
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/opinion/01tue3.html?ex=1178683200&en=e942
5beaf52bd341&ei=5070&emc=eta1>  York Times editorial today on textbook
disclosure laws and creative commons licensed books (also pasted below).
Commends Washington State for passing the disclosure law (requiring
publishers to tell professors the price of the book during the sales
conversation), and correctly points out the limits of only legislative
solutions and encourages universities to follow the lead of Rice University
and others in getting new models of publishing out there to compete with
traditional publishers.



This is a good one to share with any university officials, policy makers,
and others you are working with.



Here's some links if you are interested in learning more about Connexions
<http://cnx.org/> , Rice University Press
<http://ricepress.rice.edu/index.html>  and California State University
<http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm> 's respective programs.  Let me
know if you want more information.



Dave Rosenfeld



**********************

David Rosenfeld

National Program Director

The Student PIRGs

daver@studentpirgs.org

o. 503.231.4181 x311

c. 310.210.8410

www.StudentPIRGs.org





http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/opinion/01tue3.html?ex=1178683200
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/opinion/01tue3.html?ex=1178683200&en=e942
5beaf52bd341&ei=5070&emc=eta1> &en=e9425beaf52bd341&ei=5070&emc=eta1

  _____

May 1, 2007

Editorial


Help, by the Book


The State of Washington is looking out for students and their families by
passing a law requiring textbook companies to disclose prices and other
relevant information when they market books to college professors in the
state. Lawmakers hope that professors who learn the costs upfront will opt
for reasonably priced textbooks that cash-strapped students can afford.

This law, along with similar measures pending in several other states, is a
response to intense lobbying by student groups, who have complained for
years about the bankrupting cost of college textbooks. A 2005 study by the
Government Accountability Office found that book costs had nearly tripled
over some two decades, thanks in part to pricey but marginally useful
CD-ROMs and instructional supplements, as well as the constant issuing of
lucrative but little changed new editions - publishing's version of planned
obsolescence.

The law is an important first step. But to really drive down costs, colleges
and universities around the country will need to embrace creative solutions,
like the one on display at the online Connexions system at Rice University.

That content, already in use for several courses at Rice and at other
colleges and universities, is generated by a consortium of writers. Online
use is free. And a 300-page hardcover electrical-engineering textbook can be
printed out for about $25 - roughly one-fifth the cost of a book from a
conventional publisher. Other universities should follow Rice's creative
lead. Students can use all the help they can get.

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