[Athen] [ATHEN] Battling pricy textbooks with open-source texts, social media

[Terry Thompson]

Just to make this a little easier, here's an alternative link to the same
article: 
http://tinyurl.com/6p82tg

Terry


> -----Original Message-----

> From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org 

> [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On Behalf Of Ron Stewart

> Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 5:44 AM

> To: 'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network'

> Subject: Re: [Athen] [ATHEN] Battling pricy textbooks with 

> open-source texts,social media

> 

> So if the textbooks are free what is the incentive to write 

> quality textbook material?  I am not disputing that textbooks 

> cost to much, I put too kids through college not to mention 

> my way too many years of grad school.  Heck half the time my 

> daughter never bought the book and graduated with honors, a 

> nut not too far from the family tree :)

> 

> This issue is so complicated than any panacea solution is just that.

> Authors typically want compensation of some kind, profs need 

> to publish or perish to get promotion and writing a text book 

> is one way to survive.  More and more campuses are purchasing 

> curriculum packages or even whole courses

> from vendors.   Some cost effective system needs to exist to 

> get curriculum

> in the hands of students.  The vast majority of students do 

> not like digital text.  Piracy is theft.  I can go on and on 

> here folks.

> 

> A lesson should be learned from the experiences with 

> opensource of the last few years.  Typically the most 

> successful opensource projects are those that have been 

> commercialized in some way. Show me a campus that has gone to 

> an opensource model and had it save money.  I know Oregon 

> State lost their shirt, and they guys in charge both quit 

> just before the cost benefit report was supposed to be delivered. 

> 

> Ron Stewart

> 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org 

> [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On Behalf Of Pratik Patel

> Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 8:27 AM

> To: 'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network'; 

> 'Alternate Media'; cosdi-d at listserv.cuny.edu

> Subject: [Athen] Battling pricy textbooks with open-source 

> texts, social media

> 

> Please see the article on Ars linked below.  I would 

> particularly encourage you to visit the linked article from 

> the LATimes.

> 

> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080820-battling-pricy-t

extbooks-with-

> open-source-texts-social-media.html?utm_source=microblogging&u

tm_medium=ping

> fm&utm_term=main_ars_account&utm_campaign=microblogging

> 

> 

> 

> 

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