Local Creation of Textbooks

We just received an updated list on the use of local textbooks by students of the University of Concepción. It was a good sign that a larger portion of them are classified as books of high demand, being actively used.

The University of Concepción has supported the development of textbooks by teachers for a long time. Currently there are over 300 textbooks that have been produced and, as mentioned before, being used.

The policy of developing textbooks responds mainly to the need of our student for cheap textbooks (they are sold at printing cost). The cost of an university degree is high and very few of the students I've talked to purchase books for the courses the take.

We hope that as part of the Global Text Project we can contribute with some of those books, and also that we can motivate other teachers in LatinAmerica with this effort.

-Andres Sepulveda
Coordinator Spanish Library

Amazon's Announcement of an Updated Kindle

Amazon announced its new version of the Kindle today. Bigger screen (9.7 inches). More expensive ($489). Touted to be the salvation of newspapers and textbooks. Maybe newspapers (but doubtful). And textbooks? I don't think so. Amazon wants to sell students textbooks for the Kindle, but has not yet disclosed the pricing. If they are going to be priced in line with current online versions, they'll be half the price of a new hard-cover, or around $80 or so. Not as attractive as a free textbook downloaded from the Global Text library to a Sony Reader, a pdf on the student's laptop, or a printed copy for around $15 from Lulu Press. Here's the story from today's WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124162110396691937.html

Sorry, Jeff.

-Don

Renting Can Lower Textbook Costs

Today's Wall Street Journal had an interesting article by Peter King, entitled "A Textbook Case of Renting Books". I'd heard of similar schemes before, but most were offered by some of the major textbook publishers. This article compares four independent sites where university students can rent textbooks for the amount of time they need them and return them to the company when they're finished. The savings can be high. For example, the third edition of an advanced accounting text, "Fraud Accounting", costs $177.95 new, but can be rented for as little as $52.54 for 55 days, or $41.12 for 90 days from one the sites which employs a guaranteed buy-back model.

The four sites analyzed in the article are:
http://bookrenter.com
http://campusbookrentals.com
http://chegg.com, and
http://textbooks.com

The last one is the site employing a guaranteed buy-back model.

Progress, but still, free is better.

-Don