As the Be Booksmart campaign spreads from students to faculty members, I've found myself pondering what has been a growing movement in the textbook industry. And my rumination has not been unaided.
Yesterday's Inside Higher Ed featured an article on an experiment at the University of Texas in Austin. Starting next semester, the university will make electronic materials available for over 1000 students. They're free for now, but should these e-materials prove receptive to faculty and students alike, subscriptions will be renewed and students will be charged a relatively low rate per book.
This is latest in the pursuit of e-texts, but criticism is not lacking on this front. Affordability and accessibility have each been hurdles, especially where publishers have simply provided their texts in digital format. The response has been a slate of alternatives, ranging from open courseware to self-proclaimed revolutionary publishing models.
No matter what course is followed, one thing is clear: the textbook industry is changing at an accelerating rate, and opportunities for innovation are hardly scant. Let's hope we can take advantage of this.
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