As education goes digital, textbooks may find a home online.
The physics department and university libraries at North Carolina State University are for the first time offering online textbooks free to the 1,300 students taking introductory-level physics this semester. The plan was implemented after Michael Paesler, head of the NCSU physics department, approached the university’s library about using electronic textbooks to reduce the cost of books for students. The initiative is estimated to save students a total of $250,000.
“Students are paying an exorbitant amount of money for textbooks,” Paesler said. “I feel that an electronic text is something students would be comfortable with.”
N.C. State Libraries paid about $1,500 to purchase the site license for the textbook, published by Physics Curriculum and Instruction, said Greg Raschke, associate director for collections and scholarly communication at N.C. State. Raschke, who manages the physics project for the library, said the introductory physics course presented a good opportunity to try electronic textbooks because so many students use the same book for the course.
Deborah Jakubs, Duke’s University librarian and vice provost for library affairs, said Duke Libraries is monitoring the program at N.C. State, but “hasn’t come up with a specific proposal for investing at this point.”
She noted that she understands that textbooks are a “significant investment” for students.
At least one professor at Duke is already using electronic textbooks. Robert Brown, visiting professor of physics, has been writing his own textbooks since the early 1980s and now provides them for free to the general public on his personal Web site. The difference between Brown’s book and the one NCSU is using is that Brown does not make money. He has written textbooks for two introductory physics courses as well as for a graduate level electrodynamics course.
He knows that physics students beyond Duke use his online books. Brown said he has received calls from students asking for clarifications on diagrams in the book and his Web site gets about 1 million hits a month.
“College textbooks have gone insanely out of range in their price,” Brown said. “Physics textbooks typically cost between $130 to $160. By providing them online for free, I help students out.”
Brown said he believes that the publishing market is responsible for the high costs of textbooks. Publishers create new editions of textbooks every two to three years, rendering used books less useful for students, he said.
“Physics textbook publishers are attempting to shut off the used book market.” Brown said. “It’s a scam. I feel like a scam-buster.”
Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, said he is also concerned about the rising costs of textbooks at Duke. But he said Duke’s financial situation makes it unlikely that the University would adopt a program like N.C. State’s soon.
Nowicki said textbook authors and publishers, rather than universities, should be the ones working to make textbooks cheaper.
“Universities can’t afford to take up the slack,” he said. “It will just be a pass of the cost, raising tuition more for students.”
Brown said electronic textbooks offer several benefits over their print counterparts. Authors make as much or more money as they would with print publishing, but students and libraries buy the books for a fraction of the cost, he said. He added that students can download the latest editions of online textbooks once they have purchased the initial copy.
In addition, some students like sophomore Andrew Bentley said they were concerned that it would be difficult to read and take notes in online textbooks.
“If you’ve ever tried to read a computer screen for a long period of time, it’s awful,” he said.
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