I was recently introduced to an open textbook movement
by=20
Professor Preston McAfee  Cal Tech and Nicole Allen
Student=20
PIRGs. You can find out more at:
http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/statement
.asp?id2=3D37614
As I told Preston, I don't have a problem with professors
giving=20
it away for free, the question is will they? As Jim
O'Donnell=20
points out, in research journals there was never a tradition
of=20
getting paid for publishing -- it is primarily driven by
"publish=20
or perish" and peoples' desire to disseminate their
findings.=20
Also, the topics tended to be more specialized, hence having
a=20
smaller "commercial" market.
This is not the case for text books where many people enter
to=20
become the next big text with the financial remuneration
that=20
follows. There is not a tradition of free text book
authors.=20
Again, for more specialized courses or unique treatments
where=20
the market may be smaller this could work, but I think
the=20
financial incentives for the authors are too great in
intro=20
college texts.
Zac Rolnik
Publisher
now -- the essence of knowledge
PO Box 1024
Hanover, MA 02339 USA
t: +1-781-871-0245
f: +1-781-871-6172
m: +1-781-985-4510
em.=A0 zac.rolniknowpublishers.com
www.nowpublishers.com
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