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From: johnm@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (John Murray)
Newsgroups: sci.math,sci.physics,comp.edu
Subject: Re: How to beat the high cost of text books!
Message-ID: 
Date: 4 Dec 88 04:47:17 GMT
References: <2219@cbnews.ATT.COM> <684@stech.UUCP> <17553@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <17738@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA
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Just a couple of thoughts:

* If publishers sent their promotion copies to campus libraries or
  bookstores, and then solicited support from the faculty at that
  location, wouldn't that provide them with greater exposure than
  dumping copies on the desks of individuals who don't even teach
  the topic? Anyone browsing through the "Review Texts" section
  could have the opportunity to provide them with input, including
  students. I wonder what proportion of a text's sales go to libraries
  rather than individual students (and profs not on the mailing list)?

* As for rewarding the authors, many profs seem to write their texts
  "during working hours", so to speak. Taking a sabbatical to write a
  book appears to be more common for advanced topics rather than for
  introductory texts, which often evolve out of class handouts over
  several years. Thus, the author isn't really "dependent" on the
  income in the same sense that a professional writer is. It seems to
  me that the royalties are sometimes just a way for instructors to
  make a little extra money. What would the royalties on a typical,
  mediocre intro text be, anyway? $500? $5000?? $50000???

* The Wang Unix book was mentioned as an example of over-pricing.
  Presumably it was marketed in the usual textbook fashion. How
  often do profs prescribe texts they've received free, rather than
  going through the contents of their local bookstores? By not
  looking for good, cheap books on a subject (such as the myriad
  of Unix non-textbooks), they inadvertently contribute to this
  disgrace.

* It gets worse when BOTH a textbook and a half-baked version of
  the prof's forthcoming work need to be bought by the student.
  Sometimes a non-textbook supplemented by good course notes would
  more than suffice.

- John M. (My own opinions, etc.)