Textbooks

[Lamberto Quintero]

To those who deal with textbooks because of school, what are your guys' thoughts about prices and the business of textbooks. In one of my journalism classes, the teacher explained how the Textbook industry is the biggest money maker out of all the books. And I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure he said that there are only 5 corporations that put out ALL of the textbooks and that the actual authors of the books see very little of the money made.
Now, the business of it is that these motherfuckers will add like 10 pages to an already printed textbook and call it a new edition for that year, and FORCE all the schools to buy that edition which then forces students to keep buying brand new books. To me this is rediculous when school is already expensive, living continues to go up, gas, etc., and they still expect students to drop like 500-1000 dollars on books per semester.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[HERESY]

I spent $400+ on books this semester. Thomson Wadsworth seems to be a big publisher, and they have books on types of subjects at my schools book store. I suggest you start hitting some of these torrent sites and seeing if they have ebooks, or using your library card to access the electronic database to see if they have an ebook or pdf copy on deck.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

I definitely use the library a lot, since I work at a part of it. And about e-books, I guess I would use it if it was available, but there's just something about having a tangible book in front of me that makes studying a lot easier.

What do you think about how they reprint books every 1-3 years just to keep students buying new ones? I know there are ways around to get books, but obviously on a campus as big as the ones are today, the library can only go so far. There will be people buying new books all the time, just because it is through the school and they feel safer, do you understand what I'm trying to say? These businesses make their money regardless of some people buying used books, using library books, because the market is so big and uncontested.

 

[HERESY]

Well, if you need a tangible book I guess you have to spend tangible money. What do I think about reprints? Well some of the books add a lot more info while others don't. They still carry older editions and sell them at my school, and its up to the teacher as far as what edition you use. BTW, I always try to get my hands on TEACHERS EDITION books instead of the regular ones.

As far as buying books though, you need to get the ISBN #s on the back of each book you need, and then you need to hit google, type the numbers in and hit all the spots that have those books in stock for sale. You'll come out cheaper online.

 

[Hutch]

As far as buying books though, you need to get the ISBN #s on the back of each book you need, and then you need to hit google, type the numbers in and hit all the spots that have those books in stock for sale. You'll come out cheaper online.

Hell yeah - If you have to buy the book, that's the best way to go about it. Also, see if any more advanced students have copies. Often they'll buy the book, use it for a semester or two and then have no use for it - there's a good chance they'll sell it to you half price.

I fell into the trap of buying textbooks in first year where I spent about $600 on books in the first semester. I refused to buy any textbooks after then though (for starters, I hate the fact that they're trying to exploit students - we all know students are broke!). Instead, I just hit the library whenever I needed information - sure, you have to go out of your way a little but the diversity of books means that you get a more accurate description of the topic, i.e. instead of reading one textbook and taking it's contents as gospel, read several to establish the more important aspects of the topic and cover your bases - no one textbook, no matter how good, contains all the information on any single topic. I liked to grab a handfull (half a dozen or so) books on a specific topic and photocopy the relevant pages - $5 on photocopying hurts the pockets a lot less than the $150 required to purchase a new textbook!

As for releasing 'revised editions', most of the textbooks vary little from one edition to the next as I'm sure you're aware. The only ones which require the release of updated editions are books covering topics such as molecular biology because advances in the field are happening every day. With books on topics like math and chemistry though, new knowledge accumulates too slowly to merit a revised edition every three years. It's all for the profits.

 

[Carnage187]

i spent about 560 this quarter. How did i feel about it? Bad. I had to settle for a new chem book, and it was really expensive, about 150. Our college runs on the quarter system, Calculus and Chem is split into A, B, C, so we will use the same textbooks for the year, but for my other courses, yeah it's going to be painful.

 

[XxtraMannish]

BTW, I always try to get my hands on TEACHERS EDITION books instead of the regular ones.
.

This might sound like a stupid question, but why are the teachers editions better than the student editions other than having all the answers? How do you go about getting the teachers editions?

 

[kayvee]

its nothin u cant google..the past 3 classes i have taken i havent cracked open the book once. but u have to buy the book to show the teacher u have it.

~k.

 

[HERESY]

This might sound like a stupid question, but why are the teachers editions better than the student editions other than having all the answers? How do you go about getting the teachers editions?

No, thats not a stupid question, but all of the teachers editions don't have the answers. Why don't they have answers? Because some books don't have questions. Some have questions that are limited in the form of discussion questions so there is no "right" or "wrong" answer. Some teachers editions have a general highlight of the subject matter in the book so its easier to go from point A to B. As far as getting the books, you can SOMETIMES (more less than not) actually find them in your school library or school bookstore. They usually look just like the student books. Also, if you have a family member that is a teacher that helps, and if you can get in good with a teacher that doesn't give a damn about ordering books for you because your in good with them you're set. ALSO, TRY CONTACTING THE PUBLISHER AND TELLING THEM YOU WANT IT FOR REFERENCE. You might be able to get it that way.

 

[HERESY]

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51702

Read this: :dead:

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

Heresy- I quit buying textbooks really, and I use the library as much as I can. However, I was not asking for advice on a personal level, I was trying to get commentary on the bigger picture; the business of textbooks.

Hutch- You are headed in the correct direction. And your point about only using the required textbooks for all information is a good one. Not so much in college, but in high school some textbooks, especially history-related ones, were very one-sided and kept a lot of important information out. Therefore, multiple sources is a very good idea and it's something I do as well.

I believe that the price problem as well as the content of the books are highly affected by the MONOPOLY of the textbook business.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/education/2006/03/554499/

I dont know if that's a credible source, but it's a good read if anyone is interested and any comments or opinions are welcome...

EDIT: I didnt realize it was from Vietnam.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51702

Read this: :dead:

Damn, as long as people use the books to learn the material I dont see what the big deal is about having a teacher's edition.

 

[HERESY]

Heresy- I quit buying textbooks really, and I use the library as much as I can. However, I was not asking for advice on a personal level, I was trying to get commentary on the bigger picture; the business of textbooks.

I wasn't really giving you advice on the personal level (it was actually for anyone who needed it), and I answered your question, "What do I think about reprints? Well some of the books add a lot more info while others don't. They still carry older editions and sell them at my school, and its up to the teacher as far as what edition you use."

Books haven't hurt my pockets yet. I enjoy reading, and so far only one of my books have been archaic (My professor said he'll never use it again), but a lot of my classmates don't have books (especially in some of my CJ classes.) Books are one of the few things I actually enjoy spending money on, but if i have the chance to get a pdf file instead of paying 200 for the hard copy I'll take teh pdf. Yeah its a racket and the industry is controlled by publishers (especially the one I listed), but I'm trying to find a way to make some bread off of it. Thats what you should do also.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

I agree with what you said. One thing though, one of my teachers this year said he tried to get the book store to order the older edition of the textbook, but he couldn't. So is it really up to the teachers? Because from my understanding, the "OK" has to come from somewhere else and not the teacher.

 

[HERESY]

Usually it is because teachers decide on what books they want to use and which ones they don't. Last semester I had an english class and one of the text books he required was Theatre Of The Opressed. He was the only eng 4 teacher who required that text book out of like 5 teachers. The year before that I had an english teacher that didn't care if we used the first or second version of Reading Our Histories, Understanding Our Culture. Over the summer one of my criminal justice teachers didn't care if we used the 3rd or 4th editions of the text. So far, my teachers have been forgiving, and since they haven't been strict on the books and often change the books they teach, I assume they have some voice in the matter.

If your teacher couldn't get the bookstore to order the older edition thats the monopoly you're talking about (if they weren't all sold out or actually stopped production.)

Two of my sisters have teached before (one still teaches), so I'll actually run this by both of them to see what they have to say about it, but like I said, my teachers have been forgiving in this area, so they probably don't have a say so.

But on the real it's not really fair when you look at it. Does the addition of new info really warrant a purchase? Most likely not. My take is some of these companies should probably run a new update every 3-5 years instead of every year (depending on subject.) Now I can see certain cj books having new additions every year because new laws and court cases happen every year, but for math and english? No way. Sociology? Maybe....nah not even for that.

Yeah its a racket when you really think about it and your mind gets to dwelling on it.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

Yeah I agree that subjects such as Law or Science that may need updates annually. Definetely not for history books, math books, or english books. Maybe a history book that leads up to the present time. And the teacher I mentioned earlier stated that the bookstore told him they HAD to get the newer edition because production stopped with the previous edition.

Anyways, this whole thing is something I see firsthand since I'm around textbooks all day at work. The place that I work at is called the reserve book room, and the idea is that teachers can place their personal copies of textbooks on reserve and students get to check them out. Although the majority of them only have a 2 hour checkout limit, it's something that a lot of students use instead of buying the book. Working here, I see the problem regarding textbooks very clearly. And not only from personal experience with my own classes, but everyday through the position at my job. Now I understand that without the textbook problem I'd probably be out of a job, but I try to not think about it on a personal level and rather see it like the many students attending college in this country.

"Yeah its a racket when you really think about it and your mind gets to dwelling on it."

Yes indeed.