1. Textbook costs, legislation, and options: choosing your textbook in the 21st Century
Terence W. Cavanaugh Department of Leadership, Counseling, and Technology University of North Florida
“While the end of the [printed] book remains a plausible scenario of the future, this is far from inevitable" (David Staley in The Futurist, 2003).
“The future is now.” Nam June Paik

2. Textbook costs, legislation, and options: choosing your textbook in the 21st Century
Abstract:
Rising costs for textbooks, which can now add up to 1/5 to 1/2 the cost of tuition, have led to national and state legislation. Adopted legislation includes requirements such as of unbundling, publishing textbooks lists online 30 days in advance of a class starting, having copies of the texts available through campus libraries, and investigating options concerning the adopted texts. Many formats of textbooks are less expensive than printed books. Perhaps the most affordable solution is the open or open source textbook. This paper examines some of the options available for textbooks including textbook rental, digital textbooks and free open course textbooks, along with the feasibility of using such texts, advantages, and identifies possible barriers to their use.

3. =  = $$ Textbooks Costs Fixture of education ~$900/year
94%Grad Students pay for books with Credit Cards
textbooks and materials costs today can add up to close to half of the tuition and fees of two-year public colleges
Fixture of education
Basis for 75-90% of instruction
= 
= $$

4. In the last twenty years, prices of college textbooks and supplies have nearly tripled.

5. Legislation U.S. the Higher Education Opportunity Act States
“Unbundled” versions
Pricing information more transparent for both students and faculty
States
2008 there have were 50 proposed legislative bills in 27 states concerning textbooks
tax breaks
bundling
purchasing options
early publication of required books

6. Textbook options Physical Digital Textbook Options Others
Bookstores
New ( %)
Used (~50%)
Rental (10-50%)
Digital
eBooks (~50%)
Online library (0-50%)
Advertized text (0%)
Open Source (0%)
Others
Online bookstore (<50-90%)
Rental (10-50%)
eBook (50%)
Online library (0-50%)
Advertized (0%)
Open source (0%)

7. Fundamental criteria for a good digital textbook
Affordability
Inexpensive printing options
accessibility
From "Course Correction: How Digital Textbooks are Off Track and How to Set Them Straight" (Allen, N. and Student PIRGs, 2008)

8. Missouri ebook project
Estimated to save the campus an estimated $400,000 a ($800,000 annually)
Inventory of 50,000 to 80,000 textbooks which are rented to the students
Students will pay $160 to $180 a year for their books, compared with the national average of $1,000 a year 

9. Why aren’t they being used?
Majority of the students surveyed would prefer to use an electronic version over a print version
Awareness of digital versions of text availability seems to be correlated to age
digital generation gap?

10. Benefits with electronic versions of text
Variable font(s) size
Text-to-speech
Changing contrast
Creating summaries
Meet special needs and accommodations

11. Sample open source textbooks for Freshman Classes
English Composition
Textbook, Literature section (37 books):
Mathematics
First Course in Linear Algebra:
Humanities
An Introduction to Philosophy:
Social Science
US History (wikibooks):
Sciences
Motion Mountain Physics:  

12. Sample class: Graduate Educational Technology Multimedia
About Face: Reviving the Rules of Typography
The Evolution of the Book
First Steps in Digital Design
Brochure Design That Works
Go Facts Arts: Media
The Digital Darkroom: A Complete Guide to Image Processing for Digital Photographers
Digital Photography Step-by-Step
Animation: 2D and Beyond
Simple Websites
Motion Design: Moving Graphics for Television, Music, Video, Cinema and Digital Interfaces
No-Copy Advertising
Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint: PPT 2000, PPT 2002, PPT 2003
Bound By Law
Game Plan
Costs:
Purchase: >$300
Download: ~$37
Read online: $0

13. Conclusions
Faculty should continue selecting the best textbook available to assist the students in their learning
Faculty need to research into the availability of digital textbooks to see what is available and possibly begin shifting from print version to other options such as open source/content textbooks, when they are appropriate for the content
Not only would the use of digital options for text books perhaps lower costs of books to students and provide a format that is more easily adaptable for special needs

14. Sample Titles for Literature Class (Project Gutenberg)
Secondary:
Brontes, Charlotte. Jane Eyre
Cather, Willa. My Antonia
Conrad, Joseph, Lord Jim
Dickens, Charles. Tale of Two Cities
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of Seven Gables
Hudson, W. H. Green Mansions
Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt
Maugham, Somerset. Of Human Bondage
Riordon, William L. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina
Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi
Wells, H. G. The Time Machine
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein

15. For more online books and libraries visit http://www. drscavanaugh