RE: NOW: Way OT! Text Books
Poor Michael. The guy can't win.... JB www.jonathan-bailey.com Tenants Harbor, Maine > -----Original Message----- > From: Sandy King [mailto:sanking@clemson.edu] > Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 9:12 PM > To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca > Subject: > Re: WAY OT! TEXT BOOKS > > > I don't know that it is fair to call text book publishers "rapacious > profiteers." > > I do know that during the past 10-15 years it has become common > practice for a number of publishers of college and university text > books to issue new editions of standard texts on a fairly frequent > routine, with very few substantive changes. This was routine with > some of the standard elementary and intermediate Spanish texts we > used at Clemson University, by my rough estimation, every three or > four years. For the most part the new editions were not made at the > request of the author based on significant revisions of the text. > > It is true that when departments have professors who have authored > textbooks those texts tend to be adopted by the department. However, > on the whole professors who write text books derive very little > financial profit from the activity. Some years ago I was offered a > contract to do a a text on Spanish Culture and Civilization but > turned it down because, 1) there would have been very little > financial return from the publisher for my work, and 2) universities > don't reward highly this type of intellectual work. > > Sandy > > > > > >I sincerely do not understand how text book publishers are rapacious > >profiteers. Could anyboy clarify that? What would make a clasroom > >leader require a text offered by a rapacious profiteer, anyway? > > > >Steve Shapiro > >----- Original Message ----- From: "Grillo Michael" <grillo@maine.edu> > >To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca> > >Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 9:43 AM > >Subject: Re: WAY OT! TEXT BOOKS > > > >>Greetings, All, > >>Given the steep cost of texts these days, I advise my students to > >>pair or triple up in buying the texts, which, besides saving them > >>money, serves my not-so-hidden agenda of promoting collaborative > >>studying. Sharing texts induces them them to discuss the work > >>openly amongst themselves, either through their studying together, > >>or more casually, their conversations as they arrange who reads > >>the assignments when. Students have anecdotally filtered back to > >>me that, while it sometimes inconveniences them, it does more to > >>get them to work together outside of class than any of the > >>university provided internet fora. At any rate, they do it > >>voluntarily. (Hey, I'm just using capitalist incentives to > >>promote good study habits and undermine rapacious profiteers!) > >>Pre-emptive apologies to any language critics, Michael
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