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From: ajdenner@athena.mit.edu (Alexander J Denner)
Newsgroups: sci.math,comp.edu
Subject: Re: How to beat the high cost of text books!
Keywords: free text books
Message-ID: <8079@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 20 Nov 88 05:37:14 GMT
References: <2219@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: ajdenner@athena.mit.edu (Alexander J Denner)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 38

In article <2219@cbnews.ATT.COM> lvc@cbnews.ATT.COM (Lawrence V. Cipriani) writes:
>Why not have a Cheap Textbook Foundation?  It would be along the
>lines of the Free Software Foundation.  Through the cooperation of
>many authors texts could be written on virtually any subject.  To
>begin start with something like Calculus or Physics, that just about
>all science undergrads need.  Then if that works out, go on to other
>areas.  The books would be written in a common typesetting language,
>say LaTeX, and stored on line.

>As for production, copies of the books could be down loaded, printed
>on a high quality laser printer, then copied en masse, and then sold.

	Good Idea.  I do not know how possible it would be to get so many 
profesors to write good textbooks for free unless when they can do
the same work and get money.

	At MIT, many profesors hand out (or even sell) xeroxed copies of
drafts of future textbooks to the class.  The test out the book, and
get input from the students.  That practice is not very well received 
sometimes.  My biggest problem is that one wants a text to refer to, as
a reference book.  The bundle of xeroxes are often difficult to handle
and search through.

	To make this successful I think that the copies should be well
organized, well bound (if looseleaf--a good binder), and some method
for high-resolution pictures should be included.  Introductory textbooks
are not appealling if they do not have nice glossy pictures.

	The next step would be to have published texts online.  Hypermedia
or some other learning aids could be included to take advantage of the 
computer.

					-Alex J. Denner

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