High textbook costs may be leading to an increase in the use of online readings by UW-Madison professors for their courses.
UW-Madison sophomore and Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group treasurer Adam Porton said this is the case for some of his classes.
""For the last quarter it would be about 50-50 where half of the readings are online for library reserves and the other half are just textbooks,"" Porton said.
UW-Madison professor of journalism and mass communication Stephen Vaughn explained how he utilizes online readings.
""I use them both as supplementary reading but also as required reading,"" Vaughn said, ""Instead of having them buy eight or 10 different books, I'll have them buy maybe four or five and then I'll use the online readings. I can bring in more authors that way and they're usually shorter selections.""
""I know the cost has gotten out of hand in a lot of ways so that's part of the thinking about [online readings], so people won't have to spend so much money,"" Vaughn said, explaining he thinks many book publishers are having trouble staying afloat now because not as many libraries buy their books, and presses have difficulties getting enough distributors to buy their books.
""That counts for maybe why books are more expensive then they used to be,"" Vaughn said. ""Most presses used to be able to count on libraries to let them break even—it's a problem that way, with more and more things going online.""
But a report released Tuesday by The Make Textbooks Affordable Campaign and WISPIRG presented new case studies identifying how the college textbook publishing industry ""deliberately undermines the used book market and inflates prices.""
The report found a textbook in which the price increased within the same edition at twice the rate of inflation, though the product had not been changed. There was also evidence of two textbook bundles that cost 46 to 48 percent more than their unbundled versions.
According to the release, becoming more aware of prices, low cost alternatives like online readings and their book adoptions' impact on the textbook market, faculty can play a significant role in making education more accessible for their students.
Many universities, including University of Texas-Austin, University of California-Berkeley and UW-Madison, offer resources for educators to integrate multimedia in the classroom, like giving students access to online readings. UW-Madison's Electronic Reserves Collection allows students, faculty and staff to access online readings and materials through their MyUW portals online from any computer.
