tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767374071871443859.post4612339767771890234..comments2023-08-26T03:44:44.983-04:00Comments on brookline blogsmith: On the Frustrations of University Presses Part IIShuchihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03983297122881538943noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767374071871443859.post-79924424760703870832007-07-13T19:16:00.000-04:002007-07-13T19:16:00.000-04:00I am no expert either but do love books and do wor...I am no expert either but do love books and do work in higher education. Seems to me that the university presses serve such a specialized niche, and as mentioned elsewhere, print such limited numbers (including those esoteric books that target very small audiences) that prices are understandable. *Most* university presses seem to be "specialty" to me.<BR/><BR/>My big gripe is the prices of common textbooks, books often published in large quantity from huge presses. The textbook for my writing course is, after the university bookstore mark up, $90! (It's also $90 on Amazon.) This is ridiculous for what students are getting...these texts are updated often enough to make more affordable used books outdated every few years, yet the substance of the text is merely refreshed. The content of many writing texts has only changed marginally in the last 10 years, enough to acknowledge email and web pages as communcation tools/genres. <BR/><BR/>These books should cost about 1/2 of what they do. Students are forced into paying the price, and professors don't have a reasonable way of pressuring the market to change. One of my colleagues has his classes writing their own text on a wiki, to get out of the publisher's trap, but that is not necessarily feasible in all (or even many) contexts.<BR/><BR/>E-texts are an option but are not yet ubiquitous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com