Good morning -- This article and accompanying "report" are  
interesting to me as I publish a general chemistry textbook used  
fairly widely both in the U.S. and abroad. (The 6th edition was  
published by Thomson Learning last year, and the 7th -- with  
significant changes -- will be out in January 2008.) There is a great  
deal of misunderstanding of the issue of textbook publishing  
practices and costs, in spite of the effort of various PIRGs. I would  
be happy to discuss this with a group of interested faculty. However,  
for now I would note that faculty have a responsibility to talk with  
publisher representatives to acquire the best textbook and  
accompanying print and online materials at the best price. There is  
price flexibility, and field reps are always glad to discuss the matter.

John Kotz


On Nov 1, 2006, at 9:28 AM, Richard Uttich wrote:
> FYI
>
> Rick Uttich
>
> http://employees.oneonta.edu/uttichrm/
>
>   October 31, 2006
>
> Textbook Publishers' Tactics Raise Costs for Students, Report Says
>
> College-textbook publishers use at least six types of “gimmicks”  
> to jack up the prices of their products and undermine the market in  
> used textbooks, costing a student hundreds of dollars a year,  
> according to a report issued today by the Student Public Interest  
> Research Groups, an advocacy organization. The report, “Required  
> Reading: A Look at the Worst Publishing Tactics at Work,” says the  
> publishers’ techniques include bundling their books with costly  
> but needless workbooks and CD-ROM’s, releasing updated editions  
> that provide little essential material that’s genuinely new, and  
> offering customized books that are useless outside the classroom of  
> the professor who assigned them.
-------------------------------------------------------
John Kotz
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Emeritus
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
State University of New York
Oneonta, NY 13820
Office: 607-436-2454 (or 436-3193)
Home: 607-432-2646
http://employees.oneonta.edu/kotzjc/JCKhome.html
Email addresses:
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