Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Students, librarians urge professors to use open-source textbooks - Katherine Long, The Seattle Times

In Washington state, pending legislation could promote the use of online textbooks and open-source materials. A student advocacy group, along with one of the University of Washington’s top librarians, is urging faculty members to take a good look at using more free online textbooks. And two bills in the state Legislature would promote and facilitate the use of such open-source textbooks and course materials. The problem is the high price of textbooks. U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and student affiliates of that nonprofit, including WashPIRG, say the cost of textbooks has gone up 73 percent in the last decade –four times the rate of inflation. http://www.ecampusnews.com/policy/legislation/open-source-textbooks-562/