"...Kids don't buy books and teachers do. And teachers, so say the publishers, will not buy controversy, at least in textbooks. Conflict, sex, love, hate, religion, humor, in short, much of the reality of life, the child's included, have no place in the world of the schoolroom."
"American educational publishers, traditionally, have been followers rather than leaders in American education. What the education market decided it wanted, publishers have done their best to supply."
"In the past 15 years, textbook publishers have virtually eliminated real authors. It's market-driven instead of author-driven."
"About 75 percent of a student's classroom time and 90 percent of homework time is spent with text book materials."
"Is it possible that students ... get the idea that reading means passively completing ditto sheets and taking end-of-unit and end-of-book tests rather than actively integrating their own ideas with an author's ideas to understand the meaning of what they read?"
The author faces a dilemma: "Does she write so as to appeal to and help the teenager and run the risk of her book being labeled unsuitable for the classroom or even the library? Or does she trim her sales, echo the traditional view, get adopted by superintendents and ministers (and fail to communicate with her readers where they are)?"
"Educators have fallen into the trap of equating new books with better books, with mistaking style for substance. And faced with a market that puts a premium on newness, artwork, and copyright date, the textbook industry seems to have been forced into a hectic textbook revision cycle in which improvement in instructional quality takes a poor second place to more superficial changes."
"So it's one of the academy's more troubling ironies that
neither the textbook nor the textbook author gets much respect. That is
to say, the writer of a standard textbook may be the most visible
scholar in his field -- but that doesn't mean that scholar is a
recognized expert in his field." ~ Kendra Hamilton and Ronald Roach
"Schools and colleges, teachers and professors--all resist
change. ... Professors do not achieve status and increased income by
finding more effective ways of teaching. Classroom teachers, despite
the current emphasis on assessing student's performance, gain little
benefit from changing the way that they teach." ~ Robert J. R. Follett
"Are you ever dissatisfied with your textbooks--those awkward, overloaded wheelbarrows of information that wobble off course every few pages? Why not assemble your own lecture notes into the ideal textbook for your classes and, incidently, become rich and famous"? ~ M. Garrett Bauman
"..., The textbook as a substantive, vetted collection of scholarly content is still on its pedestal as the primary source of course content." ~ Judith B. Boettcher
"A study commissioned by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in 2001 found 500 pages of scientific error in twelve middle-school textbooks used by 85 percent of the students in the country. ~ Pamela R. Winnick
"The publishers have a brand name and that name sells textboosk. That's why you have well-established authorities who put their names on the spine, but really have nothing to do with the actual writing process, which is all done in-house or by hired writers." ~ Gilbert T. Sewall
"They [textbooks] are processed into existence uisng the pulp of what already exists, rising like swamp things from the compost of the past. The much is turned and tended by many layers of editors who scrub it of anything possibly objectionalbe before it is fed into a government-run 'adoption' system that provides mediocre material to students of all ages." ~ Tamin Ansary
Because of concern about student attitudes and values, many groups care about textbook content. At the moment, the religious right is a major influence in textbook selection. True believers challenge textbooks that appear to contain inappropriate beliefs such as secular humanism, Darwinism and evolution, lack of patriotism, encouraging sexual behavior, values clarification or behavior modification, globalism, the occult, usurping parental authority, and negativism about traditional values. Conservative critics are strongest in the West, Midwest, and South. Publishers frequently respond by deleting controversial material.
While those of a liberal persuasion are also interested in textbook content and attempt to influence selection decisions, they typically have less political impact. Textbook publishers can be caught in the middle between groups with competing political and social agendas who wish to insure that textbooks reflect their values and orientation.
The Federal courts have said that school boards should:
There is considerable tension between these principles and rights. Conflict seems inevitable. If all facts and ideas which Americans find controversial were removed from textbooks, especially in the social sciences and the humanities, there may be little left. And what is left would have little impact on students.
While there is considerable disagreement about how to improve the educational experience, many politicians and some academics agree that more frequent and more rigorous testing is a good idea. Back-to-basics and test oriented curricula increase the demand for more traditional textbooks as well as complementary content to prepare for and improve student test scores. Teaching to the test has considerable impact on the content of K12 textbooks. Since tests emphasis some subjects and neglect others [social studies, for example], that also has an impact on instruction and curriculum.
Textbook publishers are in a good position to create tests based on
their text content. Some have also purchased firms already successful
in K12 testing. Most
textbook publishers are increasing their testing and evaluation
products to meet national demand, especially with No Child Left Behind legislation.
However, textbooks themselves are not rigorously tested
to see
if they make a difference or are effective. There is little
relationship between the nature of the textbooks used by students and
their academic performance. Users, students at whatever level, are not
typically
involved in the selection process and provide little feedback on
textbook success. Interestingly, there is a standard for digital
products [Scientifically Based Research: A guide for education
publishers & developers] while there is not one for print
products.
Although textbooks often face considerable ridicule from critical adults, they serve an important purpose. They may be the sole source of information on a subject for both teacher and student. Textbooks standardize what is taught and learned for most subjects from the beginning until formal education is complete. There is considerable tension between the desire of researchers and master teachers to provide what is needed for effective education and the desire of parents and other community members to support their values. Often, "community values" win out.
Textbooks are adopted both in the K12
and college/university environments. Faculty members select or adopt
college texts while school boards, either at the local or state level,
make these decisions for K12 education. In K12 education, the trend is
to select a series of texts rather than an
individual text for a particular grade. This means that there are fewer
sales opportunities and that adoption decisions are very, very
important.
Adopting a series also increases opportunities for publishers to sell
supplemental materials. Typically, about two to five percent of the K12
school budget is spent on textbooks.
The graphic attraction of the text along with "safe" content matching state curriculum guidelines or standards is the major variable in the selection process.
Note that Basal textbook programs normally include texts
for a range of grades complemented by teacher guides, workbooks, tests,
answer keys, web sources, and ....
More than twenty states [22 at the moment] have state-wide adoption where textbooks are adopted for all public K12 schools in the state. The rationale is to insure a regular review, save time, ensure quality selection, achieve state-wide consistency of curriculum, and reduce/control textbook costs. Nearly 30 states allow individual school districts to make adoption decisions. Adoption at the state level is concentrated in the South and Southwest. New England, North Atlantic, and Midwestern states are most likely to allow local selection.
Each state, regardless of its adoption process, has created curriculum guidelines for various curricular areas such as reading, science, and mathematics. Textbook content must match these goals and objectives. Thus, those who actually create the text content must follow lengthy required guidelines. Obviously, this limits opportunities for innovation.
Because of their population size and budgets, Texas and California [California's adoption process does not include high school] account for twenty-five percent of all K12 texts sold in the U.S. Florida is also an important leadership state. These three states have as many K12 students as the next eighteen adoption states combined.These are the largest of the state-wide adoption states and their selections have substantialimpact on what publishers create. It is too expensive to create separate editions of hard copy texts for each state or school district.
About 80 percent of the content of a
typical textbook will be the same regardless of state or district.
Slight adaptations are made for the less powerful adoptive states and
districts. "Texas is truly the tail that wags the dog [Tamim Ansary]."
Texas is conservative in its selections, i.e. "We were
told to avoid using the word 'imagine' because the people in Texas felt
it was too close to the word 'magic' and therefore might be considered
anti-Christian." Creationism is included in science texts even
though it is not scientific. Twenty-one states allow citizens to
participate in text book selection decisions and the their impact can
be significant. Abstinence is the only allowable method to prevent
pregnancy and disease in Texas health education texts.
Most of those who comment are conservative, but liberals have
an impact too. In California, texts are no longer allowed to use "foods
of low nutritive value" as examples in arithmetic books for example (no
5 candy bars - 2 candy bars =?) . Regardless of political persuasion,
the textbook adoption process has become a battle ground for advocacy
groups. The result is often a textbook that offends no one and fails to
engage students or teachers.
Since a large print run is needed for profitability,
publishers are not likely to create different editions for different
states and school districts. The text that offends no one may have the
best chance for success. The American Association of Publishers keeps
lobbyists in the California, Florida, and Texas capitals.
Typically, textbooks are reviewed by committees that
include some teachers and laypeople representing the community.
Checklists and readability tests may be used to filter out texts. Field
testing or detailed comparisons of teaching - learning content are
rarely done.
After a text has been adopted, the publisher agrees to a
contract that freezes the book price and insures wide availability of
the book at that price. Performance bonds may be required. Ordinarily,
contracts only apply to the basic textbooks, not to supplemental
materials. There is some evidence that publishers inflate their cost to
compensate for multi-year state contracts at a single price. Given the
cost of doing business in state-wide adoptions, only the very large
text book publisher can participate. This may reduce the opportunity
for innovation.
When are textbooks selected? When the economy does well, the adoption cycle is about six years. That means that a new text or series is selected after the existing work has been used for five years. When money is limited, texts are kept longer than the six years. Typically, there is an agreed upon period for each major subject area. With state-wide adoption, the state will notify the publisher community when adoptions will be considered. With school district adoption, publisher sales staff promote texts and series throughout the year.
How are textbooks selected? A committee or review board or panel is charged with reviewing specifications prepared by teachers and then evaluating the works submitted by publishers leading up to an adoption decision. Teachers, parents, community representatives, members of advocacy organizations, board of education members and subject experts would all be involved at some time. Publishers must respond to each question or comment. For example, no textbook should show African-Americans playing sports, Asian-Americans at computers, or women caring for children since these perpetuate stereotypes. Christian activists would have a different agenda, but are usually well organized and well prepared.
Since committee or board members are usually appointed, they may have a political or educational agenda. It is increasingly common for an adoption committee, responding to conservative political, social, and religious groups, to request a relatively large number of changes or revisions in the books submitted. The publisher must then decide if the cost of the changes and their nature is worthwhile given likely sales.
The major variables considered are (not ranked):
Publishers have made a major effort to make texts more
attractive and interesting for students. They also want to simplify
teaching preparation by providing more and better guidance for teachers
with model assignments, exam questions and answers. It is increasingly
common for textbooks to be field tested as part of the publication
process so that publishers can claim that they are effective. There is
some question about the degree to which field testing is rigorous and
demanding.
There is intense competition to secure the adoption. After the contract is signed, there is no guarantee of renewal. However, once teachers are comfortable with a series, renewal does seem more likely. Interestingly, about 25 percent of all textbooks lose money even though they are adopted here and there. For example, it takes at least 250,000 copies of a competitive secondary social science text need to be sold to break even. This puts considerable pressure on sales staff to secure adoptions and renewals.
According to a 2004 study by Zogby International, about 87 percent of college faculty members require textbooks for their courses.
With the exception of the large departmental course, each
faculty member makes her own adoption decision. This creates a problem
for publishers since there are so many decision-makers and each
typically selects a small number of titles for a small number of
students. Students have little voice in the selection decision, but
they may decide not to purchase the text.
Familiarity often seems to play an important role. The book that best
matches the course syllabus is likely to be chosen even if it is not
the best book. In a some cases, faculty members are able to select
texts
which they have written. That creates a conflict of interest
problem. Even worse is a situation in which a faculty member receives a
substantial fee for "reviewing" a text that is later adopted for course
use. A small, marginal textbook publisher has done this with some
success.
In the olden days, textbooks were often written by one author, usually an experienced and successful class room teacher (master teacher). This is still the case for many college textbooks.
However, the current K12 textbook is a team effort that often takes several years to complete. The team, often led by a development editor, will create the plan for the series, teacher's manuals, supplementary materials, and the like.
Curiously, academics gain little status from writing textbooks [as a synthesis = not an original or unique contribution] and they may take many years to write while engaged in full-time teaching. In most cases, the financial rewards are slender.
Who writes textbooks? Acquisition editors look for people with
enthusiasm for recent developments in the field, concerned about
student learning, and who are eager to share their vision of how to
teach a better course. Regional or national conventions often provide
an opportunity for publishers to identify and contact teachers who seem
to be particularly successful in their teaching. Scanning professional
journals to see who is writing about interesting teaching methods or
new approaches to content can also identify potential authors. Age is
important. The textbook author should be old enough to have had
meaningful teaching experience, but young enough to be open to new
ideas. Acquisition editors must also be able to anticipate changes in
the nature of instruction and research in particular disciplines and
professions in the college text market. Acute knowledge of the market
and of the competition is also important.
For college text books, about one-third of the authors who
start a book do not finish it. Usually, they underestimated the time
and energy required.
In the past few years, more and more textbooks are created in-house so there is no traditional author. Instead, anonymous members of the editorial team in the house or elsewhere create the text under the direction of the editor. The name "author" now serves as a consultant while others actually create the content and package it.
Since a substantial text, especially for college students, may be nearly hundreds of pages long, there are opportunities for different types of editors. The developmental editor is the leader or project manager of the editorial team. Some publishing houses may use managing editor for the same function. Besides keeping all on schedule, this editor has some special responsibility for insuring that images and graphics are relevant, attractive, and clearly labeled. Editing is designed to insure that content is clear and flows well. The house must determine what level of editing is appropriate given the nature of the work and likely sales. Increasingly, the managing editor works with free lancers who do most of the editorial work. Acquisitions or sponsoring editors visit campus to contact prospective authors and handle contract arrangements. Acquisition editors also do market analysis, including evaluation of competing works. Copy editors check text for grammatical, punctuation, and stylistic errors.
Subject knowledge is important since most textbooks have specific discipline content. However, even for science texts, most editors began as English majors. Excellent communication skills are also necessary as the editor works with her team, others at the publishing house, authors, and consultants. Empathy toward the teacher and learner is notable because the audience must constantly be kept in mind. The editor must be familiar with the changing educational environment. Given the emphasis on images and graphics, the editor must also be visually oriented.
The editor working with marketing/sales staff is involved in evaluating the market and identifying opportunities for new texts or for substantial revisions of existing ones. When a good marketing opportunity is identified, the editor will begin to consider potential authors and create a project outline with attention to curriculum needs and grade levels. As the process becomes feasible and is approved, the editor will select the author.
Given the detail and the need to coordinate textual and visual elements, textbooks are done chapter by chapter. Detailed copy editing considers both correctness and appropriateness. Graphics such as colorful photographs, diagrams and charts are identified early and evaluated for integration with the text. Typically, about 25 percent of the textbook would consist of graphics. When chapters or groups of chapters are completed, they may be field tested with cooperating teachers and schools. When the manuscript is finished, it will be sent out for composition and manufacture. Both author and editor will review galley and page proofs.
Marketing involves liberal distribution of free textbooks to those likely to influence adoption decisions. Field testing in certain markets, if successful, provides content for sales pitches and can gain welcome visibility. Larger school districts and states will have lists of textbook publishers to be contacted for responses to adoption proposals.
A crucial variable is whether or not the number of students at
a particular stage, elementary, middle, school, or high school, is
increasing or not. These demographic peaks and valleys have an
immediate impact on the text book market. At the moment, enrollment
trends look good.
Because of funding [and cost problems for the college market]
problems, the market for both K12 and
College textbooks is expected to be slow in 2006 - 2007. However,
testing has seen solid growth. Digital texts for college and
professional audiences, often web-based, show some growth. Still, this
is a mature business and one that is highly dependent on public
funding.
Most textbook publishers have no evidence to support the notion that their books improve student performance. Anecdotal evidence suggests that publishers are more likely to cater to education fads that are politically popular than to develop intellectual content that makes a verifiable difference.
The continuing merger of U.S. publishing houses has created four houses that dominate the nearly $4 billion textbook publishing business. Interestingly, most of these are now foreign owned. Since textbooks have influenced or set the national standards for curriculum and course content, concentration may be a serious concern. Unlike trade publishing, it is difficult to enter textbook publishing, especially K12, because of the substantial creative costs involved and the conservative thinking of those who adopt texts.
Four companies, McGraw-Hill [the only U.S. owned firm], Houghton Mifflin , Harcourt (Reed-Elsevier), and Pearson Education (Addison-Wesley-Longman plus Simon & Schuster educational) account for 70 percent of the market. Pearson Education, British owned, is the largest textbook publisher in the U.S. Pearson brands include Macmillan (U.S.), Addison Wesley, Scott Foresman, Silver Burdett, Ginn, Prentice Hall, Allyn & Bacon and Longman. Harcourt brands include Harcourt School Publishers, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Rigby, Stech-Vaughn, and Harcourt Educational Measurement. Houghton Mifflin includes the College Division, Great Source, International Division, McDougal Littell, Promissor, Riverside Publishing, the School Division, and the Trade & Reference Division.
With so few major providers, the number of alternative basal programs has declined so that there are fewer choices.
In K12 schools, textbooks can be used until they "wear out." This is a problem where intellectual content changes every few years. The worn and torn appearance also affects use since students take old books less seriously.
Increasingly, publishing houses have decided that the cost of a text book package is so great that it makes sense to have the intellectual content created in-house with the assistance of a noted subject specialist. Thus, the editor and other members of the editorial team become the "real" authors.
As textbook publishers have merged and become part of global media conglomerates, there are fewer textbook publishers with the knowledge and the capital to create substantial new text books. Thus, there are fewer choices for states and school districts. For example, the number of major social studies text producers has fallen from nine in 1988 to four today. Risk is discouraged and more emphasis is placed on profitability. There may be less interest in innovation and product quality. In fact, several of the larger textbook publishers are shrinking their editorial and production staffs. More intellectual work is outsourced to free-lancers. Authors have become editorial advisors.
There has been some controversy about "dumbing down" text books to make them more accessible for less able students. This is done via controlled vocabulary keyed to certain age and grade levels. In addition, shorter sentences are used and more graphic elements are added. While this process makes the text more accessible for the less able, it can also become boring and even trivial for the more able student.
There are several kinds of teacher produced textbooks. A few large urban school districts, dissatisfied with available texts, have had teacher teams create textbooks to meet particular local needs. With desktop and digital publishing, this is relatively easy to do and the product can be attractive and professional in appearance.
Although unethical and illegal, de facto textbooks are created by duplicating and connecting bits and pieces taken from existing published works as well as adding new intellectual content.
Teachers may also produce collections of readings by securing permissions and paying royalties to the copyright holder. This results in something rather like the course pack used in higher education. Some textbook publishers create and sell custom published textbooks although content is usually limited to their own available intellectual content.
There is some evidence and much opinion that design values, "the look, feel, and format of the text," are more important than the content. The amount of text in the average textbook has been reduced. More text is found in captions and less in a continuous narrative. There are many more sidebars and boxes of text. Students with short attention spans may be the audience. Much more emphasis is placed on the images and graphics used to highlight concepts and facts.
Traditional supplemental material includes study guides, lab manuals, instructor's manuals, test banks, transparencies and now websites. Simon & Schuster, for example, has web sites for some of its texts with additional text, images, quizzes, case studies, and other resources. The life of the textbook may be extended with the web site which allows for content to be current and revised without publishing a new hard copy edition. John Wiley creates tests for some textbooks that may be taken on the web and gives immediate feedback on performance. The software authenticates whether a student is eligible to take the examination. Some publishers also sell drill cards, sentence charts, workbooks, audio tapes, film strips and the like. Rand McNally has sold crickets, salamanders, small bags of sand, cruets of vinegar, plastic airplanes, etc. for science labs and demonstrations. These items are not normally part of the adoption or review process
Testing materials are profitable and in high demand. Most of the major textbook publishers have substantial investments in testing and evaluation materials and programs.
Some states have begun to use textbook funds to purchase text content in CDs, DVDs and other formats. The assumption is that digital material is likely to be more innovative, interesting, and is more likely to prepare children for the future. There is also the recent concern that textbooks are too heavy and threaten children's health when too many are carried in backpacks.
There is some controversy about digital substitutes, but it seems likely that textbook publishers will make more content available in a variety of formats in the future. In Texas, for example, there has been strong political pressure to use textbook monies to provide students with laptop computers and digital learning materials.
Most major textbook publishers use websites to supplement texts and keep them up to date. Houghton Mifflin's www.eduplace.com, for example, has an extensive website with material to supplement its reading, social studies, and math books. Prentice Hall's www.phschool.com includes a web site for a series of middle school science books. Each chapter in each book has a web page with five to ten appropriate links.
Holt, Rinehart & Winston's Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1914 is a text that also includes virtual tours of the Smithsonian, interactive CD-ROMs, online activities, and CNN videos on world events. Rich media content can be added to the traditional textbook content and both can be loaded into course management systems.
While some political figures like digital textbooks [no books to handle, no warehousing, easy updated, no heavy backpacks], most students prefer the hard copy text. Digital rights management remains a problem. Access may be time limited, password protected, limited to one computer, and there are no resale rights.
Funding for public education varies notably from place to
place and state to state. When the economy does well, more money is
available for new text books. When the economy is poor and revenues
decline, text book purchases are reduced. Currently, text book budgets
are shrinking and that means that the adoption cycle is frequently
extended so that books are replaced much later. Reduced spending on new
textbooks is a major problem.
Since teachers receive "free" textbooks and students do not pay directly for their texts, the cost of K12 textbooks receives little public attention. Generally, textbooks account for less than three percent of a school district's budget. As you might expect, salaries and wages consume most of the school budget. The average dollar spent on K12 education would include one cent for textbooks. Many schools have severely dated texts. Many do not have enough textbooks for their students. Many secondary school teachers say that they were unable to assign homework because there were not enough books for students to take home.
The large number of "bells and whistles" added to most current textbooks (color images and graphics in particular) add substantially to creation and manufacturing costs. A plainer, but less attractive, text would be much less inexpensive. There is some disagreement about the importance of these elements.
In California, a law was passed limiting textbook weight and
other
bill prohibited textbooks longer than 200 pages received much
attention. Too many
heavy
textbooks create back pain problems for younger students.
The rising and substantial cost of textbooks has created quite a negative reaction. University of California students [2003] typically spent about $900 per year on textbooks. Textbook prices go up about six percent per year. Some data suggests that costs have gone up about 186 percent since 1986 and 2004. Congress has begun an investigation. As Marac L. Fleischaker said, "College stores are extremely concerned. The situation is serious and getting worse. Fewer students are buying books, because of the expense, and they're not getting the education they deserve." In 2003, the ninth edition of a standard undergraduate chemistry text cost $139 and included [besides the text] a review toolkit, a CD, a student lecture notebook, solutions to exercises, and a "peer-led team learning" book. In 2004, a two volume physics text with six supplements cost $378.00 Humanities texts are less expensive and have fewer supplemental features. About half of all texts are now shrink wrapped with these supplemental materials included. There is some question about the value of the supplements, especially since "many" faculty evidently do not use them. Publishers claim that the added value content is valuable and a reasonable justification for the price increases. Some state and federal legislators have initiated legislation to require publishers to make the text available without supplements to reduce the cost.
Selling chapters from textbooks at reasonable prices might reduce
textbook costs, especially if the whole book did not need to be read. Thomson's iChapters provides that service for some texts.
As cost reduces purchases, a "vicious" circle develops since
fewer sales lead to increased prices which lead to decreased sales....
As Tamar Lewin reported in the New
York Times,
"Publishers say the prices of textbooks simply
reflect the high costs of producing college texts. Most are niche
products, written for a relatively small audience. To stay up to
date--and, critics say, to force students to buy new books--publishers
frequently bring out new editions, further limiting sales of used
books." Paper, printing and editorial work account for about one-third
of the cost of the text book -- the largest share of the total. Other
typical costs include:
A few colleges provide text rental services. This substantially reduces cost, but students are not allowed to write in the books and the adoption period is usually at least four to six semesters. Library reserves might also stock multiple copies of textbooks, but the cost would be substantial if this was to serve as a textbook substitute and most students would not want to read texts within the library.
Used books represent a continuing problem. They cut into the market for new books and publishers, and authors receive no royalties. Several students may share the same book. Typically, the used college textbook will cost from two-thirds to three-quarters of the new book price. They may be purchased from other students, from the college bookstore, or from Internet stores.
Freeload Press has issued a few free digital textbooks that include advertisements. It will be interesting to see if this model is accepted by faculty and students as well as being financially successful. Others have suggested adopting the Wiki model and having collaborative free text books created.
The textbook business, especially in higher education is notable because [1] students have no choice so there is little or no competition once a text is adopted and [2] there is no cost to the person who makes the adoption decision.
There is some evidence that textbook publishers in the larger conglomerates are less and less interested in publishing texts for smaller audiences. In a house that now contains several former text publishers, works may compete with others on the same publisher's list. Critics argue that editors encourage authors to imitate features from the most successful books in the field rather to be innovative. Textbook editors are really market evaluators and coordinators. Selection decisions are largely based on academic consultants who review manuscripts.
Although text book writing receives few rewards in the tenure and promotion process, there can be substantial financial rewards. A survey course text might sell 50,000 copies and earn more than $300,000 in royalties in its first year of publication. A title with yearly sales of 10,000 copies per year could yield $25,000 in royalties. A Harvard economist received a $1.4 million advance for a new economics textbook. If a book is adopted in hundreds of undergraduate courses, it can be quite profitable to author and publisher.
In colleges, the increased cost of new books increases the demand for used books. Some students (about 17 percent) do not buy books. At least [often much more] twenty percent of all college text sales are used ones. The profit margin is greater on used books so college book stores benefit from selling them. When the market for new books declines [typically at about three years], publishers encourage the author to create a new edition which will minimize used book sales by making previous editions obsolete.
Course packs represent both a challenge and an opportunity for
textbook publishers. The challenge is that course packs are often a
substitute for an adopted text and result in reduced sales for the
publisher. The opportunity is that chapters and sections from textbooks
and other material available from the publisher might be incorporated
into course packs that would generate royalties for the publisher.
Another opportunity would be for the publisher to create and sell
course packs directly to the college book store or the school. With
nearly all published and unpublished material available in a digital
format, it is relatively easy for the publisher to reformat or
rearrange intellectual content to create a customized work. In the
past, this has been done mostly by local photo duplication shops amid
some controversy. With just a few large publishers, it would seem
easier for publishers to provide access to more content in a more
convenient package. Permissions are a key ingredient when
the faculty
member wishes to include content from periodicals, reports, and other
copyrighted material. Sometimes, permissions are very difficult to
obtain. Kinko's left the course pack business after it lost a copyright
infringement lawsuit, but returned to the business in 2003 with a
legally correct model.
Xanedu, a division of ProQuest Information and Learning, appears to be the most successful of the national course pack providers. Faculty can select ready to go course packs, create their own, or ask Xanedu to create one. Copyright clearance services are available and all of the material in the ProQuest database is already cleared. Course packs can be provided within 24 hours of a request if the material is already in their databases. Course packs may be in hard copy or digital. Hard copy course packs can be sold in the campus bookstore. XanEdu now owns MetaText and can provide etextbooks from several publishers. These can be annotated and searched online. SafariU by O'Reilly allows faculty to do the same thing by selecting chapters from books written for IT professionals rather than college students. Faculty like the notion of selecting chapters or even chunks of content from various works in a collection and creating a customized course text to match their syllabus.
If course packs are sold from a provider web site, this is a form of disintermediation since bookstores are cut out. A different approach would be to use print on demand technology to print course packs, as well as etextbooks in whole or in part, at the bookstore.
As is true of other types of publishers, most textbook publishers see themselves as multimedia content providers and not just text publishers. The major text publishers continue to invest in non-traditional publishing initiatives including digitizing texts, establishing web sites for specific titles and creating mixed media products.
Ideally, the digi-text should be less expensive without manufacturing, warehousing, and delivery costs. Revision is much easier so that content should be much more current. Too, there are no competing used books. Value-added features such as text searching, read-aloud, easy note-taking, links to supplementary web content, and the like should enhance the learning process. However, publishers place many restrictions on these texts because they fear unwarranted duplication of content. Recent surveys indicate that about three-quarters of those college students interviewed preferred the traditional hard copy text. The digital text is often only slightly less expensive than the hard copy edition, the interface may not be user-friendly, and the DRM restrictions inhibit use.
While there has been some discussion of open source text content and much more of that is available on the web in digital form, there has been relatively little progress in creating open source textbooks. The wiki model can be used to create textbooks and a few projects like Connexions are attempting to do so. Textbook Revolution is a student organized website providing access to free text or educational content.
VitalBook by Vital Source Technologies is a DVD product sold to students at dental schools and contains more than 100 licensed texts. Students receive updated DVDs each term. No other texts are needed.
One advantage of digital texts and text supplements on a
publisher web site is that this provides an opportunity for the
publisher to learn from end users. To a lesser extent, this also
happens with some faculty and publisher web sites without the digital
texts.
Pearson's Listen and Learn guides provide students with digital audio study guides available via Audible.
With the growing amount of free subject content on the web, including primary source material from digitized special collections, textbooks may be replaced by visiting a variety of subject specific websites and reading/downloading. For example, many use Wikipedia instead of a general or subject encyclopedia. Too, full text digital databases provide relatively easy access to many periodical articles that may substitute of textbooks.
While virtually all college bookstores sell textbooks, this is often their least profitable product line. With a website, the college store may sell school clothing, supplies and a wide variety of school-themed products to a wide audience on and off campus. Nebraska Book Company and Sequoia Retail Systems provide point-of sale and etailing services. Football fans from wherever can purchase themed sweat and Tshirts. These vendors handle everything. The college bookstore can extend its reach far beyond students on campus. For example, it is easy for parents to purchase items for their students on campus. More than 1000 college stores have initiated etailing sites. Students can order books online and then pick them up in a to-go package later. Based on past queries and purchases, the stores can email out special deals and offers.
Traditionally, college textbooks were sold via the campus college bookstore which was college owned and run by college employees. Typically, the goal was to break even. Today, the bookstore is often seen as a profit center. During the past few years, as colleges and universities have outsourced non-essential services, many college bookstores have been outsourced to national chains with Barnes and Noble and Folletts being the largest and best known. Each chain continues to add between 15 and 30 new stores per year. Each chain claims to serve more than three million students, have about 4000 employees and sales of more than $700 million. About half of all college book stores are now outsourced and contract-managed bookstores are increasing. Some of these stores follow the trade book store model and include a cafe, and sell music, software, and trade books as well as textbooks and the usual campus items.
Barnes
& Noble (more than 500 book stores), and Follett www.efollett.com
(more than 900 book stores), sell new and used texts via
their stores or via their website. Books purchased on
the www may be picked up or returned to the local store. Barnes
& Noble operates bookstores for these colleges in Tennessee:
Folletts advertising campaign for their web site includes the
slogan "Get out of line." They have several stores in Tennessee
including:
College and university administrators prefer the no risk, no investment, no management headaches, and substantial revenue stream from the contract-managed store. Some faculty and students argue that locally managed stores are more responsive to student and faculty needs. Too, with less emphasis on profit, the local store may focus more on books and less on T-shirts and campus memorabilia.
Three years ago, independent college textbook stores on the web were created with promises of lower prices and direct delivery. More than half of all college students use the web at least once a day so this seemed like a natural opportunity. CDs and books are the items students are most likely to purchase at a web site. Note too that no state and local sales taxes are charged by the web stores. About eight percent of undergraduates have bought a textbook via the Internet, but this has not increased much over time. The National Association of College Stores (NACS) waged a vigorous campaign against the newcomers including litigation. Since college students have complained for years about high prices and poor service in college stores, this campaign might have been difficult. However, the web-based stores soon ran out of money and most went out of business. Amazon, however, continues, to do well selling textbooks.
The major concerns that students had about buying their textbooks via the www were (ranked) :
Most students want to get their books immediately and that's an advantage for the local bookstore. With most local stores having a web site, they can provide both "clicks and bricks."
www.collegestore.com is the site for the National Association of College Stores. Besides information about the NACS, this site provides links to about member college stores with a web site to complement their store.
efollett.com is a web complement for the college stores that Follett manages as well as another group of campuses that provide Follett with their course lists. Searches are available by course and college, subject, title, author, and ISBN. New and used books are available. Books may be shipped to a partner store the next day. Used books are purchased at a nearby local store. Buybacks are available.
Textbooks.com (Barnes & Noble College Stores) is now part of the Barnes & Noble trade book web site. Formerly, it had access to 6 million titles, guaranteed "buy backs" at 45 percent of the selling price and includes a pre-paid label with its deliveries. Smaller discounts on new titles.
What sort of experience have you had with textbooks in school (K12) and college? Conclusions?
Can anything be done to make the K12 textbook selection process more objective and less political?
How would you react to the Texas proposal that hard copy textbooks be replaced with laptops and digital content? What is the proper mix between hard copy and digital text materials?
Would you purchase digital textbooks with limitations on use? Why or why not?
Critics have become increasingly concerned about the small number of major K12 textbook publishers. What might be done to reduce the impact of this concentration?
