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In the Comments
The admissions folks at my public university report that they regularly see prospective student email addresses like beerbashbabe@___ . And the parents know — in some cases it’s Mom or Dad who writes the email address on the form at the open house. --drj50
Dear Students With Unprofessional E-Mail Handles: Your Professors Notice
Recent Posts
Educause Releases Report on IT Trends | Comment
Could Google Have the Solution to All Those Inappropriate Student E-Mails? | Comment [3]
Settlement Near in Google Book Search Lawsuit? | Comment
Apple's iPhone Takes Lead in Reader Race | Comment [6]
Iowa State U. Will Make Students Pay to Set Up Land Lines | Comment [12]
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October 8, 2008
Textbook Marketing, Radiohead Style
Imagine using a textbook free all semester—and then ponying up what, if anything, you thought it was worth. Noel Capon, a professor of marketing at Columbia Business School, has decided to try out that model with his latest textbook, Managing Marketing in the 21st Century.
Users go to the book’s Web site, enter an e-mail address, and get free online access (no downloads or printouts, though). A few months after signing up, they will receive an e-mail message asking them to pay whatever sum they deem appropriate. They can, of course, buy a printed copy of the book, for $45, and they’re encouraged to buy a companion volume, The Virgin Marketer, and a student study guide.
The book’s Web site compares the scheme to the band Radiohead’s release of its album In Rainbows, which listeners could download free. Mr. Capon says his idea was also inspired by a restaurant in north London that offered a pay-what-you-think-the-meal-is-worth menu. Half of whatever proceeds he gets will go toward publication costs and half toward college scholarships.
Does Mr. Capon’s publisher, Wessex Press, approve of the scheme? It has to. Wessex is the author’s own press. He set it up to produce and distribute Managing Marketing in the 21st Century after he grew tired of dealing with commercial publishers who handled too many competing—and expensive—textbooks. “After all these bad experiences, I decided to publish it myself,” he said.
“The leading book in my field is north of $150,” Mr. Capon told The Chronicle. “It’s just out of sight. It’s become this major social issue now.”
Altruism aside, Mr. Capon’s marketing scheme has a simple goal: to get his book into the hands of students and instructors. “This is my stuff,” he said. “I’d like to get it read and used around the world, subject to the financial constraint of having to pay my mortgage.” —Jennifer Howard
Posted on Wednesday October 8, 2008 | Permalink | Comment [2]August 26, 2008
New Report Says Digital Textbooks Are off Track
A growing number of textbook publishers are offering digital editions these days, but a new study by a student group argues that many of those digital editions do not have the features that students want.
The group, the Student Public Interest Research Groups, a collection of independent statewide organizations representing college students, surveyed 500 students from several campuses for the study. They found that students wanted digital textbooks to be more affordable than print versions, to be printable, and to be free from restrictions on how long they can be viewed. But the report said that the electronic textbooks offered by major publishers through CourseSmart, generally cost about the same as printed versions, limited printing to 10 pages per session, and expire after about 180 days. Publishers put such restrictions in place to try to prevent students from giving copies to their friends for free or trading them on pirate Web sites.
The survey showed that students feel strongly about the printed word. About 75 percent of those surveyed said they prefer a printed textbook over an electronic one. And 60 percent said that even if a free digital copy were available, they would still pay for a low-cost print version.
The report calls on professors and colleges to support more “open textbooks” that are offered free online.—Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Tuesday August 26, 2008 | Permalink | Comment [15]August 6, 2008
Open Access, With a Dash of Altruism
Plenty of computer-science whizzes spend their summers plugging away on code for companies like Google and Microsoft. But about a dozen students at Connecticut institutions put their coding skills to a humanitarian use this summer, and the fruits of their labor are now on display.
The students worked for the Humanitarian-FOSS Project, an enterprise that aims to develop free, open-source software for global-aid and community-building efforts. The project was created by open-source enthusiasts at Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and Connecticut College—who were inspired by the success of Sahana, an open-source disaster-management system created in 2004 after tsunamis wracked Asia’s coast.
Students from Trinity, Wesleyan, and Connecticut College participated this summer, along with programmers from the Universities of Connecticut and Hartford. They worked in groups on a broad range of projects: One team designed software that helped a local literacy group manage its labs, while another group developed a data-mining system that can identify disease outbreaks by reading news reports.—Brock Read
June 6, 2008
Google Book Search Bibliography
An academic librarian last week published the second version of his Google Book Search Bibliography, a list of citations for articles about “the legal, library, and social issues” associated with the search engine.
The bibliography includes a comprehensive list of articles from the scholarly and mainstream presses over issues such as fair use. It may be of particular interest now that Microsoft has shuttered its comparable book digitizing project.
Charles W. Bailey Jr., who compiled the Google Book Search Bibliography, has written extensively about Google Book Search as well as open access and e-books.—Catherine Rampell
Posted on Friday June 6, 2008 | Permalink | Comment [1]