The University recently began a pilot program to determine the feasibility of using e-books in place of traditional textbooks. Seven classes have implemented the use of e-books, following an initiative started by Indiana University, according to Jonathan Kates, the executive director of the University bookstore. In these classes, students automatically receive the e-book after enrollment. While the e-books are free for the pilot, if the initiative is more broadly instituted students will automatically receive the e-books and be charged for them, Kates said. No matter what benefits accompany e-books, forcing students to pay a certain price for course texts is an unnecessarily domineering move by the University.
The move toward e-books is fueled by the potential for better negotiating power between publishers and the University. If professors affirm that every student in their classes will automatically purchase the e-text, they can then negotiate a lower price from publishers. This may save their students the cost of purchasing more expensive textbooks. On the other hand, if the student would still prefer to have the paper textbook, he must pay for it in addition to the involuntary cost of the e-book. Students should be free to incur the cost of course texts as they see fit. This would include voluntarily buying the e-text, buying a new or used paper text, or buying nothing at all.
If it receives positive reviews, the pilot e-book initiative will be spread to more classes around the University. Though it will not be ubiquitous - the program is faculty-driven and up to the discretion of professors - many students will nevertheless face charges for books they would prefer not to have.
To be sure, e-books currently have several advantages beyond their lower costs, and will doubtlessly develop even greater utility in the future. For one, e-books are much more portable than print books. Being able to carry all necessary course texts on a laptop, iPad or other electronic device is far less cumbersome than a full backpack. Always having class material at the click of a mouse or swipe of a finger is very convenient.
Moreover, e-books offer a more complete learning experience than is available in a physical book. E-books used by the University, for instance, will be connected to Collab, thereby incorporating facets of the class which were once split between the physical and virtual. E-books also offer - or may in the future offer - supplements to the traditional text, including links to the Internet, informative videos or interactive displays. Online learning videos, such as those created and posted to YouTube by the Kahn Academy have been widely praised. It would be very beneficial to incorporate similarly accessible videos as a supplement to course lectures via an electronic textbook.
But what if students do not want the mandatory e-book? What if they can find a traditional book for less money or do not feel it necessary to purchase any book at all? The University is perhaps assuming too much by insisting students possess e-books.
The problem is not that e-books cannot offer any benefits, but that students may be automatically charged for them. There are plenty of options which allow students to get texts for less than the price of a brand new book, such as renting books or receiving them secondhand. Students may not find it necessary to have the most up-to-date version of their class' book. In such cases, they can take advantage of myriad ways to get a book at a significantly discounted price.
Mandating that students must have an e-book could squelch the secondary market for textbooks. It would not be possible to sell an e-book, which will require new updates and re-purchases for each class. Thus, even if students obtain adequate paper books for cheaper than the cost of the compulsory e-book, they are still faced with a forced cost.
If the e-book program is instituted school-wide, the University should not force its students to buy books. It is admirable that the University is attempting to lower the cost of college, but perhaps there is a better way to do so. Textbooks are easy targets for attempts to lower student expenditures. Students, however, should be free to pursue other options when it comes to the acquisition of their books.
Alex Yahanda is a senior associate editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at a.yahanda@cavalierdaily.com.
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