UC should encourage the use of open-source textbooks to improve quality, affordability

At the beginning of the quarter, you always see the same thing: long, winding lines of impatient students trying to get their books out of Ackerman Union.

Students who don’t buy their textbooks well ahead of time must also steel themselves for high prices.

Though many, such as myself, may try to find better deals on Amazon, increased sales tax rates on products from the site will go into effect this month. Textbook prices will get pushed higher, even for the most prudent of penny-pinchers.

There is, however, an untapped pile of resources that students and faculty could and should look into: free, open-source textbooks.

In California, the state Senate passed legislation on Aug. 31 to create the nation’s first free open source digital library, which will provide textbooks for popular lower-division courses in state public universities and community colleges. Professors will be able to review and edit these textbooks.

With this new development, University of California professors could play a crucial role in broadening the textbook market. If the UC encouraged professors to evaluate, add to and even distribute textbooks in open, digital libraries, it could help ensure there are affordable, quality books available to students.

After all, despite their promises, open-source textbooks continue to face competition from traditional textbook publishers, such as McGraw-Hill, and have not been embraced yet by a majority of the nation’s educators.

And for textbook writers, there is a powerful incentive to go through a publishing house.

“The traditional method is attractive because the more copies you sell, the more profits you make,” said Christopher Kelty, an associate professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

The University of Minnesota ““ which already uses open-source textbooks on campus ““ pays its professors for using open-source textbooks and for every evaluation they make of one of these books in the school’s online catalogue.

By adopting a similar policy, the UC can strengthen the quality of open-source textbooks, and perhaps convince more state educators to incorporate such books into their courses.

And, as a state institution, the UC should be looking to strengthen a public resource that could ensure the availability of affordable textbooks in the long run.

“The legislation allows for these textbooks to be written once, but then be revised by others, and allows them to be kept up-to-date without releasing new editions,” Kelty said.

In the shadow of the costs of tuition and housing, the amount of savings made through textbooks may seem negligible to some.

“Given the central importance of the textbook to a class, and that textbook costs are typically between 3 to 5 percent of the full cost of a class, the textbook is the wrong place to scrimp,” said Michael Sproul, an economics professor at UCLA.

In an economy in which students struggle to simply afford their education, however, no potential savings should be overlooked.

Businesses, such as Flat World Knowledge, and OpenStax College provide access to digital textbooks while selling materials such as study aids or flash cards separately to sustain themselves financially. The textbooks OpenStax and other companies distribute are subject to peer review by professors, who can remove and insert content in real time.

Likewise, the emphasis of the California State Senate on providing for popular lower-division classes is a good step, considering how many students take these classes for major requirements or general units.

To that end, students and faculty should take any opportunity to urge our school ““ as well as the UC system ““ to distribute class materials via self-regulating digital libraries to reduce costs while providing the quality of education deserved on campus.

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