Faculty: What Can You Do?
Tips on selecting textbooks, readings, and course materials [pdf]
Guidelines and Deadlines for Selecting Textbooks
- Submit your textbook orders to the campus bookstore by the publicized deadlines; October 15 for Spring 2010 and April 15 for Fall 2010 textbooks. Timely adoptions enable the bookstore to keep student costs down by giving the bookstore time to locate more used copies and allowing them to purchase books back from students at higher prices.
- Consider price in the textbook adoption process, and if the academic quality is equivalent, consider adopting the less expensive textbook.
- Consider adopting textbooks that are not bundled with supplementary products unless all the components are required for the course.
- Do not feel obligated to purchase bundled packages; publishers are required to unbundle course materials upon request.
- Consider acquiring one or more personal copies of textbooks to place on library reserve for use by students.
- Consider use of open-source textbooks and course materials.
- Consider creating online readers that combine open access content with e-book and e-journal content licensed by The Library and available for linking (either within your course webpage or the campus learning environment bSpace). Copyright guidance [pdf] for those pursuing this path is available online.
- Include the ISBN number as well as cost, author, title, publisher, copyright date, and edition number on materials provided to students, including the course syllabus.
- Consider letting students use an older edition of the textbook and identify which parts are different from the newer edition.