All Posts Tagged With: "textbooks"
Analysts: 90,000 have downloaded iBooks Author since Thursday
Apple plans higher education revolution
Screenshot of iBooks Author from Apple
Steve Jobs’ plans to take on the textbook market appear to be working. In the three days after the Thursday launch of Apple iBooks Author software for iPads, more than 90,000 users downloaded it.
On top of that, more than 350,000 textbooks were downloaded from its new textbook category in iBooks, which started selling textbooks from major publishers priced at $14.99 or less.
Apple hasn’t revealed any official numbers yet, so Mashable warns that the figures, from Global Equities Research, are unconfirmed.
Still, the iBooks Author software represents the biggest opportunity for a shakeup in the textbook market long dominated by expensive publishers.
Continue reading Analysts: 90,000 have downloaded iBooks Author since Thursday
Want to save hundreds of dollars this year?
Digital textbooks proliferate
Photo courtesy of Cipher on Flickr
It may not make up for high tuition bills, but Canadian students may be able to save hundreds of dollars this year on textbooks — if they rent digital copies instead of buying print versions.
Follett, which owns 35 campus bookstores in Canada, will offer discount digital books through the website Rent-a-Text to students at all of the schools where it operates. For a list, click here.
A survey conducted by the National Association of College Stores shows just how quickly the rental trend (including old-fashioned prints rentals) is taking off. In January, rentals were available at 2,200 of the 3,100 of the NACS member bookstores — up from only 300 stores a year-and-a-half earlier.
Continue reading Want to save hundreds of dollars this year?
The curse of free books
Samples not only pile up, they also cause ethical dilemmas
To those in any other job, free books probably sound like a perk. In my job, they’re more of a curse.
Yes, we professors get free books. The publishers just send them to us. We don’t have to ask, and we don’t have to pay for them. They just show up in the mail from time to time. To a book loving lay person, I know, this must sound like paradise: manuscripts from Heaven.
But, of course, there’s always a catch. The catch is that the vast majority of these free books are plain old textbooks. Publishers’ representatives see that you are teaching, say, Introduction to Literature, so they send you the new Intro to Lit textbook that they’ve just published, hoping you will order it for your students the next time you teach the course. Sitting on my desk right now, in fact, are three tidy volumes of poetry, fiction, and drama, from the good folks at Nelson Education. In other words, the free books are not books one has been dying to read; they’re mostly the latest version of books one has already read.
The problem then becomes what to do with all these books. I suppose I could just throw them away, but trashing a book outright feels wrong to me. I’ve given a few away to students, but most students don’t want extra textbooks any more than I do.
Or I could sell them.
Believe it or not, whether to sell one’s sample copies is actually a minor controversy in university circles. On one hand, selling such books is easy because book dealers come right to your office door, offering cash on the spot. From the prof’s point of view, the deal is nearly perfect: get rid of something that cost you nothing, that you don’t want anyway, and you get paid for it. It’s like someone coming to your house and giving you twenty bucks to clean your basement.
Publishers, of course, hate this practice. When I worked in publishing, I heard constant complaints about professors who sold their sample copies. The books, they said, are provided as a professional courtesy, and professors who turn around and sell them are betraying the good will of the publisher who sent them. This is why, I often heard, publishers have to keep bringing out new editions, and why textbooks are so expensive. Because the used-book market — driven partly by sold sample copies — drains away the profitability of any book after a couple of years. From this point of view, selling one’s sample copies hurts students because it ultimately makes new books cost more.
I take a middle position. If publishers don’t want me to sell the books, they shouldn’t send me books I haven’t asked for. It takes time for me to collect the parcel, open it, and then find a place to put it. In short, if they are going to inconvenience me with heavy junk mail, I don’t see a problem cutting into their bottom line. But I make exceptions. I never sell a book I’ve specifically asked for, for one thing. And I try to avoid selling books from smaller publishers who have a hard enough time competing as it is.
I hope the good people at Nelson Education understand.
Cal State switches to $49 digital biology textbook
Digital copies could chop book bills in half
Students at The California State University will now be required to buy a $49 digital version of Principles of Biology instead of paper biology textbooks, which generally cost more than $100 each. Although major publishers have been investing in digital book development for years, the population of Cal State’s three campuses makes this one of the biggest deals yet for a book designed solely for computers, tablets and smartphones, according to The Financial Times. Students can print the book if they prefer and they own access to it for life. Vikram Savkar, director of Nature Publishing (part of Macmillan) told The Financial Times that the reduction in paper and printing costs is so large that digital books could improve profit margins, even at half the price. Not only is the book cheaper and lighter, the technology also allows teachers to monitor students progress as they read through the book.
A+ in procrastination
The art of slacking off during exams
A few weeks ago, when my anatomy and physiology exams were looming on the horizon, I wasn’t able to procrastinate properly. With several more chapters of my textbook to review, I felt too guilty to do anything fun. Like reading anything other than my textbooks, or playing a videogame, or going out with friends.
So instead, I would check my email ten times in a row. Or rearrange the icons on my desktop. Or delete old Word documents.
Now that final exams are over, my methods of procrastination have drastically changed. I can do whatever I want guilt-free. All of my old, ineffective methods of procrastination have been left behind.
Everything you learned suddenly doesn’t matter
Post-exam purge
I’m finally done all my exams. There are more than four months of summer vacation between me and next semester. It seems strange that all of a sudden, the material that used to seem so critically important- the stuff that I’ve been cramming into my head for the past 12 weeks- doesn’t matter anymore.
Since the first week of January, my day-to-day existence has revolved around my textbooks. And now, after weeks of procrastination, followed by a couple days of frantic “I-can’t-believe-I-fell-nine-chapters-behind-since-the-midterm” studying, it’s all over.
The day before my microbiology exam, with three more chapters to read and several weeks of lectures to memorize, I would have preferred trying to circumcise a T-Rex with a plastic spoon instead of writing that exam. The very next day, those three chapters are suddenly irrelevant and I’m selling my textbook on AbeBooks.
Sure, some of the courses I’m taking next semester will build on what I learned in anatomy and physiology. But words like “photophosphorylation” and “polymorphonuclear leukocyte” can be mentally purged forever, joining the ranks of all my other repressed memories.
Like that time in grade nine when I gave a girl a Valentine’s Day card, and then she ceased to acknowledge my existence.
Study explores the reasons behind dropping out
Losing a job isn’t one of them
A recent study by researchers from Michigan State University found that college students who are considering dropping out are especially sensitive to “critical events” such as depression or a loss of financial aid.
That’s not too surprising, considering the fact that twenty-five per cent of students who visit university health clinics may be suffering from depression.
The surprising part of the study? Major events such as a death in the family, a significant injury, inability to enter their intended major, substance addiction, becoming engaged or married, or losing a job needed to pay tuition all had much less of an influence on the decision to drop out.
The supposedly small influence of losing a job surprises me because paying for books and tuition comes right down to the last dollar for many of us, even with part time jobs, student loans and scholarships. I know it would be tough for me to pay thousands of dollars in tuition and books each semester (even if you buy them second hand through friends or websites like AbeBooks, it can still add up) after suddenly losing a job or other source of money.
The study developed a mathematical model to describe the reasons behind students deciding to quit, analyzing surveys from 1,158 freshmen at 10 U.S. colleges and universities. The survey included a list of 21 “critical events” (such as the previously mentioned loss of financial aid or death in the family) and students were asked if they had experienced any of them during the previous semester. The students were later asked if they planned to withdraw.
Other events that influenced students included an unexpected bad grade, roommate conflicts, and being recruited by an employer or another institution.
iPad not ready for the classroom
Students still need great teachers, not just great tech
Forty students at the University of Notre Dame were randomly pulled from class and told they had been selected as participants in a pilot project, if they were willing, on the effectiveness of iPads and e-books in education. To no one’s surprise, they all volunteered for the project.
The students reported at the end of a year that they had more fun in their classes and felt that they had learned more than they might have without the iPad and e-books at their disposal.
What’s interesting though is the students also reported that they found the highlighting tool to be clumsy, bemoaned the poor implementation of a note-taking tool and a full 20 per cent of them said, “The iPad lacks important functions/tools that are available with a traditional textbook or other device.”
Despite that, though, many said they were “willing to wait for improvements.”
I’ve already written about the costs of these devices when compared to existing education models involving notebooks, pens and laptops. Even the researchers in this study argue that the cost of participation — buying the iPad in addition to e-books — is “prohibitive for students.”
But what should be noticed is the fact that a full 20 per cent of students found that the technology wasn’t ready for educational use yet. They found that the iPad lacked the tools old technology offered so easily — highlighting and taking notes. Scribbling in the margins was impossible for them.
A 2008 study looking at how quickly video and other multi-media technology was being incorporated into mobile devices found that a lot of the early adoption was all about the novelty of the idea and not about its functionality. But as the availability of video on demand became normalized, consumers began looking for a reason to consume. They wanted it to be useful, personal and meaningful. When it failed in that regard, they tuned out.
“The videos were used to fill up empty slots when waiting for something: Queuing at the cashier while shopping or while having a break from homework. The users talked about the novelty wearing off: A few news broadcasts and cartoons were not experiences as inspiring enough as content in the long run,” the study reads.
And that is what the iPad risks becoming for educational institutions if it doesn’t begin offering real, student-centred education products. The classes students remember most, the ones they value most, are not those with the most interesting subject matter, they’re the ones with the best teachers who are most capable of making any subject matter interesting.
The iPad and other tablet devices are not substitutions for textbooks. They are new tools that good teachers can use to further interact with their students. Until educational institutions recognize this, tablets risk becoming just another novelty product.
Thirteen arrested in counterfeit textbook ring
$540,000 worth of fake books seized in Montreal
Thirteen people were arrested in Montreal Thursday after police uncovered a large textbook-counterfeiting ring. Police uncovered 2,700 photocopied textbooks at four copy centres near McGill University. “It was well done; it was like they were real,” RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Luc Thibault told CBC News. The fakes were being sold at roughly one-quarter of their value. Those found had a cover price of $540,000. The people arrested could face fines up to $1-million or five years in jail under the Copyright Act.
What every student should read
It’s completely free. And it shows up in your email every day.
If I had to choose between a stack of Microbiology readings and a novel that I started during Christmas vacation, I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t find myself reading about terrestrial and aquatic microbial habitats. So I don’t let myself make the choice. Between January and April, any books outside of my five textbooks (and lab manuals) are banned.
Two weeks into the new semester, I still haven’t touched any non school-related books. Instead, I’ve started reading my spam before killing it off. It doesn’t exactly compare to reading a good book, but it sure is a lot more lucrative. In the past few days I’ve already won hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash prizes.
My spam is even warning me about problems with my computer. And offering helpful solutions.
“Your computer are virus detected. Download antivirus for protect your computer free!”
It’s disappointing when I turn on my laptop and I don’t have any new spam. Just a bunch of emails that I don’t bother to read anymore. Sorry Academica’s Top Ten, but you’ve never offered me any health advice. Like, “Eat pill once a day and BREAK THROUGH WALL!!!”
I’m even getting investment offers and financial advice from complete strangers.
“Hello good sir. My name is Arthur Fowling and I am searching for an investment partner in my lucrative new business venture…”
By the way Arthur, the only people who say “Good sir” are characters from “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Sherlocke Holmes.” It’s about 200 years out of date.
“Greetings from the Gmail team. We are in the process of deleting inactive accounts due to bandwidth limitations. If you do not want your account to be discontinued, please fill in the form below.”
1) Username
2) Password
3) PIN number
4) Credit card information
5) A photo of yourself, so we can include your picture in our annually published book, “People who actually sent us their credit card information and PIN number.”
York renting textbooks
Student exec says poorer students still at disadvantage
The York University Bookstore has joined a growing number of post-secondary retailers who are renting textbooks. Beginning this month, students can rent books for a period of up to 125 days, saving up to 75 per cent off the retail price. Bookstore director, Steven Glassman, said in the Excalibur that it wasn’t a business decision. “It was more of a decision that we have to serve our students,” he said. Darshika Selvasivam, a vice-president for the York Federation of Students said the program could put poorer students at a disadvantage. “It may reduce costs, but this doesn’t address the larger issue of affordability . . . Essentially, students don’t get to own the books,” she said.
When it comes to ebooks at universities the future isn’t that scary
Libraries are already lending digital “copies” of books
Apparently, some Canadian universities are encouraging students to switch from paper coursepacks to electronic versions. The move is allegedly in response to rising copyright fees, individual ebooks will be cheaper than their print versions.
While there’s certainly something to be said for the physical pretense of a book in your hand and the whole notion of “curling up with a good book,” which no electronic form will ever replace, coursepacks — essentially photocopies bound together — have none of these aesthetic qualities. Since coursepacks are purely utilitarian already, I don’t think it will be long before electronic versions become the primary manner of distribution for them.
My colleague Danielle Webb is concerned about this because of the potential for a high initial cost if students will have to buy devices like Kindles or IPads. However, this doesn’t seem to be a real concern, while some ebooks are distributed in proprietary formats, the majority of these formats are readable on the regular computers that students are essentially required to have already. Very few university classes require students to bring their reading materials to class, so it seems unlikely that students would be required to have reading devices either by decree or necessity.
When I began writing this post, I was worried about the effect that ebooks would have on libraries. Would ebooks essentially turn libraries into places similar to record stores, frequented only by purists of a certain Luddite tendency who don’t mind that most new releases only come out on ebook? Would students of the future have to buy every book they use for research? Would there be a new upsurge in book piracy?
But it actually seems that libraries are getting on board with the ebook format. Software keeps track of how many “copies” the library has and renders downloaded books unreadable after a certain period of time. While it does seem a little weird to have to put a “hold” on an item that doesn’t actually exist in physical form, this does seem like a workable solution.
I’m still unconvinced that ebooks will really catch on, at least in the way other technological developments, like cell phones or mp3s, have caught on (I mean, really, how many books do you need to carry around at any one time?) but when it comes to research purposes ebooks definitely have some advantages, like the ability to search the text, over paper versions.
It all starts with a syllabus
…next come the assignments.
Right now is that brief period of time at the beginning of each semester when notebooks are still blank, binders are empty, and nothing has been handed in yet. It’s impossible to be behind on the readings, because it’s the first day of classes.
But by the end of today, the first day, there’s going to be a course syllabus and a schedule of readings sitting in my binder. I’ll know about the upcoming quiz and the assignment that’s due on the 15th. If I’m not reading my textbook or working on the practice questions, it means I’m probably falling behind.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been waking up when I feel like it. I’ve been reading books that don’t contain the words “peptide bond” or “entropy.” It’s difficult to accept the fact that the next time I watch a movie, it won’t be Inception.
It’ll be a Discovery Channel documentary that’s boringness is proportional to its title, like Inside the plant cell: cellulose and vacuoles revealed.
-Photo courtesy of velkr0
Saving money on textbooks
Non-existent textbooks are the cheapest
I recently found out that my textbooks are only going to cost about $20 this semester.
The entire $20 of my textbook expenditures is from a single course, Studies in the Humanities. Technically, the book I have to buy isn’t even a textbook- it’s a novel that the class is required to read for the exam.
My anatomy course and both of the labs I’m taking don’t use textbooks, since all the material is drawn from the course notes. Although I don’t select courses based on textbook prices (or, in this case, a lack of textbooks), it’s always a nice bonus when things work out this way.
Three of my courses are actually using textbooks I already own. Two of the courses- Human Physiology and a French class- are continuations of courses I took from previous semesters. The third course, a microbiology class, just happens to use the same textbook, which luckily wasn’t part of my end of the year textbook bonfire.
And no, I can’t actually afford to set my textbooks on fire, no matter how terrible the course was. By “end of the year textbook bonfire,” I actually mean “sold on AbeBooks.”
-Photo courtesy of djfoobarmatt
Sorry Alberta, I’m keeping my 10 pound textbook
Advanced Education Minister’s biggest opposition to ebook depository may be students themselves
In the digital age we live in where print mediums are being rapidly replaced by their digital counterparts, a surprising amount of skepticism continues to surround the electronic textbook.
That doesn’t mean the e-textbook doesn’t have it’s supporters. Alberta’s advanced education minister Doug Horner recently announced his desire to launch an online book depository for Alberta students, with the hopes that it could cut the costs of textbooks for students in half.
Horner told the Edmonton Journal that the students would have access to textbooks written in Alberta, in addition to commonly used first-year textbooks used at a variety of institutions. “Because isn’t the objective to help the student achieve, as opposed to paying a stipend to whoever wrote a book?” Horner said.
While this could be a groundbreaking development for Alberta post secondary education, Horner may have some serious obstacles to overcome. Perhaps his biggest? Convincing students to give up their cherished 10 pound paper textbooks.
One of the most significant factors in the failure of electronic textbooks to take over the education world has been the reluctance of students to make the switch. Despite often costing a fraction of what a new textbook costs, (the New York Times pointed out that e-textbooks are usually more expensive than a used textbook, but less expensive than a rental or new textbook) they continue to be a hard sell to students. “The screen won’t go blank,” Faton Begolli, a sophomore from Boston, told the Times. “There can’t be a virus. It wouldn’t be the same without books. They’ve defined ‘academia’ for a thousand years.”
Other students told the Times that eBooks can strain your eyes, and it’s easy to get distracted if you’re reading a textbook on your computer.
A study conducted by OnCampus Research in October found that students have been reluctant to catch on to e-readers, seemingly for these very reasons. According to a press release issued by the National Association of College Stores, the study found approximately 92 percent of students surveyed said that they do not own an e-reader, and only 13 percent had bought an eBook over the past three months. Some students explained in the comment section of the survey that they would never buy a digital textbook, and prefer having a physical copy that they can highlight and write notes on.
This hasn’t stopped companies from trying to sway students to a digital option. Amazon launched the Kindle DX last year, which has a larger screen better suited to reading textbook material, along with a pilot project with seven colleges and universities in the United States to find out how to make the device appealing for campus users.
Barnes and Noble College Booksellers has also tried to hook students on their e-textbook software, NOOKstudy, by giving away “College Kick Start Kits”, with ramen noodle recipes, tips for how to deal with college roommates, and access to several classics such as Dante’s “Inferno”.
Not all students are vehemently opposed to the e-textbook, and some educators have thrown their support behind the e-textbook option as well. Anne Jordan, professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, said in University Affairs magazine that she had an excellent experience teaching using an e-textbook that she wrote for one of her graduate courses, explaining that it allowed her to integrate multi-media platforms into her course, including videos and drag and drop exercises.
“It’s a completely different way of teaching from lecturing and having people go and do readings and write reports,” she said. “The interactivity makes it a much more personal learning experience”
Chris Martin, a student at McMaster University, told University Affairs that he saw the electronic textbook as a way students could be more eco-friendly, and thought the multifaceted structure of the electronic textbook could facilitate more diverse ways of teaching.
I’ll admit that I like writing in the margins of my textbooks as much as the next student, but it seems like a small convenience compared to the prospect of not having to lug around a massive book that I paid $200 for. That being said, I predict that many of my fellow students won’t be ready to let go of them anytime soon.
Communist Manifesto goes graphic
Carleton prof turns Karl Marx’s most famous work into a comic book
A Carleton University professor is taking the “anything but textbook” approach with plans to create a four-part comic series based on the Communist Manifesto. George Rigakos, who teaches in the Department of Law, will use the book to teach political economy and says he is already getting orders from Europe. “The Communist Manifesto lends itself to the graphic novel or comic book format as it can be interpreted as a story about villains, victims and heroes,” Rigakos said. “Comic books are about more than just superheroes.” Publisher Red Quill which has already released the first installment, has released a promotional video.
Screw this! We’re going digital
Universities walk away from copyright licensing and into the digital age
Instead of raking in millions more from universities the proposed new fee structure from Access Copyright, the collective that licences copying and coursepacks for most universities across Canada, may be the push universities need to overhaul the way educational materials are accessed and used by instructors and students.
The new fee structure is asking universities to pay $45 per students, versus the $3.38 universities currently pay. An interim tariff was approved by the Copyright Board of Canada last week, which keeps the current fee structure in place until further consultation can be completed.
Law professor and Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa Michael Geist recently pointed out in the Toronto Star that while technology has transformed post secondary education over the past decade, “it has often been treated as a complement — rather than a replacement — for traditional educational materials.”
Geist explained that universities still operate with a two track approach to educational materials, spending millions on traditional print materials and licensing fees for copying, while simultaneously making use of various technological innovations, such as podcasts and webcasts, to facilitate class discussion. However, he argued that the cost of maintaining this approach is becoming unnecessary, with the “tipping point” towards technology coming with Access Copyright’s fee increase.
While Canadian universities may not become completely digital overnight, most seem well prepared to step away from increasing copyright licensing costs and forge ahead into heavier reliance on electronic materials. Geist pointed out that 74 universities across Canada have now paid millions into the Canadian Knowledge Research Network, which gives them licensed access to thousands of journals from over 5,000 publishers from around the world. “That content can now be used to develop electronic coursepacks and provide campus-wide access without the need to pay an additional licence fee,” Geist explained.
Several universities have decided to walk away from the Access Copyright contract, giving higher education institutions and policy makers heavy incentive to develop new ways of accessing materials. For example, in lieu of renewing their contact with the collective, Athabasca University announced in early December that they are increasing the availability of open education resources (OERs), materials ranging from lectures to podcasts that can be used by students and staff at various institutions.
Alberta’s advanced education minister Doug Horner also recently told the Edmonton Journal that he wants to launch an online eBook depository for students. “Because isn’t the objective to help the student achieve, as opposed to paying a stipend to whoever wrote a book?”, Horner said in the Journal. Rory McGreal, associate vice-president of Athabasca University, told the Journal that this could be an important step in helping universities deal with the copyright conflict. The depository could encourage more professors to publish outside of mainstream publishers, giving universities more options for accessing their publications, he said.
These initiatives reveal a silver living for universities being forced to split from Access Copyright because of a spike in copyright fees, even if the separation is inconvenient. If it opens the doors for more efficient, cost effective, and innovative ways of providing students and staff with educational materials, the collective’s proposed new fee structure could be a better pay off for post secondary education than for Access Copyright.
Alberta wants to create e-book depository
Students could have their book costs cut in half
Alberta students could have the cost of their textbooks cut in half, Advanced Education Minister Doug Horner told the Edmonton Journal in a end of year interview. He wants to create an online depository of e-books. “We’ll build a little cloud (space on the Internet) where we’ll have all these textbooks,” he said. “Because isn’t the objective to help the student achieve, as opposed to paying a stipend to whoever wrote a book?” To implement the plan, Horner, would have to overcome significant obstacles, Todd Anderson, who runs the University of Alberta bookstore, warned. Professors cannot be coerced to assign a particular book just because it is available for a reduced cost online, and publishers might be unwilling to lower the price of their books or remove restrictions that prevent students from accessing e-books after six months.
All I want for Christmas
A university student’s wish list
5) Free textbooks
It just seems wrong to pay hundreds of dollars for a bunch of books that you’ll want to throw into a bonfire by the end of the semester. And why is my Organic Chemistry textbook almost a hundred bucks more than my biology textbooks? At the very least, a textbook’s price should be proportional to how much you enjoy the course.
So the Organic Chemistry textbook should not only be free, but also come with a $30 gift certificate for EB Games.
4) A hands-on course that explores the advantages and disadvantages of several tactical approaches to team slayer in Halo Reach.
3) A professor whose policy on classroom attendance is… they have no policy on classroom attendance.
2) 10,000 extra med school spots
It could happen.
1) A take home final exam. With multiple choice questions. And bonus points for spelling your name right.
-Photo courtesy of placid casual
Better copy those textbooks while you can
UAlberta chooses not to renew Access Copyright license
The University of Alberta is the latest institution to oppose a new fee structure for licensing copyrighted works proposed by Access Copyright, the collective that licenses copying and course packs for most campuses in Canada.
The new fee structure would charge universities $45 per full time student, versus the $3.38 per student, universities currently pay. Approval of the new fee structure is pending a decision by the Copyright Board of Canada which is currently reviewing Access Copyright’s proposal.
The U of A has decided not to renew its agreement with the copyright licensing agency, which is set to lapse December 31. As a result, U of A students will no longer be able to take out and copy required textbooks for a course if it is on reserve at a U of A library. Although student union leaders at the U of A oppose the new fee structure, they say this will create a huge obstacle for students who rely on the library to save money on textbooks.
Even though the new fee is still awaiting approval, it is not surprising that the university is not waiting for an official decision before cutting ties with Access Copyright, considering the proposed fee increase stood to cost the university an extra $1 million annually. “I don’t buy things without knowing what I’m buying,” U of A provost and vice president (academic) Carl Amrhein told the Gateway.
In a press release, Amrhein explained that the decision to allow the agreement to lapse was not just an issue of cost, but also with the terms of the proposed license. “Access Copyright offered to extend the current agreement only if universities agreed to be retroactively bound by a future Copyright Board decision on not only the tariffs but also on proposed new license conditions. This is unacceptable,” Amrhein said.
The new license conditions may include the licensing of materials linked to on the Internet, additional protection for digital locks, no exclusion for fair dealing, and more extensive reporting requirements. “We are genuinely concerned about some of the potential restrictions in the proposed license that may threaten our ability to use copyrighted resources in the classroom and may impinge other existing laws, practices or rights.”
The agreement with Access Copyright allowed the university to keep reserve materials on library shelves. Once the agreement lapses, however, the university will be subject to a ruling under copyright legislation that disallows this practice. Armhein explained that the ruling states that by putting materials on reserve shelves, universities are aiding and abetting students who would take them out and photocopy them.
While authors do deserve fair compensation for their work, it’s unreasonable for Access Copyright to expect universities to pay approximately 10 times more than they were originally paying to stay with the licensing agency, and at a time when many feel such fees should be decreasing.
Many post secondary institutions have heavily criticized the proposal for its take on fundamental copyright issues and for its demands for a high rise in fees. The University of British Columbia recently chose to challenge the tariff by working towards establishing its own license database to track the rights to various works for professors and students.
Access copyright has argued that it is asking the Copyright Board to set the tariff to ensure that authors and publishers are fairly compensated for use of their works. The agency stated on its website that the proposed fee increases have been “grossly exaggerated by critics,” arguing that the new tariff represents a tiny fraction of most universities’ budgets, and that it was up to universities and colleges to decide whether or not to absorb the additional costs or pass them on to students.
“Some academics say there should be no payment at all; however professors do not work for free, and their unions are silent when pay increases they demand get passed on to students,” the agency argued.
However, law professor and Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Michael Geist, has said he believes that the post secondary institutions have every right to be critical of the proposed new fee structure and licensing conditions. He pointed out that teachers and students typically rely on several alternative methods for finding course materials, which don’t involve using the license.
“For example, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network has purchased licensed access to thousands of journals for 650,000 university researchers and students. In light of that access, course-packs are being replaced by database-generated course reading lists,” Geist wrote in the Ottawa Citizen.
“Given the myriad ways teachers and students access materials that fall outside the Access Copyright license, the education community can be forgiven for asking why the collective is demanding millions more in compensation.”
Geist argued that universities should seriously consider using individually licensed works and distance themselves from the agency. He explained that individual negotiations are a “win-win” option for students, authors and teachers, because they have the potential to save money for students and ensure that authors are fully compensated for use of their works.
If the decision to stay with Access Copyright is one that is based on convenience, perhaps institutions should start to take Geist’s advice and move towards individual licensing. The new Access Copyright licensing conditions are likely to be just as cumbersome for universities and colleges, and not beneficial for students or instructors.
