4 ms·

> Those professors write the textbooks and will lose out if you pirate them. I don’t know how it works in other countries but here in the Netherlands most pro

by rgj 7y ago

> Those professors write the textbooks and will lose out if you pirate them. I don’t know how it works in other countries but here in the Netherlands most professors write those textbooks during time they are already paid for by their employer, but pocket the revenue of the textbooks themselves. In the meanwhile they actively discourage the use of second-hand textbooks by requiring students to buy the latest edition each year.

hwh 7y ago
Actually they are writing them during that time and use their staff (paid by public money), too. Whether it's copywriting, news checking for the next edition or, in fact, writing passages.
nicoburns 7y ago
Here in the UK we don't seem to have this problem for some reason (possibly strong student unions?). I have studied at 3 different universities, and none of them required me to spend more than £100 total in course materials for a year. For mathematics, all of my course materials were available in PDF format for free (which I could then print myself if I wished to). For Philosophy, the majority of readings were available through the library system. Some courses did require a textbook, but use of older editions was encouraged, and often a photocopied "pack" of the relevant chapters would be made available for a small fee (<£15) by the faculty office.
- philpem 7y ago
  At least at the university I studied at, lecturers requiring their own textbooks for a course was explicitly barred as a conflict of interest. The only time it was allowed was when copies of the relevant chapters were provided free to all students in the class (in PDF or printed form). Source - I was in a class where a lecturer broke this rule. It was a £100 book with only two copies in the library for a class of 30-40. We (students) queried it and the lecturer was ordered to bring a printed copy (as in laser-printed) of the relevant chapters for each student.
- 4gotunameagain 7y ago
  Maybe could be related to the tuition as well? In most of Europe universities are free for the students
  - Vinnl 7y ago
    There's a steep discount, but they're certainly not free in the Netherlands (nor in many other European countries).
  - nicoburns 7y ago
    It could be, but I believe this has been the case in the UK since well before tuition fees were introduced. In the past, I think it was mostly a non-issue there were far fewer students, so university libraries generally had enough copies of books to go around.
- rgj 7y ago
  > for some reason (possibly strong student unions?) In fact, in my experience the student union actually took advantage of that situation instead. When I started studying at TU Delft in 1991 the student union had a deal with the local bookstore to give 10% discount to their members. So in your first week as a freshman you were told to become a member of the student union because you would get a discount on all those books written by professors. The student union said they represented 95% of the students, but 90% of them were only a member of the union because of the discount. Oh. I see they still have the discount, and the student union actually has their OWN (commercial) publishing house nowadays. https://www.delftacademicpress.nl/index_en.php https://www.delftacademicpress.nl/index_en.php "Members of the VSSD get a considerable discount on the books of Delft Academic Press because the publishing company is part of the student union VSSD."
  - nicoburns 7y ago
    At most UK universities, membership of the student union is automatic as part of joining the university (there's no fee associated with being part of the union, so there's no real reason not to join), and the university funds and coordinates with the student union to provide several university services, especially anything to do with social life or student well-being. It does depend a bit on the university though. I've heard that some have a more oppositional relationship. And there are still issues with some students not feeling represented by the union. They are usually democratic institutions though, with every student getting a vote if they want it, which helps alleviate the worst of those issues.
- wongarsu 7y ago
  At my University in Germany maybe 10% of professors required a textbook (usually their own), and they were always reasonably priced (20€-40€, depending on size). Also the university library always stocked a healthy amount of those books, enough for maybe 10-20% of the students taking that course. Usually the library either didn't run out of books, or you could still get a copy at a more distant library.

by rgj 7y ago

hwh 7y ago

Actually they are writing them during that time and use their staff (paid by public money), too. Whether it's copywriting, news checking for the next edition or, in fact, writing passages.

nicoburns 7y ago

Here in the UK we don't seem to have this problem for some reason (possibly strong student unions?). I have studied at 3 different universities, and none of them required me to spend more than £100 total in course materials for a year. For mathematics, all of my course materials were available in PDF format for free (which I could then print myself if I wished to). For Philosophy, the majority of readings were available through the library system. Some courses did require a textbook, but use of older editions was encouraged, and often a photocopied "pack" of the relevant chapters would be made available for a small fee (<£15) by the faculty office.

philpem 7y ago
At least at the university I studied at, lecturers requiring their own textbooks for a course was explicitly barred as a conflict of interest. The only time it was allowed was when copies of the relevant chapters were provided free to all students in the class (in PDF or printed form). Source - I was in a class where a lecturer broke this rule. It was a £100 book with only two copies in the library for a class of 30-40. We (students) queried it and the lecturer was ordered to bring a printed copy (as in laser-printed) of the relevant chapters for each student.
4gotunameagain 7y ago
Maybe could be related to the tuition as well? In most of Europe universities are free for the students
- Vinnl 7y ago
  There's a steep discount, but they're certainly not free in the Netherlands (nor in many other European countries).
- nicoburns 7y ago
  It could be, but I believe this has been the case in the UK since well before tuition fees were introduced. In the past, I think it was mostly a non-issue there were far fewer students, so university libraries generally had enough copies of books to go around.
rgj 7y ago
> for some reason (possibly strong student unions?) In fact, in my experience the student union actually took advantage of that situation instead. When I started studying at TU Delft in 1991 the student union had a deal with the local bookstore to give 10% discount to their members. So in your first week as a freshman you were told to become a member of the student union because you would get a discount on all those books written by professors. The student union said they represented 95% of the students, but 90% of them were only a member of the union because of the discount. Oh. I see they still have the discount, and the student union actually has their OWN (commercial) publishing house nowadays. https://www.delftacademicpress.nl/index_en.php https://www.delftacademicpress.nl/index_en.php "Members of the VSSD get a considerable discount on the books of Delft Academic Press because the publishing company is part of the student union VSSD."
- nicoburns 7y ago
  At most UK universities, membership of the student union is automatic as part of joining the university (there's no fee associated with being part of the union, so there's no real reason not to join), and the university funds and coordinates with the student union to provide several university services, especially anything to do with social life or student well-being. It does depend a bit on the university though. I've heard that some have a more oppositional relationship. And there are still issues with some students not feeling represented by the union. They are usually democratic institutions though, with every student getting a vote if they want it, which helps alleviate the worst of those issues.
wongarsu 7y ago
At my University in Germany maybe 10% of professors required a textbook (usually their own), and they were always reasonably priced (20€-40€, depending on size). Also the university library always stocked a healthy amount of those books, enough for maybe 10-20% of the students taking that course. Usually the library either didn't run out of books, or you could still get a copy at a more distant library.