4 ms·

University libraries will often have 40x copies of an essential textbook, because they know they have 40x students taking that course. I guess if you let random

University libraries will often have 40x copies of an essential textbook, because they know they have 40x students taking that course. I guess if you let random people use the library that becomes a problem.

Tycho 5y ago
I think they meant electronic sources that you can only access if you are a student or faculty member at the university.
- bilbo0s 5y ago
  That has to do with licensing and copyright. Whether that is good or bad is not really for the university to decide. They have to adhere to the contract.
monknomo 5y ago
I think the traditional solution is library memberships that don't permit you to checkout the books, but do provide you with access to books and resources provided you stay in the library. Reading rooms and all that
tyingq 5y ago
It's pretty rare, at least for my kids, that a course has an actual book you can hold in your hands. They all use a DRM scheme and require some Nth edition that's new (and probably only has a few minor changes from N-1). Sometimes we can find it on Library Genesis, often we can't. There's almost never an actual book. Somebody is rent seeking.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  Does this not apply in computer science? Is it something you get in fields like law? When I think of the key text books in computer science they usually just have two editions max and have been set in stone for a couple of decades as the basics aren't changing.
  - tyingq 5y ago
    Not sure, none of my kids are CS.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- pfdietz 5y ago
  That was to inhibit resale of used books.
  - sumtechguy 5y ago
    That and the tests. Many teachers like the pre canned tests these books come with (please finish problems 10-50 even by the next class). Now it is online run by the publisher. Cheating is now even more rampant than it was before the code thing with many sites having the answers. I would wait 1-2 weeks after class started to buy books. Especially if the teacher decided you need 6 of them to finish the class. It was usually pretty clear which ones they were going to use by that point.
vladvasiliu 5y ago
The library of the university to which I went used to have one or two books out of X which wouldn't be available for check out, only for reading on site. Sure, if a bunch of random people show up and take them all at the same time, which prevents actual students from using them, it may be a problem. In practice, I don't remember ever having this issue. Access to the library was free for all, you didn't have to be a student or anything.
joe_the_user 5y ago
University libraries will often have 40x copies of an essential textbook If that's true, it's a huge change from when I was in the university. But it seems implausible in the extreme, IE, I'd call bs here. University libraries wouldn't want to buy class textbook 'cause they're worthless at the end of the term. Students are expected to buy (electronic, DRM'd) textbooks are at student stores, not check them out of libraries. Libraries are not expected to service individual course but to be places of general research. Professors have the whole Internet to give links for supplemental material. Photocopied "Course Readers" is another avenue.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  > But it seems implausible in the extreme Implausible in the extreme to have forty or so copies of a book? And most textbooks aren’t republished every year. You can use them from one year to the next. Why would they be worthless at the end of the term? Think of a classic CS text like the Dragon Book. They’re on the second edition since 1986.
  - sidpatil 5y ago
    I suppose it depends on the material. Textbooks for intro-level general courses (e.g. calculus, physics, statistics, etc.) tend to get republished yearly. Since the fundamentals of the material are unlikely to change within the span of a year, the revisions to the textbooks are mostly cosmetic in nature—updated graphic design, rearranged problem sets (to deter the used book market), etc. Also note: I'm speaking about the US. Things could very well be different elsewhere.

Tycho 5y ago

I think they meant electronic sources that you can only access if you are a student or faculty member at the university.

bilbo0s 5y ago
That has to do with licensing and copyright. Whether that is good or bad is not really for the university to decide. They have to adhere to the contract.

monknomo 5y ago

I think the traditional solution is library memberships that don't permit you to checkout the books, but do provide you with access to books and resources provided you stay in the library. Reading rooms and all that

tyingq 5y ago

It's pretty rare, at least for my kids, that a course has an actual book you can hold in your hands. They all use a DRM scheme and require some Nth edition that's new (and probably only has a few minor changes from N-1). Sometimes we can find it on Library Genesis, often we can't. There's almost never an actual book. Somebody is rent seeking.

chrisseaton 5y ago
Does this not apply in computer science? Is it something you get in fields like law? When I think of the key text books in computer science they usually just have two editions max and have been set in stone for a couple of decades as the basics aren't changing.
- tyingq 5y ago
  Not sure, none of my kids are CS.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
pfdietz 5y ago
That was to inhibit resale of used books.
- sumtechguy 5y ago
  That and the tests. Many teachers like the pre canned tests these books come with (please finish problems 10-50 even by the next class). Now it is online run by the publisher. Cheating is now even more rampant than it was before the code thing with many sites having the answers. I would wait 1-2 weeks after class started to buy books. Especially if the teacher decided you need 6 of them to finish the class. It was usually pretty clear which ones they were going to use by that point.

vladvasiliu 5y ago

The library of the university to which I went used to have one or two books out of X which wouldn't be available for check out, only for reading on site. Sure, if a bunch of random people show up and take them all at the same time, which prevents actual students from using them, it may be a problem. In practice, I don't remember ever having this issue. Access to the library was free for all, you didn't have to be a student or anything.

joe_the_user 5y ago

University libraries will often have 40x copies of an essential textbook If that's true, it's a huge change from when I was in the university. But it seems implausible in the extreme, IE, I'd call bs here. University libraries wouldn't want to buy class textbook 'cause they're worthless at the end of the term. Students are expected to buy (electronic, DRM'd) textbooks are at student stores, not check them out of libraries. Libraries are not expected to service individual course but to be places of general research. Professors have the whole Internet to give links for supplemental material. Photocopied "Course Readers" is another avenue.

chrisseaton 5y ago
> But it seems implausible in the extreme Implausible in the extreme to have forty or so copies of a book? And most textbooks aren’t republished every year. You can use them from one year to the next. Why would they be worthless at the end of the term? Think of a classic CS text like the Dragon Book. They’re on the second edition since 1986.
- sidpatil 5y ago
  I suppose it depends on the material. Textbooks for intro-level general courses (e.g. calculus, physics, statistics, etc.) tend to get republished yearly. Since the fundamentals of the material are unlikely to change within the span of a year, the revisions to the textbooks are mostly cosmetic in nature—updated graphic design, rearranged problem sets (to deter the used book market), etc. Also note: I'm speaking about the US. Things could very well be different elsewhere.