Some instructors I know are allowing multiple editions of a given book
because the changes from edition to edition are usually quite small. While
the bookstore says that the book may not be available in sufficient
quantity, older editions are always available via Half.com and other
textbook resources. If you keep track of the changes so that you can know
that old editions are still of good use, you can save some students dozens
of dollars off each book, maybe even $100 per text. I hope to implement this
in the future as I see the textbooks I select march boldly down the 2 years
per edition path.
For instance, I guarantee that the text I use for Social Psych will advance
an edition for 2011 or 2012. I will allow the current edition when that
edition change comes. I know for sure that the text won't change enough to
matter between those two editions. One reason I know this is I happened to
examine the 4th edition previous to the current edition and noticed that the
writing in several passages was identical.
Paul Bernhardt
On 10/21/09 2:40 PM, Amadio, Dean dama...@siena.edu wrote:
Hello all. We're in the process of submitting textbook requests to our
bookstore for the Spring, and both of my texts (from the same company) are in
new editions starting in January. I know I've seen at least one other person
raise a concern about this on this list or another list, but I cannot recall
any discussion about it specifically. I'm told since my classes usually are
heavily enrolled, it might be too difficult to obtain used, last editions for
everyone - necessitating ordering the new edition instead. I know some
companies have been changing editions mid-year for a while now, but this is my
first experience with the issue. Is this mid-year change becoming more common?
If so, is it related in any way to the upcoming federal law requiring academic
institutions to post book prices, as I understand, as early as registration?
It doesn't seem related, but perhaps I'm missing something. Is there some
underlying financial motivation? I know a lot of us use the summer to
acclimate to new editions and new texts, and mid-year changes are a lot harder
to deal with I bet. I'm almost inclined to go with a different company
completely, but if everyone's doing it I may have no choice!
Dean M. Amadio
Siena College
dama...@siena.edu
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