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" <[email protected]> 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 > [email protected] > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
