I think the situation is more complex than usually presented by the book publishers. I don't have data but I do have an anecdote :-)
A couple of years ago I received unsolicited a box containing several textbooks from a publisher. Many of the books were in areas in which I do not teach classes.
A week or so later a book buyer came to my office and I was telling him the story of the unsolicited books. They were still sitting in the shipping box on my floor and the book buyer asked to take a look at them.
He looked, sighed, and said that every book had just been superceded by a newer edition. I asked why I was sent the books. He said that the cost of the books could be used as expenses for tax credits.
The publisher's practice of bringing out new editions containing trivial changes on a regular basis convinces me that they are not business innocents.
I would like to see data on the problem from a neutral and informed source. Ken ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kenneth M. Steele, Ph. D. [email protected] Professor and Assistant Chairperson Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On 2/15/2012 10:35 AM, Jeffrey Nagelbush wrote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:27:30 -0600 Subject: Re: [tips] Book buyers From: [email protected] To: [email protected] We don't have a policy and book selling is common here. We get multiple book sellers around, each week, it seems. I used to have ethical problems with the practice but now my concern is how much the practice, given it is widespread, actually increases the cost of books to the students. It seems to me these books that the publisher gets no money for would be one more pressure to raise the costs of the books. But I could be wrong. Anyone know of any data on this issue? Jeffrey Nagelbush Professor of Psychology Ferris State University [email protected] On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 2:07 PM, Rick Froman <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: We are looking at our current policy toward faculty selling desk and review copies of books to buyers. Can you share with me (off-list if you don’t want to burn one of your three posts to the lists for the day) your school’s policy (if any) and what you think about it. Thanks,____ __ __ Rick____ __ __ Dr. Rick Froman, Chair____ Division of Humanities and Social Sciences ____ Professor of Psychology ____ Box 3055____ John Brown University ____ 2000 W. University Siloam Springs, AR 72761 ____ [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ____ (479)524-7295____ http://bit.ly/DrFroman ____ __ __ -- Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology St. Ambrose University 518 West Locust Street Davenport, Iowa 52803 563-333-6482 ---
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