viernes, 30 de enero de 2015

Textbooks

And maybe non-fiction in general.

Start here and maybe follow the discussion at Passive's place. I sort of pointed in that direction last August (fourth bullet point).

I also know of a high school in a high-immigration zone where teachers, fed up with the access policies of "e-books" (sold as temporary software licenses: when September comes, you loose notes and access; you better not fail the subject) and their out of date content (not outdated knowledge, but outdated syllabus) has pushed them to mostly forego books and make their own content through CMS systems (Moodle, mostly; some wiki).

So, it's starting there, too. And one wonders. On one hand, certain non-fiction is costly, and I can understand the temptation of going for the advance if, say, you have to travel to Mexico to check pre-Columbine ruins. I do not share the solution, but I see the temptation. On the other... if the trip is already done, if what remains is combing through notes and bibliography (like, say, a travel guide to somewhere you've already been, or an algebra book, or an archaeologist back from Mexico...), the temptation is false. You have a mirage; which might be tempting or not, but that's another thing.

On the other, I'm interested in Mr. Bright's sentence, but it's not explored further, nor can I find the interview itself. I do suspect some of the data from Lulu (*). Still, his points on content and non-fiction are worth considering, and probably something of a trend.

Take care.

UPDATE: It keeps giving.

(*) 90% of print!? Ah, after print costs... And exactly who prints it? What are the choices of supplier?

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