One Answer to the High Cost of Textbooks

Re “Professors Challenge Cost of Textbooks,” April 8: There is a relatively simple solution. Almost a decade ago I was using an excellent analytical chemistry textbook for my quantitative analysis course. It had 29 chapters of which we used nine during the semester. The used copies cost our students $40, about 50% of the new price. One day a student announced that the new edition had arrived at the bookstore and would cost each student $80. All used copies of the old edition had disappeared from the bookstore shelves. I told them to return the new edition for a refund and that I’d write their textbook.

I cranked out a chapter every couple of weeks using notes that had been written in my own words. There are lots of advantages to this approach. My students can buy a paper copy in the bookstore for 10 bucks (I do not receive any royalties) or download it for free from the Web. I can make revisions as needs demand and pass out the revisions in class. The text contains links to helpful hints on laboratory technique, using my own color images. If the text is to be used for my own classes, the chapters can be shortened as needed, making class attendance an important part of the student’s university experience. It is an altogether satisfying way to offer my students the material they need to advance through our program.

Oliver Seely

Professor of Chemistry

Cal State Dominguez Hills