I somewhat agree, though I think there is a case to be made for works that present a general overview of a topic at an introductory level. Those books wouldn’t generally be useful to an advanced student or professional in a field, who have presumably moved on in their understanding. But for a student for whom a 101 class might be their only exposure to a subject, yes.

SO I don’t think we need to do away with textbooks, but radically rethink them. They need to evolve. That doesn’t mean adding some licensed video clips — I have all the clips I need at YouTube. It also doesn’t mean a crappy website — again, I can find all sorts of relevant erb material myself. It does mean engagingly written prose, something that focuses as much on questions as general concepts, and something that deals with the realities of students’ lives without being patronizing.

There are a few good $20 paperbacks that cover just about everything a 101 student should learn in Anthropology, but they’re not the books the publisher’s reps push, for obvious reasons. I’m at a large community college where I don’t get to pick my text — the school negotiates with the publishers, so the important factors are business matters, not academic ones. *That* to me is a biger poblem than used book sales!

Textbooks are an archaic concept that should be abolished. I learn far more from engaged conversation and personal exploration than some dry, overpriced paper brick.

Books of value to students should be the same ones that are of value to professionals in the appropriate field.

That, and the Internet makes free distribution of present understanding much more readily available. I’ve never understood the point of $1000 white papers and $500 journal subscriptions. After all, aren’t we supposed to be advancing knowledge through communal exploration?

I get all my textbooks for this semester from this bookstore. All are brand new textbooks and half price discount textbooks.

Good luck and wish some help.

hehe ^_^