Is Higher Education Ready to Switch to Digital Course Materials?

The Cost of Textbooks Is Driving Electronic Solutions
By MARK R. NELSON (user name: rulibrary password: ru2007)
"When I was an undergraduate, one of my favorite professors posted a cartoon from The Chronicle on the bulletin board outside his office. It was labeled "Library of the Future" and showed a librarian, near a row of computers, unpacking boxes containing spray cans with fragrances like "Odor of Old Books" and "Scent of Paper." Less than two decades later, I see there is probably room for a product like that. And, more surprising to me, I am part of the move toward digital and away from traditional print.
The latest edition of a semiannual study of students done by my own organization, the National Association of College Stores, finds that roughly 18 percent of them now say they are acquiring or gaining access to digital course materials. More than 90 percent of that content is being accessed or delivered through campus resources, such as the library, learning-management systems, and the college store. Political pressure associated with unhappiness over the rising cost of textbooks is driving a search for lower-cost alternatives, and some digital solutions may provide that option....."

HSRC leads the way in free online publications

This is fantastic - Bloomsbury to have free online books (our HSRC cited as a good example to follow!)

2 NEW DIGITAL MODELS PROMISE ACADEMIC PUBLISHING FOR
PROFIT:
New ventures explore ways for academic publishers to put
monographs online without driving themselves out of business.
http://chronicle.com/free/2008/10/4842n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_mediu
m=en