The University of Minnesota Bookstores, Minneapolis, have
been actively working to reduce the cost of textbooks for years. Now, they’re taking
part in a digital coursepack pilot to provide online material as an alternative to printed coursepacks.
The project started with seven course sections from the
College of Education and Human Development in the fall of 2012. It has now been
expanded to 81 course sections, allowing students to pay an average of $12 per
pack compared to $30 per pack for printed materials.
The goal of the program is
make coursepacks as affordable as possible by making course-related materials in
various formats available through a single online point of access. It also
makes coursepack creation easier for faculty.
The content is free to the pilot via the electronic
reserves system through the school’s digital library and made available to
students through the bookstore website. In addition, pilot program officials
are working with the Copyright Permissions Center on campus to lower costs by
streamlining the permissions process.
