Editorial: Students lead textbook initiative
Companies are required to provide a list of changed content.
Published May 7, 2009
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Used textbooks line the shelves of the MU Bookstore. The Associated Students of the University of Missouri and Missouri Students Association passed the Textbook Transparency Act, which requires textbook publishing companies to list the revisions of textbooks so professors will know whether to assign the new edition of a book to their students.
When the Textbook Transparency Act passed last summer, it was because of the amazing amount of work put into it by students from the Associated Students of the University of Missouri and the Missouri Students Association. This achievement is a perfect example of how students can make a visible difference on campus.
The act requires the publishing companies of textbooks to provide a list of substantial content revisions between versions of a textbook when a faculty member, who might request a certain text, asks.
Although the bookstore shares its profit margins with the public, it is not always clear who buys back the textbooks at the end of the semester. The people who buy back the books are not employees of the bookstore but rather of the textbook company. Students continue to work for more transparency and education about policies of the bookstore and the company that sells them.
By continuing the fight to add transparency to textbooks, they hope to save students money since some books cannot be sold back if a professor changes the edition they will use next semester.