The original version of this guide was created by Kate Pittsley-Sousa at Eastern Michigan University. Your local library may have made improvements or altered the guide to serve your institutution.
Welcome! Thanks for taking the time to explore alternatives to using textbooks for your courses here at IU Southeast. This guide is geared mainly toward faculty members, but may have some useful stuff for students as well. If you have any questions or want to talk with someone about creating an open educational resource (OER), or would like for a librarian to review your syllabus to check for access through library resources or suggest comparable OER resources, please contact me. My contact information is in the box below.
The Zero Textbook Cost Initiative supports instructors in their efforts to adopt and create zero cost course materials. Faculty are provided with a stipend up to $1,000 to:
Priority will be given to those teaching in general education courses and/or multi-section courses.
For more information and to apply, check out our Zero Textbook Cost Initiative page.
Some faculty have had success using a combination of the following types of materials in lieu of a traditional textbook:
Open Educational Resources - OERs
OERs are classroom and study materials that are available online that can be reused and modified for educational purposes by others. See the OER page for more info. To browse open access (freely available) textbooks, check out OA Textbooks.
We've also gathered together resources to help you find two specific types of OERs: shared Syllabi and Online Videos.
Library Ebooks & Chapters from Library Ebooks
Library ebooks can be read online with an institutional login. It may be feasible to assign chapters from different ebooks. There can be advantages and disadvantages to assigning library ebooks as course readings. See the Library Ebooks page for more information.
Links to Articles in the Library's Collection
When the library has an article in electronic form, you can provide a link to students and save them the cost of course-packs. See the Online Articles page for details on how to do this successfully.
Alternative Texts
Some new entrants to the textbook market offer students the choice of very inexpensive e-texts or low cost print versions of the same. These publishers' low cost models mean that they don't send publisher's reps to your office, so you need to investigate via publisher web sites. See the Alternative Texts page.
University Press, Scholarly, or Trade Books
University Presses publish high quality texts that are often more reasonably priced--the same can be true of scholarly associations and some small academic or technical publishers that specialize in a particular subject area. Trade books are usually less expensive than traditional texts and may work well for some classes. The library may have some scholarly or trade books available as library ebooks. Check out the University Presses page for links to many university and niche presses that may provide lower cost textbooks than commercial publishers.
Sometimes a traditional text is still your best option. In that case, you can still take a few steps to help with the cost issue.
1. Consider small publishers that may be new to the textbook market
We need more competition in the textbook industry and some small players have more reasonable prices.
2. Use links to articles in place of coursepack articles
You can reduce the expense of course-packs by linking to articles in the library's online resources and preparing course-packs only for those not in our databases. The Library already pays large subscription fees for online journals, books, and resources; students shouldn't have to pay again for this access. You can create your own reading lists using EBSCO's Curriculum Builder (called Reading Lists) in Canvas or reach out to me to see about creating a LibGuide of resources pertinent to your course.
3. Submit your required readings info as early as possible
There is high demand for used texts across the country. The earlier the bookstore can place orders, the more likely they will be able to obtain used copies for your students.
4. Inform students of viable alternatives
Is your text available in a cheaper electronic form, such as on the RedShelf or VitalSource platform? Can students rent the text? Will a previous edition work for your course? Informing students of options can help them to save money, or to obtain the book when the bookstores are out-of-stock.
5. Avoid assigning custom texts and code packaged textbooks
Custom texts may be cheaper than the new hardcover edition of the standard text, but custom editions usually cost more than a used copy of the standard text. Students often can’t resell custom editions after the course (money they often need to buy the next semester’s texts).
Code packaged texts can make it difficult for students to save money with a used text. Although publishers are required by federal law to sell the codes separately; in practice they don’t always provide this option to students or sometimes charge exorbitant prices for the codes. By law publishers must inform instructors of the code cost. If you assign code-required options, ask for price and availability of the access code before you adopt a text.
6. Check the course catalog to see the price listed for your text
Publishers sometimes quote faculty the wholesale price at adoption, but then copies in stock at the bookstore have higher prices. Some faculty have questioned this and gotten price reductions for students.
7. Don't sell your review copy texts to the book buyers roaming your halls
This phenomenon adds to the spiraling textbook price problem. The Text and Academic Authors Association provides suggestions on what to do with complimentary copies you don't keep (link below).
8. Give students time to obtain the text
Some professors assign an online article from the library or other free reading during the first week and wait till the 2nd week to use the text.
9. Let students know about tax credits for course material expenses
Course text expenses may qualify for tax credit using IRS form 8863 and documentation, such as receipts and a syllabi listing required texts. (see FAQ linked below)
10. If you author a textbook:
Find a publisher that sells books at reasonable prices. Or, consider publishing an open textbook. Some of the publishers or open text projects described in this guide may be a good match. You might also consider publishing through Pressbooks, which is a tool that enables IU faculty and students to create and publish text in multiple formats
11. Consider placing a copy of your text on Reserve at your library.
This provides an option for low-income students. It also helps when the bookstore runs out of copies.
Reserves Tips:
1) Place your Reserves request early. If you wait till classes begin, staff are less likely to be successful in putting the book on reserve in a timely fashion.
2) If the library doesn't own the book, we can also place your personal copy on Reserves.
More information about reserves is available on our Course Reserves page.
Academic Freedom
It is important that faculty have the freedom to choose the most effective course materials. Sometimes the ability to combine chapters, articles, and OERs from various sources will enhance a faculty member's options to design the best course. Also, healthy competition among numerous publishers will provide more options than a market dominated by a few large textbook publishers.
Disciplinary Diversity
Disciplines often use different types of materials for both scholarship and teaching. The humanities have always relied less on standard texts (and the course materials tend to be less expensive); some disciplines rely heavily on articles for course readings; standard texts work well for some other fields. It's important both to use the type of materials that work best for teaching in a field AND to consider the effects of course material costs on students.
Faculty Authored Texts
It can be appropriate to assign a self-authored text, but assignment of self-authored texts may involve ethical considerations. See AAUP statement below.
