Be Booksmart! - Resources

Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials (CRAM)

CRAM was established in early 2008 to find solutions to escalating textbook costs. Post-secondary institutes from across Canada have joined this exchange of ideas, and many have also begun to combat rising prices. For more information, please visit theCRAM.ca

Articles and Background Information

Canadian Student Review — Hitting the Books: An article on the problems faced by Canadian students when purchasing textbooks.

PIRGs – Ripoff 101 — An article by the State PIRGs Higher Education Project revealing harmful publishing practices.

PIRGS - Exposing the Textbook Industry: An article by several Public Interest Research Groups on the practices that the textbook industry uses to drive up the costs of textbooks.

US Government Accountability Office’s College Textbooks Report: A 2005 report to the US Congress by the Government Accountability Office on increasing textbook prices.

The Student PIRGs — Course Correction: An article written by several student Public Interest Research Groups discussing texts and the direction in which they're headed.

Bill Smith — NART Report: This report to the predecessor of the Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials outlines the development of this issue.

At the University

Reserves — To search for course-reserved material, visit the Library website (http://www.library.mun.ca)

Alternative Online Market

Every day, new websites are emerging with the aim of reducing the cost of academic materials or of offering them for free. The Students’ Union does not endorse any of these sites, but lists them below to illustrate this emerging trend. Please e-mail bebooksmart@munsu.ca if you know of more non-traditional sources.

CourseSmart — Offers subscriptions to popular textbooks as eTexts for a limited time.

OpenCourseWare Consortium — A collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions from around the world, this site provides open educational content using a shared model.

Connexions — Provides free, open-source academic material, often through grants and donations.

Freeload Press — Provides reduced-cost or free eTexts by employing in-page advertising.

Chegg — Currently only available in the US, rents out and delivers textbooks.

Flatworld Knowledge — Though not yet running, this site aims to make eTexts free by earning profit off study guides, printed editions and other supplemental materials

Questions / Concerns / Ideas / Suggestions

Contact bebooksmart@munsu.ca