FollowFor this blog entry, I offer an update on my research project report and my response to the OSPIRG article regarding HB 2963 and the villainy of textbook publishers.
Previously, I believe I stated that I would in my research paper investigate the methods of and materials used in American bookbinding. However, due to the massive amount of detailed work that went into bookbinding from the colonial period to the nineteenth century, and the introduction of many bookbinding machines during the 1800s (a topic on which one could probably write a PhD thesis), I have decided to limit my paper to a discussion of bookbinding during this period. If I discussed bookbinding in the twentieth century, my paper would run well over the page limit, and it may force into the paper too much information with too little discussion.
As for my response to the OSPIRG article: absurdly high textbook prices are, I think, yet another example of big business’s exploitation of college students, like high interest student loans, which can cripple and even end an earnest student’s college career. But I am glad to see that the internet gives students a cheaper alternative to textbooks and goes over the heads of textbook publishers. I am likewise pleased to see that congresspeople are trying to combat high textbook prices, although their attempts so far have not significanlty lowered costs. But the disclosure law passed in Oregon in 2007 is a step in the right direction.
