What do Textbooks Cost? An Open Question

Rising textbook costs have been highlighted as an issue for students in higher education, particularly in North America. Less is known about the costs and accessibility of books elsewhere and their effects on students though... [ view full abstract ]

Rising textbook costs have been highlighted as an issue for students in higher education, particularly in North America. Less is known about the costs and accessibility of books elsewhere and their effects on students though initiatives such as openly licensed digital books are gaining more traction as a potential response. We sought to address this gap in knowledge through an investigation of the accessibility, cost and licensing of textbooks in Ireland taking one higher education institution as a case study. We report on the findings of phase one of this study including the retail prices of 600 books, the formats they are available in and whether they are in the public domain. Our study suggests that savings may be made by students if approaches are adopted by educators involving more openly licensed content.