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Lecturers posting notes online "harming" bookshops

01.01.70 | Graeme Neill

University lecturers posting course notes online are "harming" academic booksellers, and the posts can also deter students from reading around the subject, the chairman of the Booksellers Association's Academic, Professional & Specialist Bookselling Group (APSBG) group has said.

Iain Finlayson's remarks were made after it was revealed that The Bookshop at Queen's, which serves students at the Queen's University Belfast, will close after 53 years of trading, citing online sharing of notes as one of the reasons for its financial demise.

Tim Smyth, manager of the Queen's bookshop, said the bookseller wanted to close before it "fell below the line". He also blamed internet competition and free sites such as Google Scholar and Wikipedia for a decline in custom. He said: "I don't know how [independent booksellers] can do it anymore. Certainly the academic model has reached a tipping point now: it is unsustainable."

When asked about the trend of university lecturers posting course notes online, Finlayson, manager of Blackwell in Manchester, said: "Anybody who works in academic bookselling would be extremely concerned if the material in textbooks is posted elsewhere for free. Lecturers posting notes online is harmful for us and I believe it discourages students from reading around their subject area. I would discourage it. It is certainly not helping book sales, but lecturers might think differently."

Finlayson added that rather than having a national APSBG campaign to lobby the government to ring-fence a portion of students' bursary money to spend on academic books, many booksellers were broaching the subject on a one-to-one basis with their local universities.

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By Tom Walker

This opportunity to read lecture notes is similar to reading Nabokov's famous book of lectures. It is a treasure house. Lecturers should not be discouraged from posting notes because they can potentially provide such wonderful insights into the subject matter. An OPEC approach to stop this would be an unfortunate outcome for readers.

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 11:12
By OffTheWagon

And would probably be collusion under the Competition Act. The university system doesn't exist to serve the needs of the academic publishers/booksellers. Your being disintermediated; get over it and move on...

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 11:16
By lg33

University lecturers have always given students notes to go on - stating the main published arguments for and against a subject so that students have the basis to form their own ideas. I don't think it is fair to blame online notes & Google Scholar for the bookshop closing - the main problem is the financial strife of students (and everyone) in general. People having to spend £9000 a year on tuition don't have the spare cash to spend on brand new books which are £25 a pop.

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 11:25
By EKSwitaj

I'm pretty skeptical about this claim. Lectures don't generally cover the same material that is covered in the assigned textbook (at least, the worthwhile lectures don't), and good lectures will refer students to additional secondary material. If students are spending less money at academic bookshops, it is most likely because they can get the books they need elsewhere for cheaper, whether that elsewhere is an independent used bookshop or Amazon.

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 17:03
By pre-chewed studying

There used to be a lively trade in students selling books to each other. I was educated in several European countries and we go no notes from our lecturers. We had to read, not get sound bites from the net, form our own opinions without the constant nudging and steering from lecturers. Opinions were formed by robust discussion. The only thing we got were tips on what to read in addition. I recently came across a student who wanted an easy digestible book 'very short' on the Cold War. I pointed out that with such a complex subject she was going to have to read around the subject. 'What do you mean,' she said. What is the point of taking history at A-level when you can't even be bothered to read further than Wikipedia?

What gets me is that students moan they don't have money for books but after each weekend I hear them boasting about how drunk they got - or is drink for students free?? Perhaps the drink makes them incapable of reading more than three lines.

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 23:26
By Tom Walker

This opportunity to read lecture notes is similar to reading Nabokov's famous book of lectures. It is a treasure house. Lecturers should not be discouraged from posting notes because they can potentially provide such wonderful insights into the subject matter. An OPEC approach to stop this would be an unfortunate outcome for readers.

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 11:12
By OffTheWagon

And would probably be collusion under the Competition Act. The university system doesn't exist to serve the needs of the academic publishers/booksellers. Your being disintermediated; get over it and move on...

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 11:16
By lg33

University lecturers have always given students notes to go on - stating the main published arguments for and against a subject so that students have the basis to form their own ideas. I don't think it is fair to blame online notes & Google Scholar for the bookshop closing - the main problem is the financial strife of students (and everyone) in general. People having to spend £9000 a year on tuition don't have the spare cash to spend on brand new books which are £25 a pop.

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 11:25
By EKSwitaj

I'm pretty skeptical about this claim. Lectures don't generally cover the same material that is covered in the assigned textbook (at least, the worthwhile lectures don't), and good lectures will refer students to additional secondary material. If students are spending less money at academic bookshops, it is most likely because they can get the books they need elsewhere for cheaper, whether that elsewhere is an independent used bookshop or Amazon.

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 17:03
By pre-chewed studying

There used to be a lively trade in students selling books to each other. I was educated in several European countries and we go no notes from our lecturers. We had to read, not get sound bites from the net, form our own opinions without the constant nudging and steering from lecturers. Opinions were formed by robust discussion. The only thing we got were tips on what to read in addition. I recently came across a student who wanted an easy digestible book 'very short' on the Cold War. I pointed out that with such a complex subject she was going to have to read around the subject. 'What do you mean,' she said. What is the point of taking history at A-level when you can't even be bothered to read further than Wikipedia?

What gets me is that students moan they don't have money for books but after each weekend I hear them boasting about how drunk they got - or is drink for students free?? Perhaps the drink makes them incapable of reading more than three lines.

Mon, 04/07/2011 - 23:26

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