Questions tagged [books]
Related to academic books, including scholarly books, textbooks, and reference books. Considerations related to publishing academic books, choosing textbooks, etc., come under this tag.
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Why would an academic write a textbook for free?
Recently, I became aware of a Java programming textbook
Introduction to Programming Using Java, Seventh Edition
which is to my surprise, free as in:
The most recent version of this book is always ...
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Is it ethical to profit by having my students buy my textbook?
This question was suggested to me by How can I sell my text book to my students in e-book format? which asked about the practicalities but attracted many comments about the ethics. So this question is ...
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Should I send professors money for illegally downloading their books? [closed]
I illegally download almost all the books I need for my studies. While I'm more than happy to give a middle finger to the publisher mafia, it does of course mean that the author of the book is not ...
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Should I seek professional help because I have a lot of math books?
I’m a graduate student in mathematics. One day, there was a discussion between graduate students about how many books a working mathematician has. Then each student would talk about their personal ...
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What is the point of a lecture when you have a textbook?
I never really understood the point of having a course with lectures when the course has a textbook. Sometimes the subject is so high-level or specialized or so modern that the contents are changing ...
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How to publish an academic book but make the PDF freely available online?
Background
I like the idea of writing an academic book.
It currently looks better on a CV when applying for jobs, grants, promotions, etc. than a blog post, or a website.
Libraries and people ...
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Should I inform students that there are cheaper alternatives to the on-campus book store?
The bookstore at my American university is an outpost of Barnes and Noble, charges much higher prices than can be found on Amazon, and in my opinion offers very poor service. Among other things that ...
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A professor has offered to send me a hard copy of his new book. Would it be rude to ask for a PDF file instead?
While working my way through one textbook, I spotted several errors, TeXed them up and emailed to the author of the textbook. He thanked me and asked for my physical address so he could send me a copy ...
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Is it acceptable to email an author to ask for a copy of his book that is currently out of print?
(Apologies if this isn't the place to ask, as I'm not a college student or independent researcher).
I am a secondary school student in Ireland currently working on a large project for a history class ...
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Difference between International edition of a book and a non international one
Most of the textbooks I used during my undergraduate studies (outside north America) are International editions, so what is the difference between a national and an international edition of a book?
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What does a textbook look like while you are writing it?
I've entertained the idea of writing a textbook for several years now. The idea has taken several forms - a set of course notes that I provide as pdf, a text that is printed at my institution, or ...
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Is it acceptable to use working hours to read general interest books?
Every year are published around a dozen of books directly related to my research. By directly I mean on the same topics of my research, normally by authors I am familiar with, and potential reference ...
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Is it legal (USA) and ethical to use international edition textbooks? When I pay for a textbook, where does the money go?
Background:
I am a student. I didn't have anything in life for four years, and I worked myself silly at times for it. So now I ask - when I pay hundreds of dollars over the production cost (new ...
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Is there any way to pressure textbook publishers to reduce price?
I am an instructor in a medium-sized state school in the USA. The price for the textbook to the introductory math course that I teach just increased. Again. A new, paperback copy costs 170 USD. I want ...
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Can professors generally keep books paid for with university funds?
I'll soon be leaving the faculty position I've held for over 20 years at a private college in the United States. Do departing faculty typically keep books that might have been purchased with ...
