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Re: [HAPS-L] Textbook prices



I get lots and lots of un-requested copies. I usually keep the most recent one as an additional reference. The next oldest edition goes into a reference shelf in my lab. When those are replaced, they go onto a free book shelf. I never sell books to the buyers who come through.

At 08:56 AM 3/10/2006 -0500, you wrote:

Ken Saladin wrote:
" * Don't request complimentary copies just because they'd be nice to have for personal reference. In my naive younger years, I tended to look at comp copies as a perquisite of being a professor -- "Cool! I can get free books!" But that was a lapse in judgment. It's simply not ethical to request comp copies that you're not going to seriously consider for course adoption. And if you do request a comp copy and then don't adopt it, it would at least be a nice gesture -- some return for the publisher's generosity -- to return some feedback on the book that the editor and author might benefit from, such as a reason why you chose Book X over theirs."

I agree that it is unethical to order a comp copy with no or little intent to adopt it. But...does anyone else consistently receive comp copies of books that you didn't request? I've lost track of the number of texts, some for classes that I never have or will teach, that arrive unrequested in my mailbox. In the last 6 months, I even received TWO copies of the same A&P text. If publishers bemoan that they find it difficult to make money, why are they sending me books that I haven't asked for and won't use? In cases like this, I don't feel so uneasy about turning around and selling the book and putting the $$ in my kids' college funds.

Any thoughts out there?

Sheri








Sheri L. Boyce, PhD
Associate Professor of Biology
One College Avenue
PO Box 3030
Grantham, PA  17027
(717) 796 1800 x2632
<mailto:sboyce@xxxxxxxxxxx>sboyce@xxxxxxxxxxx


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James S. Miller, Ph.D.                        Phone: 574-535-7308
Chair & Professor of Biology
Goshen College                                 E-mail: JamesSM@xxxxxxxxxx
Goshen IN 46526-4795 USA                    Web: http://www.goshen.edu
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