Courses offer online textbook alternatives

By: Laura Muth

Posted: 10/9/08

Although the use of online resources at Hopkins has become common practice since the introduction of E-Reserves in 1993, questions of legality as well as efficiency continue to be raised due the tendency of technology to evolve faster than the law can keep up, causing clashes with copyright law and intellectual property.

Some of the most common online resources used by Hopkins students are the Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) Library's E-Reserves and the WebCT program. E-Reserves allows professors to grant access to excerpts from textbooks and journal articles online through the library.

Abby Collier, head of the Reserves section of the MSE library, wrote in an e-mail to the News-Letter that, "MSE library staff collaborate with the JHU's General Counsel's office to work within copyright laws."

Staff members at the MSE Library occasionally work with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to comply with regulations, as well as individually requesting permission from publishers.

Postings to WebCT occasionally become more complicated. While technically photocopying sections of a text and posting them to WebCT does not constitute a copyright infringement, the use of password protection limits distribution. Because of this, WebCT postings are not generally considered the best option for professors. For this reason, the reference staff at the MSE Library recommends using E-Reserves instead.

Another online resource gaining prominence is Online Web Learning (OWL), a Web site based on course textbooks. Questions are assigned at the end of each chapter; Students have five tries to answer each correctly.

One of the main classes using OWL is Introductory Chemistry.

"In principle, this kind of set-up should provide students a better means for keeping up with the material," Chemistry Professor David Draper wrote in an e-mail to the News-Letter.

"I mean, it depends what the professors put into it, but I haven't had any problems with the system," student Shantini Persaud said.

However, another student who wished to remain anonymous was less enthusiastic. "Some of the questions are not related to what is talked about in class," he said. "It makes you worried, because you wonder if you missed something."

Draper acknowledged that there is still some uncertainty about OWL's efficiency.

"It is still too early in the semester to tell just how effective it is," he wrote.

In addition to the use of excerpts on E-Reserves and WebCT and the use of OWL, some professors have found a new way to bring textbooks to students. International Economics Professor Frank Weiss uses the commercially owned Web site aplia.com, which puts entire textbooks as well as supplementary material online.

Aplia has agreements with publishing companies that allow the use of their material. Weiss, senior lecturer and associate chair of the Economics Department, wrote in an e-mail to the News-Letter that said "Aplia made tie-in sales with textbooks . . . So, Aplia makes deals with publishers."

Weiss claimed that the main advantage of Aplia and online textbooks in general is cost. He wrote, "New editions of virtually unchanged textbooks come out very frequently. [The economics textbook] can cost almost $200, something I have always resented and resisted foisting on the students. The Aplia text costs $30 for students. The Aplia homework costs $35, which I was going to require anyway . . . for a total of $65."

The main disadvantage of online textbooks is that students cannot take notes in the margins or highlight significant passages. However, Aplia has a policy that allows students to print out one copy of the textbook.

Weiss stressed the importance of a textbook's quality. He wrote, "I would only have used an online textbook if I thought the textbook [was] good. The medium is secondary."

According to Collier, the library staff and professors continue to work to ensure that their online materials abide by copyright regulations and are helpful to students.

"Cooperation between Library staff and faculty and staff who use learning management systems . . . to support course instruction continues to evolve," she wrote.