University of Minnesota to join e-book bulk purchase pilot project

UW-Madison spokesman Brian Rust tells the Wisconsin State Journal why Madison and five other universities — including the University of Minnesota — are buying electronic textbooks in bulk to lower prices in a pilot project starting this semester:

“We’re hoping it will not only make texts more accessible in terms of being on a number of different devices, but also more accessible financially.”

Madison will start with a small sample — books for five courses serving about 600 students.

You can read the full piece here, but I’ll try to get some local details.

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich

afriedrich@mpr.org

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.