The Durango Herald 02/16/2016 | Open-source textbooks could be game changers College students may reduce costs considerably

"The standard textbook for Fundamentals of General Chemistry I at the University of Connecticut has a list price of $303. For students who use the version professor Edward Neth is preparing for the fall semester, the cost will be zero.  An early adopter of open-source textbooks, Neth said he turned to the new technology out of frustration with spiraling prices of commercial textbooks ... But commercial texts won’t go the way of chalkboards anytime soon. Proponents say hurdles include awareness among faculty members and the still-limited availability of material for courses that go beyond introductory levels.  The driving concern has been costs so high that many students report skipping some book purchases. The annual cost of books and supplies for a college student is about $1,200, according to the College Board, and a survey released this month by the Student PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups) advocacy group found 30 percent of respondents used financial aid to buy books.  The open textbooks are assembled with material that is available in the public domain or through a Creative Commons license, which allows for the use of a billion works that are otherwise copyrighted ..."