Without photocopying, cost of course material up 10 times - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site

abernard102@gmail.com 2013-04-29

Summary:

"Most students in Delhi campuses, including those in Delhi University and Jawarharlal Nehru University (JNU), believe that studying for their course would be impossible without photocopied books and notes. However, the future of this bulk photocopying is in jeopardy. A group of publishers had filed a case against a photocopy shop in the Delhi School of Economics (DSE) campus, Rameshwari Photocopy Service, asking for such photocopying to be curtailed. Recently, the High Court refused to vacate its earlier stay (August 2012) on the shop. With the verdict set to come out soon, students say that if the publishers win the case, the cost of their study material could go up by about 10 times! Impossible to imagine studying without photocopies Utsav, a first year Economics student at DSE, says, 'I can't imagine student life without photocopying the study material. For one course in one semester, I'll have to buy books worth `2,000-3,000, which, if calculated, will cost me at least `3,00,00 for three years! This doesn't include the various research papers we study online. And if we photocopy only the selected things we have to study, then the cost is less than half for the entire course.' Nikhil Tamta, a student of Economics previous, adds, 'It is, obviously, not in the interest of students. I have to go through at least 50 books each year. Each book costs between `1,000 and `2,000. You can see how photocopying reduces my cost by almost ten times. The library has, at the maximum, three copies of each book. We are a class of 150 students. It is not possible to have books issued from library or purchase them.' Not possible to buy each book For students whose courses need extensive reading and referencing, the High Court's verdict on May 8 will be critical. Apoorva Gautam, a final year Sociology student, says, 'Our entire course is supported by photocopied notes. We have been prescribed books that are not available in the market, they have limited copies of it in the library, and some of the topics are so old that we'll find them in old books only. I can't afford to buy all 20 books just for one paper, nor can many other students on this campus. I have four papers and for that I have to go through different chapters from 80 books. At the average cost of each book, it'll be `40,000 for a semester.' The students say that the cost of their study material will increase by at least 10 times if the photocopy ban persists. "One of my books costs `871, even if I buy it at a discounted price. Its availability is limited, and that's just one book out of around 25. The photocopier used to give me a perfectly good copy of it for `58,' says Ushoshi, an MA student. ''Syllabus' is a juvenile term for an MA/M Phil/PhD student. We need to refer to tons of reference books. If one of these books costs around `2,000, how is a student is expected to buy tens of them?" said Mohit, an M Phil student. Ban on photocopying will be disastrous JNU students say that for years, the university has worked on a system where all the material photocopied for academic use by a student is paid for by a 'contingency fund', which means that the university bears the cost of all the photocopying, and displacement of the photocopiers could make the whole system fall apart. 'The price set for photocopying has been 50p/ page for years and even that is borne by the university. How can that even be compared to the new proposition of students buying the books for thousands of bucks each?' said Jyoti, who's doing an M Phil in Linguistics. A PhD student in JNU, Arjun, says, "I have to read three to four books a week. Each book costs `1,200. Spending `4,800 a week? No way!' ..."

Link:

http://m.timesofindia.com/life-style/people/Without-photocopying-cost-of-course-material-up-10-times/articleshow/19755174.cms

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) ยป abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.business_models oa.publishers oa.licensing oa.comment oa.universities oa.copyright oa.india oa.students oa.litigation oa.textbooks oa.prices oa.fair_use oa.taylor&francis oa.oup oa.cup oa.delhi.u oa.jnu oa.books oa.hei oa.libre oa.south

Date tagged:

04/29/2013, 18:03

Date published:

04/29/2013, 14:03