You may have seen the recent post on the Akademos blog summarizing outcomes from our survey of college and university CFOs about textbook trends and bookstore services practices. Many of our findings were not a surprise — such as the idea that students are leaving the college bookstore to shop at third-party retailers because of perceived better pricing. Others were a bit confounding — like the desire to offer students lower-cost textbooks, while simultaneously hesitating to sell textbooks from anywhere but brick-and-mortar college bookstores.

As college administrators search for the right direction regarding bookstore operations, I think lessons from changes in the trade bookstore business are worth considering in this discussion of how college bookstores may evolve. Today’s trade book consumer is fiercely value-conscious, and the brick-and-mortar bookstore business has been revolutionized by the selection, price, and speed of delivery offered by online retailers. Local bookstores that have survived have done so by offering unique services and products not readily available from online sellers.

We have collected some links to information that can help colleges and universities review information on how the fiscal cliff will affect them and their students. 

Just a quick roundup of some education news focused on digital textbooks and eBooks, open educational resources, education policy, and textbook publisher trends.

Check out this new infographic from Inside Higher Ed summarizing an EDUCAUSE student survey study about technology in coursework. Take aways for us here at Akademos and TextbookX? Students want more technology in their coursework, including Open Educational Resources and eBooks.

Torn down the middle. That's how the NY Times Magazine's September Education Issue portrayed UVA's campus on its cover page, along with a dramatic title: Anatomy of a Campus Coup: The inside story of the failed ouster of the University of Virginia's president--and what it means for the future of higher education.

By now, many of us know the story of UVA president Teresa Sullivan's forced resignation and subsequent reinstatement. In fact, it took me a few days to read the Times Magazine cover story because, well, I thought I already knew what had happened. It turns out there was still more to the soap opera, and a little bit of journalistic digging has helped uncover some lessons learned and a conspiracy theory or two. Allow me to summarize the article for you...