In colleges across the country online textbooks are inching
their way to the top of the class, while paper and ink textbooks
are quickly becoming "old school." "Books are getting bigger and
costs are going up," said Dale Baker, an education professor at
Arizona State University. "Technology is so wonderful and you
can post everything online and take readings from a variety of
different sources. Often times there are things in textbooks
that have nothing to do with the course, so it can be really
wasteful." Bob Stewart, an oceanography professor at Texas A&M
University, opted to publish his class textbook through an
online "open book" rather than the traditional way. Now, his
entire book appears as text online and can be viewed as HTML or
downloaded as a PDF file. "Online textbooks are useful because
they are timely," Stewart said. "The subject of oceanography is
rapidly changing and I can upgrade the book in minutes if need
be." Stewart said all he has to do is make the changes, upload a
new version to the We