Do universities maintain secret textbooks?Is there a way to save my students money on a textbook?What is the purpose of textbooks?Is it a good idea to publish a complete open-access solutions manual to accompany my open-access textbook?Why are textbook authors often not the most famous/cited researchers?Is it okay to post textbook solutions online?The Real “Cost” of Open Educational Resources

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Do universities maintain secret textbooks?


Is there a way to save my students money on a textbook?What is the purpose of textbooks?Is it a good idea to publish a complete open-access solutions manual to accompany my open-access textbook?Why are textbook authors often not the most famous/cited researchers?Is it okay to post textbook solutions online?The Real “Cost” of Open Educational Resources






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1















Textbooks are highly important resources for course work as well as for research work.



Some textbooks are freely available over internet. Some textbooks can be purchased.



Is it true that there exists secret textbooks available only for the students of that particular university and for no others?



I had this doubt because one of my batch mates claimed that there is a university (say X) has its secret textbook for students as well as researchers of that university only and it is a common practice for many top end universities.



Note that I am asking about textbooks only, not regarding teaching material and others.










share|improve this question





















  • 2





    Do lecture notes count?

    – Federico Poloni
    9 hours ago






  • 13





    @hanugm are you aware that the difference between a textbook and lecture notes is often the binding and a little bit of copy editing and typesetting?

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 3





    Yes, of course they do, and they have cameras watching you that are hidden in the walls... :)

    – Solar Mike
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    What would be the point?

    – Maeher
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    @hanugm at US universities it is common for a professor to teach a course off of their lecture notes instead of a text book. These notes may have example problems, homework problems and solutions, a reference list, and sections not used in the class. They can be distributed as a PDF, handouts or bought from the university bookstore. They often are written over many years and have multiple authors based on who has taught the class.

    – StrongBad
    7 hours ago

















1















Textbooks are highly important resources for course work as well as for research work.



Some textbooks are freely available over internet. Some textbooks can be purchased.



Is it true that there exists secret textbooks available only for the students of that particular university and for no others?



I had this doubt because one of my batch mates claimed that there is a university (say X) has its secret textbook for students as well as researchers of that university only and it is a common practice for many top end universities.



Note that I am asking about textbooks only, not regarding teaching material and others.










share|improve this question





















  • 2





    Do lecture notes count?

    – Federico Poloni
    9 hours ago






  • 13





    @hanugm are you aware that the difference between a textbook and lecture notes is often the binding and a little bit of copy editing and typesetting?

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 3





    Yes, of course they do, and they have cameras watching you that are hidden in the walls... :)

    – Solar Mike
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    What would be the point?

    – Maeher
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    @hanugm at US universities it is common for a professor to teach a course off of their lecture notes instead of a text book. These notes may have example problems, homework problems and solutions, a reference list, and sections not used in the class. They can be distributed as a PDF, handouts or bought from the university bookstore. They often are written over many years and have multiple authors based on who has taught the class.

    – StrongBad
    7 hours ago













1












1








1








Textbooks are highly important resources for course work as well as for research work.



Some textbooks are freely available over internet. Some textbooks can be purchased.



Is it true that there exists secret textbooks available only for the students of that particular university and for no others?



I had this doubt because one of my batch mates claimed that there is a university (say X) has its secret textbook for students as well as researchers of that university only and it is a common practice for many top end universities.



Note that I am asking about textbooks only, not regarding teaching material and others.










share|improve this question
















Textbooks are highly important resources for course work as well as for research work.



Some textbooks are freely available over internet. Some textbooks can be purchased.



Is it true that there exists secret textbooks available only for the students of that particular university and for no others?



I had this doubt because one of my batch mates claimed that there is a university (say X) has its secret textbook for students as well as researchers of that university only and it is a common practice for many top end universities.



Note that I am asking about textbooks only, not regarding teaching material and others.







university books






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 9 hours ago







hanugm

















asked 9 hours ago









hanugmhanugm

1,5762 gold badges19 silver badges29 bronze badges




1,5762 gold badges19 silver badges29 bronze badges










  • 2





    Do lecture notes count?

    – Federico Poloni
    9 hours ago






  • 13





    @hanugm are you aware that the difference between a textbook and lecture notes is often the binding and a little bit of copy editing and typesetting?

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 3





    Yes, of course they do, and they have cameras watching you that are hidden in the walls... :)

    – Solar Mike
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    What would be the point?

    – Maeher
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    @hanugm at US universities it is common for a professor to teach a course off of their lecture notes instead of a text book. These notes may have example problems, homework problems and solutions, a reference list, and sections not used in the class. They can be distributed as a PDF, handouts or bought from the university bookstore. They often are written over many years and have multiple authors based on who has taught the class.

    – StrongBad
    7 hours ago












  • 2





    Do lecture notes count?

    – Federico Poloni
    9 hours ago






  • 13





    @hanugm are you aware that the difference between a textbook and lecture notes is often the binding and a little bit of copy editing and typesetting?

    – StrongBad
    8 hours ago






  • 3





    Yes, of course they do, and they have cameras watching you that are hidden in the walls... :)

    – Solar Mike
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    What would be the point?

    – Maeher
    8 hours ago






  • 2





    @hanugm at US universities it is common for a professor to teach a course off of their lecture notes instead of a text book. These notes may have example problems, homework problems and solutions, a reference list, and sections not used in the class. They can be distributed as a PDF, handouts or bought from the university bookstore. They often are written over many years and have multiple authors based on who has taught the class.

    – StrongBad
    7 hours ago







2




2





Do lecture notes count?

– Federico Poloni
9 hours ago





Do lecture notes count?

– Federico Poloni
9 hours ago




13




13





@hanugm are you aware that the difference between a textbook and lecture notes is often the binding and a little bit of copy editing and typesetting?

– StrongBad
8 hours ago





@hanugm are you aware that the difference between a textbook and lecture notes is often the binding and a little bit of copy editing and typesetting?

– StrongBad
8 hours ago




3




3





Yes, of course they do, and they have cameras watching you that are hidden in the walls... :)

– Solar Mike
8 hours ago





Yes, of course they do, and they have cameras watching you that are hidden in the walls... :)

– Solar Mike
8 hours ago




2




2





What would be the point?

– Maeher
8 hours ago





What would be the point?

– Maeher
8 hours ago




2




2





@hanugm at US universities it is common for a professor to teach a course off of their lecture notes instead of a text book. These notes may have example problems, homework problems and solutions, a reference list, and sections not used in the class. They can be distributed as a PDF, handouts or bought from the university bookstore. They often are written over many years and have multiple authors based on who has taught the class.

– StrongBad
7 hours ago





@hanugm at US universities it is common for a professor to teach a course off of their lecture notes instead of a text book. These notes may have example problems, homework problems and solutions, a reference list, and sections not used in the class. They can be distributed as a PDF, handouts or bought from the university bookstore. They often are written over many years and have multiple authors based on who has taught the class.

– StrongBad
7 hours ago










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















15















I have never heard of a textbook being "secret" in the sense that it was being kept intentionally hidden to give students of one organization an advantage.



I have often, however, encountered draft textbooks that a professor had not yet completed or published, for which students were partly acting as "beta testers." These are often not released for general use (for obvious reasons), and may be in preparation for many years, which could make them act something like a "secret" textbook.



Indeed, as the stage and organization of such documents becomes earlier and less formal, the boundary between "textbook" and "lecture notes" becomes unclear, and there are certainly some professors who are effectively writing a private textbook and just never get around to putting in the effort (or relaxing their perfectionism) to make it public.






share|improve this answer




















  • 6





    I know of a draft textbook that has been complete except for perfectionist revisions for more than a decade, which is only available in the campus bookstore, and only when the author is teaching one particular class. The content and typesetting look exactly like a textbook; the only difference is the spiral binding. The author steadfastly refuses to make his book available to the public, not because it gives his students an advantage, but because he thinks (incorrectly IMHO) that he's not done yet. (Yes, he revises it every term.)

    – JeffE
    7 hours ago



















5















Having attended two top end universities, I can say that I have never seen or heard of a proper textbook that was only for use within that university. Textbooks require a lot of time and effort, and the author (often a professor) expects to be properly compensated, which can only occur if students at many different colleges and universities purchase his book.



I did have a professor at a top university require his own properly-published book as one of the textbooks for the course. Although it was not for use only within that institution, I doubt that any other professors, whether at that university or elsewhere would use that book as a textbook.



However, at an average university, I did have a business law class where the professor had a work that he described as "your Bible", meaning it functioned as our textbook for the course. It was not a properly published textbook printed by a professional publisher, but it was 50 or a hundred pages held together with a heavy-duty staple. This was obviously not for sale to others outside the university. Whether you would consider this a textbook would depend on your definition of "textbook".






share|improve this answer








New contributor



Tharpa is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




























    3















    The closest thing to a "secret textbook" (apart from draft textbooks) I've encountered were sometimes referred to as 'compendia'. These were often glorified lecture notes, sometimes spanning multiple logically connected courses, tailored to the syllabi at a given institution. Hence they lacked the breadth that would make them useful as textbooks for others. Some of them also contained detailed instructions and information* about lab experiments to be done during the course(s), which obviously is of local interest only. (C.f. lab manuals.) However, they were often maintained over many years by many lecturers, and semi-professionally printed and bound by the university's printing services, and purchased by students in the university bookshop.



    *I remember that at least a couple of them included reproductions of component data sheets and excerpts from equipment manuals. Given the limited distribution no one was worried about copyright issues, but a published textbook would be a different question.






    share|improve this answer





























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      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

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      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      15















      I have never heard of a textbook being "secret" in the sense that it was being kept intentionally hidden to give students of one organization an advantage.



      I have often, however, encountered draft textbooks that a professor had not yet completed or published, for which students were partly acting as "beta testers." These are often not released for general use (for obvious reasons), and may be in preparation for many years, which could make them act something like a "secret" textbook.



      Indeed, as the stage and organization of such documents becomes earlier and less formal, the boundary between "textbook" and "lecture notes" becomes unclear, and there are certainly some professors who are effectively writing a private textbook and just never get around to putting in the effort (or relaxing their perfectionism) to make it public.






      share|improve this answer




















      • 6





        I know of a draft textbook that has been complete except for perfectionist revisions for more than a decade, which is only available in the campus bookstore, and only when the author is teaching one particular class. The content and typesetting look exactly like a textbook; the only difference is the spiral binding. The author steadfastly refuses to make his book available to the public, not because it gives his students an advantage, but because he thinks (incorrectly IMHO) that he's not done yet. (Yes, he revises it every term.)

        – JeffE
        7 hours ago
















      15















      I have never heard of a textbook being "secret" in the sense that it was being kept intentionally hidden to give students of one organization an advantage.



      I have often, however, encountered draft textbooks that a professor had not yet completed or published, for which students were partly acting as "beta testers." These are often not released for general use (for obvious reasons), and may be in preparation for many years, which could make them act something like a "secret" textbook.



      Indeed, as the stage and organization of such documents becomes earlier and less formal, the boundary between "textbook" and "lecture notes" becomes unclear, and there are certainly some professors who are effectively writing a private textbook and just never get around to putting in the effort (or relaxing their perfectionism) to make it public.






      share|improve this answer




















      • 6





        I know of a draft textbook that has been complete except for perfectionist revisions for more than a decade, which is only available in the campus bookstore, and only when the author is teaching one particular class. The content and typesetting look exactly like a textbook; the only difference is the spiral binding. The author steadfastly refuses to make his book available to the public, not because it gives his students an advantage, but because he thinks (incorrectly IMHO) that he's not done yet. (Yes, he revises it every term.)

        – JeffE
        7 hours ago














      15














      15










      15









      I have never heard of a textbook being "secret" in the sense that it was being kept intentionally hidden to give students of one organization an advantage.



      I have often, however, encountered draft textbooks that a professor had not yet completed or published, for which students were partly acting as "beta testers." These are often not released for general use (for obvious reasons), and may be in preparation for many years, which could make them act something like a "secret" textbook.



      Indeed, as the stage and organization of such documents becomes earlier and less formal, the boundary between "textbook" and "lecture notes" becomes unclear, and there are certainly some professors who are effectively writing a private textbook and just never get around to putting in the effort (or relaxing their perfectionism) to make it public.






      share|improve this answer













      I have never heard of a textbook being "secret" in the sense that it was being kept intentionally hidden to give students of one organization an advantage.



      I have often, however, encountered draft textbooks that a professor had not yet completed or published, for which students were partly acting as "beta testers." These are often not released for general use (for obvious reasons), and may be in preparation for many years, which could make them act something like a "secret" textbook.



      Indeed, as the stage and organization of such documents becomes earlier and less formal, the boundary between "textbook" and "lecture notes" becomes unclear, and there are certainly some professors who are effectively writing a private textbook and just never get around to putting in the effort (or relaxing their perfectionism) to make it public.







      share|improve this answer












      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer










      answered 8 hours ago









      jakebealjakebeal

      153k34 gold badges558 silver badges802 bronze badges




      153k34 gold badges558 silver badges802 bronze badges










      • 6





        I know of a draft textbook that has been complete except for perfectionist revisions for more than a decade, which is only available in the campus bookstore, and only when the author is teaching one particular class. The content and typesetting look exactly like a textbook; the only difference is the spiral binding. The author steadfastly refuses to make his book available to the public, not because it gives his students an advantage, but because he thinks (incorrectly IMHO) that he's not done yet. (Yes, he revises it every term.)

        – JeffE
        7 hours ago













      • 6





        I know of a draft textbook that has been complete except for perfectionist revisions for more than a decade, which is only available in the campus bookstore, and only when the author is teaching one particular class. The content and typesetting look exactly like a textbook; the only difference is the spiral binding. The author steadfastly refuses to make his book available to the public, not because it gives his students an advantage, but because he thinks (incorrectly IMHO) that he's not done yet. (Yes, he revises it every term.)

        – JeffE
        7 hours ago








      6




      6





      I know of a draft textbook that has been complete except for perfectionist revisions for more than a decade, which is only available in the campus bookstore, and only when the author is teaching one particular class. The content and typesetting look exactly like a textbook; the only difference is the spiral binding. The author steadfastly refuses to make his book available to the public, not because it gives his students an advantage, but because he thinks (incorrectly IMHO) that he's not done yet. (Yes, he revises it every term.)

      – JeffE
      7 hours ago






      I know of a draft textbook that has been complete except for perfectionist revisions for more than a decade, which is only available in the campus bookstore, and only when the author is teaching one particular class. The content and typesetting look exactly like a textbook; the only difference is the spiral binding. The author steadfastly refuses to make his book available to the public, not because it gives his students an advantage, but because he thinks (incorrectly IMHO) that he's not done yet. (Yes, he revises it every term.)

      – JeffE
      7 hours ago














      5















      Having attended two top end universities, I can say that I have never seen or heard of a proper textbook that was only for use within that university. Textbooks require a lot of time and effort, and the author (often a professor) expects to be properly compensated, which can only occur if students at many different colleges and universities purchase his book.



      I did have a professor at a top university require his own properly-published book as one of the textbooks for the course. Although it was not for use only within that institution, I doubt that any other professors, whether at that university or elsewhere would use that book as a textbook.



      However, at an average university, I did have a business law class where the professor had a work that he described as "your Bible", meaning it functioned as our textbook for the course. It was not a properly published textbook printed by a professional publisher, but it was 50 or a hundred pages held together with a heavy-duty staple. This was obviously not for sale to others outside the university. Whether you would consider this a textbook would depend on your definition of "textbook".






      share|improve this answer








      New contributor



      Tharpa is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.

























        5















        Having attended two top end universities, I can say that I have never seen or heard of a proper textbook that was only for use within that university. Textbooks require a lot of time and effort, and the author (often a professor) expects to be properly compensated, which can only occur if students at many different colleges and universities purchase his book.



        I did have a professor at a top university require his own properly-published book as one of the textbooks for the course. Although it was not for use only within that institution, I doubt that any other professors, whether at that university or elsewhere would use that book as a textbook.



        However, at an average university, I did have a business law class where the professor had a work that he described as "your Bible", meaning it functioned as our textbook for the course. It was not a properly published textbook printed by a professional publisher, but it was 50 or a hundred pages held together with a heavy-duty staple. This was obviously not for sale to others outside the university. Whether you would consider this a textbook would depend on your definition of "textbook".






        share|improve this answer








        New contributor



        Tharpa is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.























          5














          5










          5









          Having attended two top end universities, I can say that I have never seen or heard of a proper textbook that was only for use within that university. Textbooks require a lot of time and effort, and the author (often a professor) expects to be properly compensated, which can only occur if students at many different colleges and universities purchase his book.



          I did have a professor at a top university require his own properly-published book as one of the textbooks for the course. Although it was not for use only within that institution, I doubt that any other professors, whether at that university or elsewhere would use that book as a textbook.



          However, at an average university, I did have a business law class where the professor had a work that he described as "your Bible", meaning it functioned as our textbook for the course. It was not a properly published textbook printed by a professional publisher, but it was 50 or a hundred pages held together with a heavy-duty staple. This was obviously not for sale to others outside the university. Whether you would consider this a textbook would depend on your definition of "textbook".






          share|improve this answer








          New contributor



          Tharpa is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.









          Having attended two top end universities, I can say that I have never seen or heard of a proper textbook that was only for use within that university. Textbooks require a lot of time and effort, and the author (often a professor) expects to be properly compensated, which can only occur if students at many different colleges and universities purchase his book.



          I did have a professor at a top university require his own properly-published book as one of the textbooks for the course. Although it was not for use only within that institution, I doubt that any other professors, whether at that university or elsewhere would use that book as a textbook.



          However, at an average university, I did have a business law class where the professor had a work that he described as "your Bible", meaning it functioned as our textbook for the course. It was not a properly published textbook printed by a professional publisher, but it was 50 or a hundred pages held together with a heavy-duty staple. This was obviously not for sale to others outside the university. Whether you would consider this a textbook would depend on your definition of "textbook".







          share|improve this answer








          New contributor



          Tharpa is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.








          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer






          New contributor



          Tharpa is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.








          answered 8 hours ago









          TharpaTharpa

          1513 bronze badges




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          New contributor



          Tharpa is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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          New contributor




          Tharpa is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.


























              3















              The closest thing to a "secret textbook" (apart from draft textbooks) I've encountered were sometimes referred to as 'compendia'. These were often glorified lecture notes, sometimes spanning multiple logically connected courses, tailored to the syllabi at a given institution. Hence they lacked the breadth that would make them useful as textbooks for others. Some of them also contained detailed instructions and information* about lab experiments to be done during the course(s), which obviously is of local interest only. (C.f. lab manuals.) However, they were often maintained over many years by many lecturers, and semi-professionally printed and bound by the university's printing services, and purchased by students in the university bookshop.



              *I remember that at least a couple of them included reproductions of component data sheets and excerpts from equipment manuals. Given the limited distribution no one was worried about copyright issues, but a published textbook would be a different question.






              share|improve this answer































                3















                The closest thing to a "secret textbook" (apart from draft textbooks) I've encountered were sometimes referred to as 'compendia'. These were often glorified lecture notes, sometimes spanning multiple logically connected courses, tailored to the syllabi at a given institution. Hence they lacked the breadth that would make them useful as textbooks for others. Some of them also contained detailed instructions and information* about lab experiments to be done during the course(s), which obviously is of local interest only. (C.f. lab manuals.) However, they were often maintained over many years by many lecturers, and semi-professionally printed and bound by the university's printing services, and purchased by students in the university bookshop.



                *I remember that at least a couple of them included reproductions of component data sheets and excerpts from equipment manuals. Given the limited distribution no one was worried about copyright issues, but a published textbook would be a different question.






                share|improve this answer





























                  3














                  3










                  3









                  The closest thing to a "secret textbook" (apart from draft textbooks) I've encountered were sometimes referred to as 'compendia'. These were often glorified lecture notes, sometimes spanning multiple logically connected courses, tailored to the syllabi at a given institution. Hence they lacked the breadth that would make them useful as textbooks for others. Some of them also contained detailed instructions and information* about lab experiments to be done during the course(s), which obviously is of local interest only. (C.f. lab manuals.) However, they were often maintained over many years by many lecturers, and semi-professionally printed and bound by the university's printing services, and purchased by students in the university bookshop.



                  *I remember that at least a couple of them included reproductions of component data sheets and excerpts from equipment manuals. Given the limited distribution no one was worried about copyright issues, but a published textbook would be a different question.






                  share|improve this answer















                  The closest thing to a "secret textbook" (apart from draft textbooks) I've encountered were sometimes referred to as 'compendia'. These were often glorified lecture notes, sometimes spanning multiple logically connected courses, tailored to the syllabi at a given institution. Hence they lacked the breadth that would make them useful as textbooks for others. Some of them also contained detailed instructions and information* about lab experiments to be done during the course(s), which obviously is of local interest only. (C.f. lab manuals.) However, they were often maintained over many years by many lecturers, and semi-professionally printed and bound by the university's printing services, and purchased by students in the university bookshop.



                  *I remember that at least a couple of them included reproductions of component data sheets and excerpts from equipment manuals. Given the limited distribution no one was worried about copyright issues, but a published textbook would be a different question.







                  share|improve this answer














                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer








                  edited 7 hours ago

























                  answered 8 hours ago









                  AnyonAnyon

                  11.4k3 gold badges44 silver badges51 bronze badges




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