Lugging textbooks from class to class may soon be a thing of the past.

MIDDLETON

Macmillan, a major textbook publisher, will release new software in August called DynamicBooks, which will allow professors to edit online textbooks for their courses. 

Edits could include adding multimedia and notes, omitting entire paragraphs or chapters and changing information.

“I would draw the line at that,” said Kent Middleton, a professor of journalism and head of the journalism department. “If you’ve written a book, it’s your book … A copyrighted book is not to be altered by everybody.”

Middleton, who uses a self-written textbook for his classes, said as of now, he would not want his textbook to be included in the DynamicBooks program.

Casey O’Donnell, an assistant professor of telecommunications, also questions the capabilities of DynamicBooks, which he likened to Wikipedia.

“I don’t know if it’s the way to go for a textbook, but it’s nice to see them experimenting with new forms,” he said.

O’Donnell said professors should not be able to edit a textbook so freely.

“If I jump in and add a paragraph, it’s not peer-reviewed,” he said. “It’s supposed to be an authoritative source.”

He also said a textbook can be more reliable than a professor, who may digress from the information.

“Do you really want me to put tangents in your textbook?” he asked.

Joe Spiccia, a junior from Alpharetta, said he does not support the idea of DynamicBooks.

“I don’t like online textbooks,” he said. 

“I think they’re harder to read, and I can’t take them anywhere I want to go.”

Spiccia went on to say the editable aspect of DynamicBooks should not be needed.

“It would leave less doubt of what to study,” he said. “But really, I feel the professor should be clear with that information anyway.”

O’Donnell said unlike used books, it’s impossible to sell DynamicBooks to other students.

“You won’t be able to sell it back to your friend for 25 bucks,” he said.

He said the textbook publisher would make more money with the digital book since publishers don’t usually profit from used book sales.

Middleton said he sees more of a future for digital books with Apple’s iPad.

“There’s a lot of promising technologies coming along,” he said.

But O’Donnell said he questions how open faculty are to digital options, noting few professors even use eLearningCommons.

DynamicBooks may fall to the same fate.

“Will faculty actually edit it?” O’Donnell asked.

O’Donnell said he does not regard DynamicBooks as anything spectacular.

“It might be too little too late,” he said.