As one door opens…
- Article 2 of 15
- EducationInvestor, February 2011
Will 'open' close publishing?, asks Rob Buckley
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But this is unlikely to be a panacea for the problems OERs are bringing. Paper is still the most popular format for books, according to the US’s National Association of College Stores, with digital books making up just under 3% of textbook sales (although that should rise to 10-15% by next year as more titles become available). So the central problem remains: the high cost of mainstream publishers’ quality publications is increasingly unattractive when compared to the zero cost of the quality OER publications.
It’s clear that OERs are here to stay and are going to continue their slow revolution of education. Although mainly popular in the US and poorer countries at the moment, their effect is likely to continue to spread to the UK and Europe in the next few years. Publishing companies are going to have to change how they distribute and sell their books, or potentially cut costs and profits to deal with the arrival of ‘open’ competition. There may well be casualties along the way.
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