Alberta wants to create e-book depository

Alberta students could have the cost of their textbooks cut in half, Advanced Education Minister Doug Horner told the Edmonton Journal in a end of year interview. He wants to create an online depository of e-books.  “We’ll build a little cloud (space on the Internet) where we’ll have all these textbooks,” he said.  “Because isn’t the objective to help the student achieve, as opposed to paying a stipend to whoever wrote a book?” To implement the plan, Horner, would have to overcome significant obstacles, Todd Anderson, who runs the University of Alberta bookstore, warned. Professors cannot be coerced to assign a particular book just because it is available for a reduced cost online, and publishers might be unwilling to lower the price of their books or remove restrictions that prevent students from accessing e-books after six months.