Comments on: Flat World Knowledge and U.S. Gov’t on Open Access Course Materials

By: Larry

Larry — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:11:42 +0000

Unfortunately, gotta agree with Peter. Their Intro to Business book by Karen Collins is a retread of a failed book from Prentice Hall. I think there are at least a couple others on their list like that as well. Wouldn’t call her a “leading expert” in the field of business either. If you actually take the time to read some of the stuff they’re offering (I have), its not very impressive, which is too bad. They have a good PR firm, give them that. However, for all their purported talk about the importance of quality, I think they are counting on the hype about their format and lower pricing trumping quality issues. I also think their site goes overboard with trying to convince people how “cool” they are.. pretty nauseating after awhile. Will be interesting to see how successful they really are, and whether they can actually make enough serious money with their business model to sustain it

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:57:30 +0000

I know that you are enamored of Flat World Knowledge’s message and marketing, but have you actually read any of the books on offer? A few of them are well-known ‘road-kill’: i.e., they died an ignominious death in the traditional textbook market, and then the rights to them reverted to the author. Others are new books by people whom one would be hard-pressed to identify as “leading experts”, no matter how loosely one defines that phrase. Whether road-kill or new, however, all of them exhibit a pronounced lack of editorial care and guidance. Just check out the first chapter of McAfee’s INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, if you want to see what I mean. Although I’m admittedly biased on this point, it seems to me that the intellectual labor known colloquially as ‘editing’ is a lot more important than those beating the ‘open access’ drum seem to acknowledge; in fact, it’s arguable that the quality of a textbook’s editing is the primary reason for that book’s success or failure. No amount of collaboration or customization can untangle the mess that a poorly written, badly edited textbook leaves in its wake. But at least their site is cool–right down to the Woody-Allen-esque voiceover.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:37:25 +0000

Hi there. I know that you are enthusiastic about Flat World Knowledge’s stated goals, but have you actually read what they’ve placed on offer? The books are in several cases well-known ‘road kill’–i.e., they failed spectacularly as traditional textbooks, and the rights to them then reverted to their authors. Reading into a few of these, it’s pretty clear what they share in common, and why they failed the first time around: they exhibit an utter lack of serious editorial attention.
Sure, Flat World’s concept is compelling. And the web site is ‘scrappy’ and intriguing (right down to the Woody-Allen-esque voiceover). But do the books live up to the expectations set up by the marketing and the message? Not by a long shot.

By: valter marques

valter marques — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:03:32 +0000

Flat World Knowledge and U.S. Gov't on Open Access Course … http://tinyurl.com/r8eluo

By: Peter Willington

Peter Willington — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 08:09:33 +0000

Flat World Knowledge and U.S. Gov't on Open Access Course … http://bit.ly/9BDp5

By: Osupplies.com

Osupplies.com — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:17:06 +0000

Flat World Knowledge and U.S. Gov’t on Open Access Course …: He’ll order the self-print .pdf chapters .. http://bit.ly/tB7LX

By: Steven Stockham

Steven Stockham — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:15:02 +0000

Flat World Knowledge and U.S. Gov't on Open Access Course … http://bit.ly/PzuDS

By: JMS

JMS — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:56:38 +0000

[Librarian Feeds] Flat World Knowledge and U.S. Gov’t on Open Access Course Materials http://dltj.org/article/fwk-hr1464/

By: infopeep

infopeep — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:16:55 +0000

Murray, Peter: Flat World Knowledge and U.S. Gov’t on Open Access Course Materials http://snipurl.com/jj20g

By: Peter Murray

Peter Murray — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:13:41 +0000

New blog post: Flat World Knowledge and U.S. Gov’t on Open Access Course Materials http://dltj.org/article/fwk-hr1464/