Imagine downloading and reading a course pack for free on your phone while sitting in class.
That's the future the University Press of Florida wants for students.
The press, which is the official press of the State University System, will request $522,500 from the state Legislature during its 2009 session to help make that happen.
If the Legislature approves its request, students might be able to download free course packs by January 2010.
The press will also be looking to offer textbooks for free online, said Meredith Babb, director of the press.
The press will recover its publishing costs when people purchase print copies of the materials, which enough people still do, Babb said.
She said it isn't likely that free textbooks will be available any time soon for large introductory classes, such as statistics and biology.
It's unlikely that textbook publishers will relinquish their hold on these profitable courses, she said.
But there is hope for smaller, more advanced classes with professors willing to create their own materials for the class, she said.
And once the textbook or course pack is available to students in one class, it would be made available online to students throughout the entire educational system in Florida, she said.
At that point, the materials can also be modified by other professors who want to tailor them to the needs of their specific class, she said.
It becomes an open-source "Wikipedia-ish" type of system, she said.
Because of the state of the economy, Babb said she doesn't think the press will get the money from the Legislature this year.
With state economists predicting the recession to last until 2010, it may be a few years until students will see free course packs.
As a result, local copy centers like Target Copy, which is less than a block away from the press's office on Northwest 15th Street, may be able to rest for the time being.
