[Pdx-pm] [Fwd: News from O'Reilly--SafariU]

[Josh Heumann]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: News from O'Reilly--SafariU
From: Marsee Henon  <marsee at oreilly.com>
Date: Tue, March 22, 2005 4:34 pm

Hello,

I wanted to pass along the following news in case you or anyone you know
are educators or trainers:

O'Reilly and Safari Books Online announce SafariU, a new service that
offers computer technology educators a rich platform for creating both
online and print materials tailored precisely to your teaching needs.
Safari Books Online is a joint venture of O'Reilly and the Pearson
Technology Group.

With SafariU (http://safariu.oreilly.com), instructors can compile a
custom book from a wealth of information resources, and deliver it to
students at a lower cost than a traditional textbook. The custom book is
professionally printed and delivered in as little as two weeks. In
addition to print books, SafariU offers an online subscription to a
syllabus that links to the complete content of up to 10 of the books
used in the custom book, plus any supplementary information the
instructor chooses, including audio, video, additional reading material,
exercises, and links to outside resources. SafariU also provides a peer
network where instructors can share learning objects and other teaching
resources.

"Over the past few years, as we've converted our books to digital
formats, we realized that the shift from paper to pixels opened up a
host of new possibilities for delivering information," said CJ Rayhill,
SafariU General  Manager. "Just as iTunes made it possible for music
fans to find and  build playlists of songs from many albums, SafariU
lets trainers and educators remix, add to, and assemble digital chunks
of information into  a unique package.  It's designed to take full
advantage of three classic disruptive technologies that are now
converging: digital information, print-on-demand, and web services."

"Students and faculty want more choice and value in their instructional
materials," said Gary June, Chief Marketing Officer of Pearson
Education. "SafariU continues blazing the path O'Reilly and Pearson
started four years ago and adds even more flexibility to the university
environment."

SafariU has been available to beta testers since January 2005. Several
hundred instructors are currently using and testing the service. Beta
tester Kent Sandoe, Professor of Management Information Systems,
California State University, Chico, commented, "O'Reilly owns a
tremendous quantity of well-written, valuable information. The fact that
they're willing to disaggregate it, allowing a professor to go and
re-aggregate the content in a way that is meaningful to students, to a
particular audience, to a particular course--that's revolutionary."

There is no cost to educators for SafariU. A SafariU textbook costs 16
cents per page, including the cover and binding, so the price of an
average book of 200 pages is $32, plus the bookstore markup. A course
subscription to SafariU's online resources is less than $10 per month
per student.

Visit SafariU to view a video demo and sign up for access:
http://safariu.oreilly.com

Please pass this along to anyone who may be interested. And let me know
if you have any questions.

Thanks for your help,

Marsee