With the start of the new year is the start of another academic term on college campuses—and another bout of articles about the high price of textbooks.

One paper in North Carolina says that “UNC campuses are using new rules to help ease the cost of textbooks for students,” though curiously, fails to mention what those rules are.

Delaware Online, meanwhile, gives some information about inflation, and the political response:

Textbook prices nearly tripled between 1986 and 2004, an increase twice the rate of inflation, according to a 2005 study from the federal Government Accountability Office. The high costs have spurred politicians, students and school officials to look for ways to ease the burden.

A textbook rental service might be useful. After all, how many college graduates actually look at that textbook from Psych 101 or Organic Chemistry once the term is over? There are a number of legal and financial hurdles, however.

Online services such as Craig’s List and eBay might help recycle books from campus to campus—an opportunity not available to students in past decades.