Modular Books

Modularisation is one of the key elements of open processes: so why can't we have modular books? Well, we can, up to a point:

On Wednesday, the Arizona community college announced a partnership with Pearson Custom Publishing to allow Rio Salado professors to piece together single individualized textbooks from multiple sources. The result, in what could be the first institution-wide initiative of its kind, will be a savings to students of up to 50 percent, the college estimates, as well as a savings of time to faculty, who often find themselves revising course materials to keep pace with continuously updated editions.

However, this is only with texts from one source: imagine if you could do this with *any* text. (Via if:book.)