for the college students

[OceanCityGirl]

if you want to sell back your textbooks and are not happy with the ridiculous prices your school store is giving you, and don't want to ebay check out cheapbooks.com It's not a site to sell books. It's a site that you put in the isbn number and it will find who will pay the most for your book. I'm getting much more money here then the school store.

[TheBlondeStranger]

I'll try it... It's frustrating paying $50 for the softcover humanities (read: garbage) texts and then getting $8 back for it.

The hardcover science textbooks aren't as bad... but Bio books only last about 3 semesters before they are horrifically outdated.

[CaptainP]

I'll try it... It's frustrating paying $50 for the softcover humanities (read: garbage) texts and then getting $8 back for it.

Then they sell it back next semester used at $46.00.

[TheBlondeStranger]

Exactly. One more reason they should stop teaching any non-history liberal arts class.

[OceanCityGirl]

no what should be done is that texts should be made available digitally/electronically. This could involve a device or an online code. Then when texts are upgraded you should be given the option of purchasing an upgrade for a small fee. This would save trees, costs, and the wretched lugging around of text books if you don't live on campus and have to carry all your books for a long day of classes. It should be done for lower level students as well. There are some studies showing serious back problems with elementary and hs kids from carrying backpacks weighing 30 plus pounds.
Text book companies could sell the reading devices if they wish. But I"m assuming this will never happen as it would lose them money. But it would be so good for students.
I take every chance I get to stick it to the text book companies. I wait until I know for sure if I need the new edition before I buy a new book. Otherwise for the four college students in my home, everything is bough online used or from other students. Put that used price back into students pockets who bought those books.

[TheBlondeStranger]

Well used books are better because the highlighting is already done for you...

I dont really like the idea of electronic books... my computer is much less portable than a single book, and staring at a white computer screen is like staring into a flashlight. I think at some point, textbooks will become more interactive and will end up on-line, not for the cost benefit, but because our generation is hyperstimulated and impatient.

Honestly, I can sit on the internet and read information directly from forums, or linked from them (news sites and whatnot) all day long. But physically reading a book is the most painful exercise in self-discipline; my attention wanders and I find better things to do (laundry, dishes, etc.) If professors would post all the information in forum threads on their WebCT/Blackboard/etc sites, I think learning would be much easier for my generation (though probably not my age group--but the kids that are 7-8 years removed from college.)

The problem with Biology, though, is that it is the research field. We know what we need from physics and chemistry, now it is all being applied to either engineering (to improve biological research) or biological research. That means our books are obsolete in a year and we can never find used books because we are using the newest editions. Unlike using the older edition of an O-Chem book, where you have to adjust page numbers but the text hasn't changed in 6 editions, the information in bio books actually changes. It sucks.

tl;dr: if you want to be a doctor, major in business

[txaggirl91]

i hated when i had to buy books and we never used them in class. so now i tell my students that they do not need to each buy the book. they should go in with someone else to buy it and share it. they all move through the program at the same time so it is easy for them to do that.

next fall i am going to a course packet. it will be cheaper for them since all the books in my area are not very good.

[OceanCityGirl]

I have a daughter who's graduating this week with a bio/chem/ micro-biology degree so I can emphasize with the cost of science texts. I had two sems. of anato. and physio. and microbio. big$$$
But arhu students just get these stacks of books. And we're being told we have to get the new edition when all that's changed is an intro and the addition of one short story. It's ridiculous.
I have profs. who started posting pod-casts of their lectures. It's fantastic. I have some professors who really use web-ct and blackboard. It makes me so grateful. If you are going to read from power-point notes then put them on-line before class. This way I can focus on the lecture rather then scribbling away at notes.
I understand about hard books being great but electronic would be so much cheaper. There could be a lightweight reading device for them to take to class. This way they could be interactive. You could copy and past things that you consider important into your notes. You could do the same thing to create flashcards. The possibilities are endless with such a set-up. The technology has been available for years but text book companies rule the world and it will never happen.

[Skibo]

When you consider the number of copies printed of these textbooks, they really are not as overpriced as they seem. Many of the NYT bestsellers are printed in the millions of copies and are priced over $20. I doubt if some of the college text books have over 100,000 printed. Proofreading is a lot more expensive on a text book because facts and sources have to be checked a lot closer than a Tom Clancy novel. My text books were also expensive, best investment I ever made. I still purchase a lot of books that pertain to my field of work. They are $60-$250.

[Jollymom21]

It should be done for lower level students as well. There are some studies showing serious back problems with elementary and hs kids from carrying backpacks weighing 30 plus pounds.

Our school district has been trying to buy classroom sets of books. Each student would get a book to take home the first day of class and then they'd leave it at home. If the book was needed in class, they'd hand out the classroom set for that day in class. But the cost of these classroom sets gets prohibitive when so many things are cut from school budgets to avoid our taxes being raised by double digets.

Some teachers (without classroom sets) are telling the kids to leave the books home and then teach around them so that they don't have to lug them back and forth. Even with all of that, their backpacks are still too heavy!!

One day my son put his backpack on the front seat of the car and the "idiot lights" indicated that the passenger airbag was "activated" as if an adult was sitting there!!!

[AlbatrossFlyer]

i hated when i had to buy books and we never used them in class. so now i tell my students that they do not need to each buy the book. they should go in with someone else to buy it and share it. they all move through the program at the same time so it is easy for them to do that.

next fall i am going to a course packet. it will be cheaper for them since all the books in my area are not very good.

sounds like you should write a textbook

[comemonday]

It annoys me when they change the edition every other year simply to sell new books. The only thing that's different are the questions/ exercises, so students are forced to buy the new edition, but it's not like they made any other big changes.

[Jollymom21]

i hated when i had to buy books and we never used them in class. so now i tell my students that they do not need to each buy the book. they should go in with someone else to buy it and share it. they all move through the program at the same time so it is easy for them to do that.

next fall i am going to a course packet. it will be cheaper for them since all the books in my area are not very good.

I'm sure many students (and parents) will love you for this!!

Don't a lot of the colleges have books in the library that professors refer to so that the students don't have to buy all the books used in the classes?

[txaggirl91]

i hated when i had to buy books and we never used them in class. so now i tell my students that they do not need to each buy the book. they should go in with someone else to buy it and share it. they all move through the program at the same time so it is easy for them to do that.

next fall i am going to a course packet. it will be cheaper for them since all the books in my area are not very good.

I'm sure many students (and parents) will love you for this!!

Don't a lot of the colleges have books in the library that professors refer to so that the students don't have to buy all the books used in the classes?

you can put books, etc in the course reserve section. students can check them out for a certain amount of time, etc but they can't take them out of the library.

you can only put 10% of a book up online without having to get copyright permission. even with my course packet, i have to get copyright persmission to have the article included in the packet. if there is a fee for the article, the price gets rolled into the cost of the packet (which is usually the cost of copying and binding it, copyright cost and a percentage for the bookstore)

AF - i would love to write the book but it counts next to nothing on your tenure and promotion. i would make some money but until i am tenured, all my writing efforts go towards peer reviewed journals.

[Jollymom21]

i hated when i had to buy books and we never used them in class. so now i tell my students that they do not need to each buy the book. they should go in with someone else to buy it and share it. they all move through the program at the same time so it is easy for them to do that.

next fall i am going to a course packet. it will be cheaper for them since all the books in my area are not very good.

I'm sure many students (and parents) will love you for this!!

Don't a lot of the colleges have books in the library that professors refer to so that the students don't have to buy all the books used in the classes?

you can put books, etc in the course reserve section. students can check them out for a certain amount of time, etc but they can't take them out of the library.

When we were looking at colleges for my son this past year, many of them spoke of the books on reserve at the library as another "selling point" for the college.

[OceanCityGirl]

a big selling point for us were rented text books. The price is reasonable and you dont have to worry about selling back texts.

[Carolinadreamin']

It should be done for lower level students as well. There are some studies showing serious back problems with elementary and hs kids from carrying backpacks weighing 30 plus pounds.

OMG...I so agree with you. My youngest keet goes to a private school (like the tutition isn't enough!) and we usually buy 2 sets of books. One for school and one for home. Just books per year run about $600. But she was carrying these books back and forth to school and I could barely lift her backpack!
One good thing is that our school organizes a buy/sell day for books and it helps to not have to buy them new. I always volunteer to help out because volunteers get the first choice of books. At least they will last the full year...in college it's just the semester.

[PIA]

guess what i did...i didn't buy some of the books this semester...well because i go to a small enough school that we cover all the book stuff in class...so i saved at least 200 bucks last semester...but i amdef gonna try this site....

thanks!

[pojo]

I hated paying $400 for books and getting a measley $30 back! I had a science degree... so expensive hard cover books!

I wish I knew that site before graduating!