Textbooks have just made the transition into the 21st century, as more and more are jumping online to become e-books.

Now, the Danforth Campus Bookstore, managed by Follett Higher Education Group, is following the national trend by offering students this up-and-coming textbook option.

E-books have three main advantages, according to Isabella Hinds, director of digital content for Follett: They are lower in cost, leave a smaller environmental impact and are improved study tools.

Most e-books offered through Follett are priced 55 percent lower than the new versions of their hardcover equivalents.

Once a student purchases an e-book, the material is downloaded to the student’s hard drive. Each e-book can be accessed on up to three computers.

Despite the advantages of e-books, some students feel uncertain about making the switch.

One common benefit of traditional textbooks is that students can highlight passages in them. Though e-books have a feature that allows users to highlight and take notes on the computer, students doubt the effect would be the same.

To address such questions and concerns, Follett is spearheading a program called Try Now, Buy Later, which allows students to test any e-book free of charge for one week.

Though e-books have been on sale in the bookstore since the beginning of the semester, most students are still unaware of their availability.

“I didn’t hear about it at all, but I would definitely consider doing it,” freshman Molly McGregor said.

Many other students responded similarly, despite their unfamiliarity with e-books.

“I would consider [using e-books]. It would be easier to carry around my laptop than to carry around a bunch of textbooks,” junior Will Padover said. Padover also noted the price difference as a major benefit.

Sophomore Allison Gorman said she would consider using e-books for environmental reasons.

“I think it’s good because it’s not a waste of paper,” Gorman said. “I prefer a physical textbook, but for some people it might be a good option.”

Textbooks offered at the bookstore in this new format include “Principles of Modern Chemistry,” “Psychology,” “Financial Accounting” and “Human Genetics.” Currently, there are a total of 21 books available electronically.

“It’s just getting going. We want to get students aware and interested in trying this out,” Hinds said. “We feel really good about the number of students trying it out.”

The e-books can be found online at cafescribe.com. To access the material, students must first buy an access code at the bookstore.

Other universities that are trying out e-books include Cornell and Georgetown universities and the University of Miami.

Additionally, Follett recently started a book rental program at several other universities. So far, the program has been successful on those campuses.

It remains to be seen whether the rental program will make its way to the University’s bookstore.

“I would do the online thing first, but if they didn’t have that, I’d do the rental,” Padover said.

Students can learn more about the rental program at the RentAText page on Facebook.

2 Comments

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  On September 18, 2009 at 7:46 am Dione Drew said

  I bought an e-book for a smaller text in a class where the material is current, and therefore changes every few years. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a small paperback that would be obsolete in two or even five years, so i bought the e-book for half the price. i love it! And since you can access it on three computers, you can split the cost with friends and bring your total down even lower.

  i would not recommend e-books for long textbooks, however, because you can only print a little bit from the book (30% of the total text), and you don’t want to sit in front of your computer reading for hours.

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  On October 22, 2009 at 6:56 am Alex23 said

  WayBackMachine, the Internet Archive, are also gone. ,

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