E-books

[agentofchange]

Hello, all!

I hope you're all excited about beginning and/or finishing your respected MSW programs! My orientation is in two weeks, so I'm getting ready to buy my textbooks, etc.

Some of you have mentioned purchasing e-books instead of the physical copies. If you prefer the digital format, what do you like and dislike most about it? Do you have an e-reader application on your computer or do you have a Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc?

I'm a little hesitant to transition to the digital side of things, so any insight would be fantastic.

Thanks so much!

[MsDarjeeling]

Congrats on your upcoming program!  I would say when considering e-books, think about your note taking style and how you like to read.  I personally like to make notes on post its and stick them on the page I was reading, so an e-book would not work for me.  I also don't want to spend more time staring at a screen than I already do.  I have been using one e-book via adobe's reader and while its nice to not have to carry it around not taking notes the way I prefer is irritating.

 

However if you have a gadget that allows you to highlight/take notes electronically and you like that style then e-books would work well for you.  Also you wouldn't have to worry about the weight of all those textbooks =)

[agentofchange]

Thanks so much for your input! I definitely enjoy physically highlighting and writing my own little notes, so I'm not entirely sure how I feel about e-books. I know the Kindle app for many devices allows you to highlight, make in text notes, and it saves all of that content to a special clipboard where you can view it.

They are a lot cheaper than the physical copies, so I'm trying to weigh the options!

Thanks so much for your response!

[citychild]

I prefer eBooks... I use transit a lot and it's a lot easier to carry (an iPad) versus textbooks. I can highlight on my iPad, so that's not an issue too much for me.

[StenderB]

I always thought that I would never try an e-Textbook because of my love for physically highlighting, taking notes, and turning pages.  I recently found this website (and app/download for iPad, Mac, PC, Android Tablet) called Kno.  I just went all in after watching tutorial and trial videos of it.  You can take notes and highlight easily via Kno in the textbook and even make them into flashcards, quick notes, etc.  It then saves all of these notes to each book so you can easily find them and organize them more generally or more detailed then I'm describing here.  I haven't played around with it in its entirety yet but I think this is finally my solution to keeping my notes, highlights, and "Etc"s + staying light as I will likely be using public transportation and my bike 4/5 days of the week.  I use Kno on my netbook.

[Lola1233]

I always thought that I would never try an e-Textbook because of my love for physically highlighting, taking notes, and turning pages.  I recently found this website (and app/download for iPad, Mac, PC, Android Tablet) called Kno.  I just went all in after watching tutorial and trial videos of it.  You can take notes and highlight easily via Kno in the textbook and even make them into flashcards, quick notes, etc.  It then saves all of these notes to each book so you can easily find them and organize them more generally or more detailed then I'm describing here.  I haven't played around with it in its entirety yet but I think this is finally my solution to keeping my notes, highlights, and "Etc"s + staying light as I will likely be using public transportation and my bike 4/5 days of the week.  I use Kno on my netbook.

 

Do you mind sharing the app/website?

[StenderB]

Do you mind sharing the app/website?

http://www.kno.com/

 

[StenderB]

yikes, *than* I'm describing.. shoulda looked that over before I posted it.

I'm in Kno right now taking a look at one of my books and I also forgot to mention a feature I was convinced by is that when you highlight you can give the highlight tags, one of which is "for assignment" so that way when we're reading and see something for a specific assignment or paper, etc. we can categorize it.  I'm sure this will be extremely helpful for us.

[Lola1233]

FYI, kno.com books seems to be web accessible only. So for anyone who would like to do reading on a train, etc, this might not be the best service for you. 

Edited September 5, 2013 by Chrislee

[StenderB]

FYI, kno.com books seems to be web accessible only. So for anyone who would like to do reading on a train, etc, this might not be the best service for you. 

Yes if you have the web reader on your home computer or laptop then it uses an internet connection to load the pages.  If you have the app on any of the other devices it's made for like tablets and phones then the books save to the device and are accessible offline as well.

[Purplescarves]

Having an iPad has been super helpful! I previously used it as a toy prior to enrolling in grad school, now it's my main tool. Without it I would be lost in a sea of books, paper articles, and massive readers. I can highlight, post stickies, create text boxes, handwrite or type notes, and back it all up with my dropbox. It's also super customizable with various fonts, colors and settings. I only need access to the internet if I want to upload something to my iPad or auto-sync with my dropbox.

 

If I really want to print it all, I can. If I want to search it on my ipad or computer, I can. I also really appreciate it because I'll have access to it forever. I've let go of so many books and all of my articles from previous educational experiences mainly because it was too much to haul through each move. Now I get to keep it all, including my annotations, for future reference. If I do buy a book, it's because I want it on my shelf through thick and thin, haha. This semester, the only book that received that status was the DSM.

 

I thought I was a paper person, but I guess not. Paper seems too tedious and inefficient; and consequently, quite an investment in various aspects. It took a month of grad school to try this new system out to convince me though. I started with only partially investing in the digital route. Next semester will be completely digital. I can't believe this wasn't available during undergrad!

[creativesocialworker]

I have a bunch of free ebooks that include some that are commonly used in MSW programs (including the DSM5).  Just send me an email (uclasocialworker@gmail.com) or a message through my blog (creativesocialworker.tumblr.com) if you want me to send them to you.