eBooks or Good Ol' Physical Textbooks?

[starofdawn]

Hey all - just curious to see if any grad school students have had experience with ebooks vs regular physical textbooks, and would like to recommend one or the other.

 

My thoughts:

ebook advantages: cheaper, less paper waste, don't have to worry about carrying it around

disadvantages: makes me even more attached to my computer (may not be able to study on an airplane, if my computer gets stolen I'm even more screwed, might be nice to have a medium that doesn't involve screens)

 

I welcome your thoughts!

[GeoDUDE!]

getting a cheap tablet (like a nexus 7 or ipad mini) for text books is also a good idea! Personally, I dont like physical text books because they are big and i bike everywhere. I am someone who generally only uses textbooks if they have problem sets, the rest of the stuff you can learn on your own from my experience (online, from publications, from wikipedia). 

[Vene]

...if my computer gets stolen I'm even more screwed...

Not if you upload the file to the right place such as googledocs or dropbox, as long as you have your user name and password you'll have access to the file.

[lyrehc]

I have a tablet that I use for PDF files.  ReadCube or similar software can be helpful with journal articles and allow you to note/annotate them.  However, I prefer a hard copy of textbooks because I write all over in the margins and highlight a lot. Additionally, in discussion sections where I have had to read one or more entire books per week I have a hard time flipping to the page I want digitally, because I can't remember what exact page the concept/quote I want is located on.  It's not as bad for a stats book but even there I ended up purchasing a physical copy to go with the digital edition I purchased.

 

HTH.

[rising_star]

There's some studies out there that conclude that you retain more information if you read a physical book rather than an e-book. There was also a recent report that suggested that it was easier to remember when things happened in the plot of a novel when reading a physical book rather than an e-book (possibly connected to the issue lyrehc mentions about finding the right page digitally). I always used physical books for class, though I never had to buy any textbooks. I also tend to print out journal articles that are important, though I read a lot of them on the screen. If you decide to go the e-book route, you might want to invest in an e-reader with an e-ink screen just to minimize/reduce eye strain.

[Monochrome Spring]

I have always used paper textbooks, because I think it's easier to flip pages back and forth in different sections. Even though e-books are lighter, I think I'd still prefer a paper one for that reason.  I use a kindle for my non-textbook reading, because I like the reduction in weight and having the option to switch to any book in my library anywhere I am; but I don't reference back in novels or in biographies, so my textbook issue doesn't apply.

 

There are free electronic versions for some textbooks, so you could try that out before you dedicate yourself to entirely electronic. Also, some textbook e-versions have an expiration date, because they have a rental license of sorts. I would consider that before using electronic versions of textbooks that you want to reference back to in the future.

[TakeruK]

I've only used e-books when they were free (e.g. through the school library's subscription or something). Normally I prefer electronic version of things but I agree with the others that physical textbooks are easier for learning material! 

 

However, I try to buy as few books as possible. I only buy books if I know I will use the book as a reference after the course is over. Since my PhD program, I have probably only purchased 3 books for the 11 courses I've taken. For courses with books I will not use afterwards, my first attempt is to try to borrow the book from the library. Sometimes if the library has like 5 copies in stock, only one will go on course reserve and the rest will be available for checkout. In many cases, I've found that you can check out an older edition of a book on reserve or an alternate textbook that cover the same material. If none of these options work, then I have just used the course reserve copy in the library (but it must stay in the library at all times). There is a library in my building and students in the building have 24 hour access to the library so I can go and use it whenever I need to.

 

Another method to get access to books is to share with another student who does want to buy it because they do want to keep it afterwards. Or, you can borrow and/or rent it from an older student who took the course in the past. If I do something like this though, I always make it up to the student by buying them lunch, paying rent for the book, quid pro quo for another book in another course etc...whatever is a fair exchange for the burden I've caused.

 

Reading textbooks is not as important for the courses in my field though. Usually 90% of the material is covered in the lectures and profs will often point us to papers instead of the textbook for additional sources. But if the course is far enough from my main interests that I wouldn't use the book after the course, I usually am happy to just miss out on the remaining 10%--after all, I usually run out of time after getting through 90% of the material anyways. Finally, for my classes, most of the assigned textbook readings are meant as a secondary reference to class lectures, not the other way around. So, as GeoDUDE! mentions, I usually only absolutely must see the textbook pages if problem sets are assigned from the textbook or if an assigned problem (or similar problem) is solved as an example in the book. But for these cases, I can just go to the course reserve copy and write down / take photograph / make copies of the required information.

[Nkc1987]

Ebooks are better than the textbooks. It is portable and can store huge learning materials. I recommend illustrate - The Video Dictionary for GRE/GMAT aspirants.

[avflinsch]

A combination of  -

e-books & an older model Kindle (the one with the keyboard) for textual based materials, but it doesn't work well for thing with lots of pictures/graphics.

pdf files on a cheapo tablet or my laptop for other things

dead trees when either of the above are not available

[jhefflol]

I have to use paper books because most of the professors in my program won't allow laptops/e-readers in class. Make sure this sin't an obstacle for you before you decide! 

Personally, I prefer regular books because the chances that I'll need them later on is pretty high. Especially with my field, there's a standard set of anthologies that you can pretty much guarantee you'll use every semester. And I like having a library.

[RunnerGrad]

I definitely prefer physical textbooks.  For casual reading (i.e. novels) and journal articles, I use electronic copies, and read on my iPad.

 

Fortunately for my first semester, I only have one required textbook.  It is definitely needed, as the information isn't readily available in other formats (there are no good internet resources that closely match the content of the book - at least none that I've been able to find).  A second course has a recommended textbook, so it's not absolutely required, and fortunately I have a previous edition of the text from my undergraduate studies.

 

I definitely find that hard copy textbooks are easier to manipulate.  Easier to flip pages, to find what I'm looking for, etc. 

[juilletmercredi]

I wouldn't get e-books if I only had a computer, but if you got a tablet I would totally get the e-books, as long as any relevant tables/diagrams are displayed correctly.  I only buy physical copies if I think it's going to be a book that I reference often while in front of a computer, and even then once I discovered dual-screen set-ups and my current 24" monitor that became less of a problem.  (I still do have some physical reference books, but most of them aren't available electronically anyway).

 

Also, check.  If it's something like a Kindle or nook e-book, those display correctly within the relevant app.  Most publisher's e-books will also display correctly on a tablet.  But some publishers' e-books are made for computer screens, not tablet screens, and they show up kind of wonky on a tablet.  I think this is not so much a problem anymore, though (I was almost finished with my coursework when the first iPad came out, so...)

 

For me the push to buy an iPad and read my articles all electronically was about paper waste and carrying it around but also about storage.  I lived in a small apartment and I didn't have room to store all of those papers and books.  My first year of grad school I printed papers and I gave that up really quickly as I started filling up magazine files with them.

 

Also, I don't think you should worry about the computer getting stolen.  Chances of that happening are small, and even if it does the e-book usually isn't tied to your computer - it's tied to an account, so you can read it at school until you get a new one.  Get renters insurance!

[themmases]

I get the ebook versions of textbooks whenever I can. I have to carry a lot of other stuff around with me and I just can't justify a giant book that I only need to read 2 chapters of that week if there is a lighter way to do it.

 

For me, ebooks are also a better use of my time. I have three days each week where I come to campus for one class and work. My choices are to carry materials for other classes around with me just in case I have time for them, or to risk finishing my work for that one class and then not have anything else productive to do on my commute. With a bunch of ebooks on my iPad or phone I can just finish the reading for one class and then move on to the next.

 

I also worried about looking at screens all day, but I think the problem is bigger than eye strain (which you can reduce with screen settings)-- it's also about how overwork and having only sedentary, screen-based work and leisure activities are bad for you mentally and physically. I believe the best way to combat this is to get more exercise and make time for hobbies and socializing away from a chair or screen, rather than by sticking to printed books. In addition to exercise I usually take a few minutes out of my commute or while I'm waiting for a transfer to just look around, relax, and let my mind wander.

 

I regularly use a smart phone or iPad on the bus or L in Chicago and have never had a problem. While I try not to be distracted in public with one or use one where I couldn't hold it securely (as much so I don't drop it as anything), I wouldn't call these items ostentatious in many public places and certainly not on a college campus. Usually I don't get out or even bring my iPad or computer the first time I go to a totally new area or use a different transportation line until I can see if that's normal there. I always end up bringing it later because it is normal and I don't see others having a problem or having a death grip on their device.

 

The only problem I really have with e-textbooks is cost and availability. They may be cheaper than a hard copy book, but often not as cheap as buying a used book. There may be only a few authorized providers, usually the publisher or a company that just does e-textbooks, and you may have to use their app to read your book that you wouldn't have installed otherwise. Often if there's another option, it's Amazon. There will still be a textbook markup and the only real way to save money may be to rent rather than buy. My school had ebook versions of some of my textbooks, but you had to be one of the first 5-10 people to know you needed it and there isn't really a course reserve system like with physical books.

Edited September 4, 2014 by themmases

[Alpenglow73]

This is a very helpful discussion. I just started an online MSW program, and have decided to use both regular books and one ebook this semester to see which works better for me. There is a tremendous amount of supplemental reading outside of the assigned books, so I am currently reading them on my computer.

However, I don't really want to have to be tied to my computer, so am considering an iPad or a Kindle paperwhite. 

 

Any input on basic e-reader vs tablet would be great...if I get a tablet, it may as well be an iPad since I have a mac and an iPhone, for the ease of integrating them. But it's quite expensive! 

[Edge]

In my opinion it comes down to how often you'll actually access the book.  If I think it will be a reference book for the next few years, I buy the actual physical textbook.  If it is ONLY for the 4 months you're taking the class, e-text is fine.

[lyrehc]

This is a very helpful discussion. I just started an online MSW program, and have decided to use both regular books and one ebook this semester to see which works better for me. There is a tremendous amount of supplemental reading outside of the assigned books, so I am currently reading them on my computer.

However, I don't really want to have to be tied to my computer, so am considering an iPad or a Kindle paperwhite. 

 

Any input on basic e-reader vs tablet would be great...if I get a tablet, it may as well be an iPad since I have a mac and an iPhone, for the ease of integrating them. But it's quite expensive! 

 

I have a Sony PRS-T1 (love it!) and a Nook Color.  Both are good devices.  The Sony is lighter weight and I carry it pretty much everywhere. It's great for on the run reading when I'm stuck at appointments for various things and don't have time to start reading something more academic.

That said, I've found my tablet to be the best for studying.  It is bigger and I can zero in on the graphics used in some journal articles better, I can run multiple apps (Kindle, Nook, Kobo), and I can run ReadCube and Endnote.  This means that I can purchase ebooks in multiple formats, because not every company sells in epub format or to Amazon.

[Applemiu]

I prefer physical books and I print articles. I usually underline and take a lot of notes, and I think this approach helps boosting my intellectual productivity, but we are all different.

[danieleWrites]

Like everyone else, I think this a personal preference thing.

 

I do know that some ebooks do not contain all of the material a physical book contains, though I imagine these instances are few and can be gotten around by photocopying relevant pages of a classmate's book. One of the texts in the composition course I teach did not obtain electronic rights to one of the articles it published in the physical books, which forced students to have to find an alternative. I don't see this as a common problem since most texts aren't "readers".

 

I did discover that ebooks are seriously handy when one must read a book that one had someone managed to not purchase prior to the beginning of the semester when one goes through all of her course papers and purchases books. One feels like a complete idiot, FYI. Cause, really. How frickin hard is it to double check an order? Bad Daniele!

 

Though, I do admit to something of a conundrum every semester when I take classes that have texts in the public domain. Do I buy a physical copy or do I just download from Project Gutenburg? So far, I've always bought a physical copy. I don't have a kindle itself, though I do have a tablet and smartphone with kindle apps. There's a difference between backlit screens and e-ink screens. My tablet does let me doodle with a stylus, but not with the book. I'm not a fan. Like a lot of people, I like to annotate my texts.

[maelia8]

Since I have an Amazon Kindle, I always buy ebooks or download PDFs and read them that way if I possibly can. My Kindle lets me highlight texts and add marginal notes and bookmark pages the same as a physical book, and since i often read 4-6 books a week as a person in the humanities, buying physical books is simply not feasible due to cost, and getting all of them at the library is impractical due to weight (although sometimes I get them at the library, scan PDFs of the chapters I need if we aren't reading the whole book, and then download the PDFs onto my Kindle for reading). I love the searchability of ebooks, as well as their weightlessness, and, after experiencing pain in my wrist from reading a 600-page book this week that I could only get ahold of in hard copy this week, I think that for me at least, ebooks are the healthier way to go.

[bibliophile222]

On 8/28/2014 at 5:36 PM, jhefflol said:

And I like having a library.

On a practical note, I do absorb the information better if it is in a physical book, and it's easier for me to study for tests by spreading a few open books around me and referring to them as needed.

That's totally not the reason, though. I'm a book person (see username!) and I've just always wanted a huge library (like Beauty and the Beast huge). I love the idea of having an office filled with reference materials, so practical or not I am lugging all my books with me wherever I go. 

By the way, is it bad that I am so addicted to gradcafe that I'm methodically going through every single relevant post and responding to ones that are 4 years old?

Oh well.

Edited July 27, 2018 by bibliophile222

[E-P]

On 7/27/2018 at 4:33 PM, bibliophile222 said:

By the way, is it bad that I am so addicted to gradcafe that I'm methodically going through every single relevant post and responding to ones that are 4 years old?

 

Nah, it's pretty normal.  You're good. 

 

Regarding the original post, although I also love the idea of having a huge library, I've also moved a LOT lately, and so I value a more minimalist lifestyle.  So I tend to prefer eBooks.  I'm willing to accept a slight decrease in absorption rate for the extreme increase in convenience.

[Adelaide9216]

I have my articles and ebooks on an iPad.