Books: electronic or hard copies?

[Chiqui74]

I just got my first syllabus for the fall and I'm looking into purchasing the books.  This class, although it is in my field, it's much too late for my main concentration, which is Colonial North America. The class is required for all US history students though. I wonder if buying the books in electronic form would be better, especially since I'm space-conscious.  The downside is that I couldn't bring them to class as there are no electronics allowed.  I'm sure there are ways around that but I'm not sure.  Generally speaking, I prefer hard copies and I will be buying those for classes in my field/theme.  WWYD?

[mvlchicago]

I buy hard copies 100 cause I write so many notes in my texts that it becomes difficult for me to really adjust with like mark ups on programs like Papers or even Adobe. Of course, I have docx's of notes on books anyway, but I recognize I'm caught in the trap of privileging the form of the book monograph rather than adjusting to e-texts.

Also not having a book w u in class seems like a really really bad move. Idk if your memory's eidetic, but I find it lowers the pressure immensely in following conversation during seminar if I can open my book to varying quotes, or recalling sections before tryna contribute. Just my thoughts though~

[Klonoa]

I have always preferred hard copy over electronic copy, as it is better to take notes (in margins or place sticky notes inside, as well as highlight). I did my undergraduate abroad, which made me depend on my Kindle because didn't want to be weighed down by texts books when it came time to move. When reading sources, I found it more confusing to take notes and stay organized on my Kindle, though the search option that Kindle allows is awesome. Being able to type in one word and go directly to what you are looking for saves a lot of time. But, it has always been hard for me to concentrate reading with my Kindle because I have found myself browsing the internet on it, and browsing has usually turned into an hour on Facebook or Skype. Many professors in my undergraduate years had strict no-electronics policies, but waived it for students who had electronic readers or the Kindle app on their phone or laptop. I have started purchasing my books, and I have only purchased hard copies now that I will be studying in the States.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Klonoa

[ashiepoo72]

If you take really good notes you'll probably be fine only buying hard copies of books you'd like on your bookshelf and getting digital copies of the rest. Maybe check them out at the library or through interlibrary loan if you like hard copies. I buy print versions because I scribble all over my books, but it all depends on what works for you.

[rising_star]

If you don't think you need to buy the book, get hard copies from the library (or via ILL) so that you don't spend money on things you don't really need.

[stillalivetui]

Reading in electronic form is a drag! Only do it in the case of emergency.

[maelia8]

I'd like to go against the above comments and recommend digital editions. I'm in my second year of grad school and I have yet to buy a physical book. I own a Kindle PaperWhite (useless for surfing the internet, great for reading) and use it for all books that have digital copies (I also read PDFs either on the PaperWhite or on my laptop). For books that are not offered digitally, I get the book through the university library system or ILL and, if it's a hot item and I can't keep it as long as I'd like, I scan it on my high-speed flatbed scanner and make the PDF searchable. I use Evernote to take notes (providing the first/last few words of a quote and the page number or digital location in the book so I can easily find it on my PDF or ebook if I want to mention it in class) arranging the notes by chapter and section in the book. I am able to find quotes or sections quickly and easily when I need to mention them in discussion.

 

When I need to write a paper, all of my notes and quotes are arranged by book and topic in different Evernote files so I can easily copy and paste them into documents. I run OCR (optical character recognition) on texts where I want to do in-depth analysis word by word, which provides me with an even better search function than regular PDFs. I never want to go back to the world of scribbled notes in margins or post-its ever again - in my opinion, it is incredibly labor-intensive and much more of a pain when you have to go back and flip through 5 books to find that one special quote later. In addition, I saved thousands of dollars by not buying any books last year and was able to put the money towards my undergrad loans, retirement, and savings, so it was a win in that aspect too.

[rising_star]

What kind of flatbed scanner do you have, maelia8? And also, what do you use for the OCR part? I've used Acrobat Pro in the past but it was never perfect with the OCR part. I like your system though and might give it a try on one particular new research project I'm working on.

[1Q84]

 I get the book through the university library system or ILL and, if it's a hot item and I can't keep it as long as I'd like, I scan it on my high-speed flatbed scanner and make the PDF searchable.

 

I always wanted to do this but it seems particularly labor-intensive. Any tips?

[TMP]

No electronics in class?  Would your professor be willing to make exceptions for e-books?

 

I did buy one or two books on Kindle and it was.... not the same.  It's harder on your eyes even despite the adjustments.

 

And... there are really a lot of history books that you can buy used for cheap.