What to Know About Digital Textbooks

By Kaitlin Hurtado on January 23, 2018

While you may dread the thought of spending money on textbooks at the beginning of a term, you can always save money with digital textbooks instead. Physical textbooks are what most are used to as they were often the only option in earlier education levels, but when it comes to college, you have the option to stick with physical textbooks or go digital.

There are often many questions surrounding the idea of digital textbooks for newcomers. Where do I get digital textbooks? How long do I have access to the digital textbooks I buy for? How can I access the digital textbooks? Can I share the digital textbook? Is it harder to read a digital textbook than reading a physical textbook? People that are hesitant to try it for one reason or another often overlook why people would turn to physical textbooks to begin with – the convenience.

Digital textbooks can be a big transition after all, especially when professors constantly throw out how distracting technology out, but digital textbooks can be equally as convenient as their physical counterparts and at certain times, more. If you are contemplating on whether to get physical textbooks or digital textbooks for your next textbook haul, consider the following information before making your next purchase.

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Image via pexels.com

Digital textbooks may be cheaper, but harder to come across

One of the more alluring factors of digital textbooks is that they are often cheaper than physical textbooks. The cut cost comes from not only the lack of the cost of having to produce a physical printed copy, but also saving yourself from paying the shipping you would have to pay for a physical copy, as digital textbooks are immediately available upon purchase.

Just like their physical textbooks, digital textbooks vary in price depending on the options that you pick upon purchase. Similar to how the price can dramatically differ when considering either renting a physical textbook or buying a textbook, the price can greatly differ depending on the time period you select when purchasing digital textbooks.

The 60 to 90-day periods are considered the shortest options, usually for those students that don’t really read the textbook until it is exam season and won’t be needing it for the full semester. This option is the cheapest, as it is the shortest, but may not be worth saving the money if you really need the textbook the whole semester in order to succeed in the class. If you want to use the digital textbook for a whole semester, or year, because it is required or a helpful asset, there are also 180-day and one-year options when it comes to purchasing digital textbooks.

The one-year may seem unnecessary at first, but is helpful if you know the textbook will help you in the upcoming semester or even if you know a class you are taking next quarter that will require you to use the same textbook as this semester.

That being said, the idea of a cheaper textbook may be enough to make some college students pick digital textbooks over other options, but it may not even be an option for some. Digital textbooks are not always an option for every textbook. Physical textbooks are still the norm, and not all publishers decide to put out a digital textbook option out as well for students to choose from.

An easy way to see if a textbook really has a digital counterpart or not is to visit the textbook publisher’s website to see if it has a digital textbook offer, something that isn’t always advertised on other websites that help you look for the cheapest textbook option.

Not every digital textbook is the same 

The type of material that digital textbooks come with may vary. You can go for a digital textbook for one class and get several features along with the digital textbooks, like quick links to definitions, pre-made flashcards and study guides, and other very helpful features. However, this is not the case for all digital textbooks. Some digital textbooks will just be the digital copy of the original physical textbook, and nothing more.

If you are expecting something more than just a digital copy of the textbook you need, make sure you read what is included in the purchase. Some publishers allow you to purchase access codes or access to online help, tutorials, and other helpful study material that you regularly wouldn’t get with a physical textbook.

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You can still mark up digital textbooks, but it’s not as customizable 

One of the more alluring aspects of physical textbooks is that you are able to mark up the textbook however you would like. You could stick flags to pages of importance, highlight certain passages, makes notes in margins on how one idea connects to another – the possibilities are seemingly endless when you have the physical copy at your disposal.

In contrast, you can’t exactly mark up a digital textbook however you would for a physical textbook. The way you are allowed to “mark up” digital textbooks varies depending on how you are accessing the physical textbook. Some textbooks are to be downloaded to your computer and read offline, limiting your marking up possibilities to bookmarking what page you are on or one(s) of high significance to your studying.

When it comes to highlighting or writing in the digital textbook, it once again depends on how you are accessing it. If you tend to highlight your textbooks, it’s a common option that comes with many digital textbooks, but it may not come in a variety of colors that you are used to. Highlighting text in digital textbooks often comes in one color, so it may be harder to differentiate if you typically use different colors to color code different key concepts and ideas when reading your textbooks.

Digital textbooks may also allow you to make comments and notes when reading. Just as you would write in the margins of a textbook, you can add a note as you read and they often are conveniently listed out as a feature limited to digital textbooks. Having your notes listed out makes a specific note easier to find and also enables you to see common threads in the notes you have taken.

Another perk of digital textbooks is that you don’t have to worry ab0ut damage fees when it comes to marking up your text. When you usually rent physical textbooks to save money, you are more likely to get restricted from doing anything more than highlighting to your textbook rental and sticking post-it notes onto pages rather than writing directly on the textbooks to avoid damage fees. If you go the digital textbook route, you avoid the end of semester rush to remove all of the sticky notes in your textbook when it comes time to return the rental textbook.

You can’t just print a digital textbook or make several copies

Like other features of digital textbooks, your ability to print out your digital textbook depends on the publisher you are buying from. Each publisher has different printing limits, which can often be found through browsing the publisher’s website and description of the digital textbook prior to purchasing it.

You may think you are beating the game of finding the cheapest textbook when you buy a digital textbook to split among friends for an even cheaper price than the listed price, but make sure you are aware of the printing terms of the publisher you are buying. For many publishers, the digital textbook is restricted from getting printed at all by the buyer. This, of course, is to make sure the digital textbook is being used by the registered buyer alone and won’t be redistributed for free as you can’t simply just hand out printed copies of the digital textbook you have bought.

Other publishers, however, allow their digital textbooks to be printed out by their users, either in full or in decided portions (like chapters). This may make owning a digital textbook much easier if you do want to physically mark it up or prefer to read a physical text at a cheaper price. This also helps when your professor has a strict no technology policy and still expects you to have the textbook while in class as you can always print out the chapter(s) you will need for a class as needed.

textbooks, digital textbooks, physical textbooks, infographic,

Infographic by Kaitlin Hurtado, via canva.com

While digital textbooks may be the cheaper option, they may just not work for you 

Digital textbooks may be the most appealing textbook option to you when considering what option works best for you. Your budget may be happy saving money by going the digital textbook route, but you may want to consider how you personally study and your relationship with technology.

If you have learned from experience that you need a distraction-free zone in order to do your homework and studying, digital textbooks may do more harm than good. With digital textbooks, you’ll have to have some technological device to access your digital textbook and that device just may be the thing that stops you from being productive. You may be trying your hardest to study, but incoming notifications from various social media sites can have you easily distracted.

If you want to try making a distraction-free zone with your digital textbook, download the digital textbook to use offline if the publisher allows you to do so. This allows you to put your technological device on airplane mode or disconnect to the internet (and possible distractions) while you use your digital textbook for assignments and studying. If your digital textbook allows you to print it, print the pages you need for assignments to eliminate technology as a distraction.

The money you do save by buying a digital textbook instead of a physical textbook may be the money you could get from reselling a physical copy of the book, or even less. Not being able to resell your digital textbook can be seen as both a disadvantage and an advantage. You won’t be able to sell the book after, which often allows you to make more money if you sell the book for a price higher than the price you originally bought it for. At the same time, you will not have to worry about the process of reselling it or facing the trouble of the book being no longer needed for future classes, making it near impossible for you to sell the book.

Likewise, digital textbooks most often come with a limited period of time where you will be able to access the digital textbook purchased. If you know that you’re the type of person that likes to keep their textbooks for future reference or just to keep around, digital textbooks aren’t going to be your best option when you won’t always have access to it later on.

When it comes to your next textbook purchase, it’s important to think about how you are going use your textbook for the class. If you are the type to just skim the textbook when you really need it to create study guide or answer homework questions, digital textbooks are a great option because you don’t have the physical textbook taking up precious storage space when you aren’t using it and it’s out of sight and out of mind until you need to pull it up on your laptop or tablet for a quick assignment.

If you are the type to spend hours scouring your textbook to build thorough and dense outlines for every reading assignment to supplement later studying, digital textbooks may not be the option that will work best for you. You can’t exactly mark up digital textbooks as much as you would for a physical textbook, and for some students, this is a crucial detail in their decision.

Depending on what you value most – customization, saving money, etc. – digital textbooks may or may not be your favorite option, but a great option to fall back on nonetheless for their convenience in a world where digital is a go-to.

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