Article
College Preparedness Series #2: How to Buy Digital Textbooks
A successful college student shares her tools and tricks on how to start the semester off right - finding accessible digital textbooks.
Welcome! In this series, I will discuss how to start the semester off right, with all of the tools and tricks I have learned. Topics covered will include scheduling, navigation, textbooks, and more. If you have a specific request for a topic, please comment below and I will do my best to accommodate your request. Today, let’s talk about textbooks.
Once upon a time, I received digital textbooks in high school that didn’t have pictures, charts, or graphs. This was particularly stressful, especially in my chemistry class where those are a pretty big deal. Because the textbook was out of date, my mom had to buy a used copy and scan it in, page by page, into the computer so that I would be able to access it digitally (note- this is legal under the Marrakesh VIP treaty). Now, we have many options for digital textbooks that not only contain all of the same things the print copies do, but also can be enlarged clearly, can be highlighted and annotated, and more, though it never hurts to make sure you will get the same access codes and other material as the people who buy print textbooks do. Here are the digital textbook services I have used in college so far.
- Amazon Kindle– This app is at the top because it is my most used app. I have been able to find digital textbooks at reasonable prices here, and can download them quickly onto my iPad. The images are clear and the book itself can be navigated quickly. Annotations are also easy to search, and I like that I can create flash cards to help study the material. It also responds flawlessly to display accommodations and zoom on the iPad, and I have never had an issue with VoiceOver either.
- Barnes and Noble Nook– I got a digital textbook from here and order books from the Nook store when they aren’t available elsewhere. I like that the fonts can be customized, as well as their size. In addition, line spacing, background color, and margins, and brightness can be adjusted. However, pictures tend to look a little funny if they are small, and the pages take longer to load compared to the Amazon app. I find it’s easier to read on this app for prolonged periods of time because I can increase font size and contrast higher, so my eye strain is reduced.
- Chegg– Chegg is a textbook service that allows users to rent or buy textbooks and eTextbooks. I like the built in dictionary and Wikipedia features, but don’t like the display as much, because the spacing seems off to me. For pages with more than three pictures or graphs, VoiceOver seemed to get a bit confused and skip around. However, the images were high resolution and adapted well to my display accommodations.
- Apple iBooks- While I haven’t personally used them in college, a lot of my friends swear by iBooks. With videos, animations, and easily enlarged pictures and graphs, it’s very easy to read. Text is clear to read, and it is flawless with VoiceOver. I don’t use it because I am sensitive to flashing lights and flickering effects, and was worried the videos and animations might use those.
- VitalSource Bookshelf– I’ve had two professors publish their textbooks on this platform. It was hard to read text on this app because it was scanned in from a print copy so it was lower resolution than an ePub file. I had no problem printing out pages or screenshotting them to import into Notability, but I wish they were higher resolution. VoiceOver was impossible to use.
- Pearson- I’ve used digital textbooks from Pearson for a couple classes where the teacher had their own website on the Pearson SuccessNet platform. I didn’t like that there was no application to view the textbooks on my iPad, as it was Adobe Flash based. However, it was easy for me to read for long periods on my computer, and I liked the amount of study materials available.
And to answer the debate over whether to rent or buy the textbooks, I choose to buy books that I might use in another class and rent the ones I won’t. Usually, there isn’t a huge price difference when it comes to digital textbooks. If a textbook is only available in print, I will use a CCTV to access it or utilize my school assistive technology services to convert the book to a digital format- my school requires a receipt and my office of disability file in order to convert the book.
Another good thing to remember is to check with the professor about whether it’s okay to buy a newer edition if that’s all that is available digitally. My professors have never seen a problem with it, but it never hurts to check. After all, a textbook with relevant information is almost as important as having a professor that will follow your accommodations.
College Prep Series:
- College Preparedness Series #1: How to Schedule College Classes
- College Preparedness Series #3: How to Explain Accommodations
- College Preparedness Series #4 How to Create a Disability Services File
By Veroniiiica
