How would you like it if your professor told you that you didn’t have to buy your textbook? You would skip the long lines at the bookstore. You wouldn’t need to worry about high book prices, nor would you have to figure out what to do with them when the class was finished. But there is a catch: You have to buy your book in electronic form.
Using electronic books has become a trend across the country. Schools such as the University of Texas and Ohio State University have started offering “e-books” as an alternative to the traditional hard copy of a text.
There are many reasons why GW should offer more e-book options.
E-books are considerably cheaper than your standard textbook, with prices often 50 percent lower than their hard copy price. When students have the option of e-books, the University of Texas estimates that the portion of a student’s budget spent on textbooks will decrease by up to 75 percent.
Because textbooks are updated to new editions every couple years, they lose value over time. By switching to e-books, students would no longer have to deal with the low buy-back values. Ultimately, students would still pay a price lower than the total cost of the hard copy book from the bookstore.
The lower cost of e-books would especially help those paying their own way through college. Students would no longer have to cut costs for other things, such as food and clothing, to pay for their books. They wouldn’t feel as if they were going broke just trying to participate in class.
There is another reason to consider e-books. E-books are environmentally friendly. They would save hundreds of thousands of trees. No longer would there be a glut of textbooks gathering dust on bookcases, never again to be opened after the class ends.
You would have a book with no detrimental effects on the environment. By switching to e-books, publishers and universities could join the green movement – something that President Steven Knapp has made a priority.
Some students have responded negatively to these e-books. They say that they are less likely to read the book if they don’t have a hard copy in front of them. Another complaint is that it is very easy to become distracted while reading a book online.
The solution? Give students the option to buy an e-book. If the student feels more comfortable with a hard copy, then they can go the usual bookstore route. But chances are quite a few students will switch to the e-book. Not only is it a budget-friendly option, but it also is an environmentally friendly choice.
The University already has certain options like this on campus. For example, in my economics class, we had the option of buying the textbook in hard copy or using the online version on Aplia, the Web site we use for homework. I know several of my fellow classmates took the online route since it saved them money.
The University has expressed a desire to become more “green.” By encouraging professors to offer their students e-books, they would not only be helping out the environment, but also student bank accounts.
The writer is a freshman majoring in international affairs.
