VitalSource e-books or real textbooks?

[UCFpremed]

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To those of you that attend schools that give the choice between electronic books or hard textbooks, what are the pros and cons of each and which did you choose. Are you happy with the decision? Can you get the textbooks and copy a friend's DVD?

 

[puncho]

No, you can't copy it.

For myself and most others, we prefer the textbooks because of the ability to write in the book and also quickly flip to pictures being referenced. For many people, it takes longer to read using e-books but some people don't mind it. Vitalsource IS good for quick referencing tho.

 

[ElDienteLoco]

I wish VitalSource cost less (more in line with traditional books), but I really miss my VitalSource books when studying for tests/reviewing with old school books. It is so nice to just search your book for specific wording related to an assignment. In my epidemiology class (where we use a traditional text), there are lots of homework questions that ask me about specific stuff like "what does the author mean by small but significant increased risk?" If I had the book on VitalSource, I just type in those key words and it easily locates just about everything I really need to know.

Oh yeah...about reading textbooks on the computer...Does anyone here actually end up reading the whole text? I bet I have read a maximum of 5 or 6 chapters in all of dental school and that was easy enough on the computer.

 

[puncho]

Well, for PBL handouts we read a bit of it, then we got lazy and just used the internet (read: wikipedia). But for pathology, we did skim through it which isn't bad. However, when you have to study anatomy on the computer (our slides were horrible and un-readable), it is much easier, imo, to use a textbook due to the amount of illustrations you have to flip back and forth to.

 

[double4life]

Personally, VitalSource was the greatest thing invented for like the first couple of weeks at my start of dental school. Then as time progressed, I found it difficult to maintain concentration staring at my laptop for so long. My health-science library (I'm at Howard btw), has most of our books in a hardcover format and when reading through the same material in VitalSource, it's so much easier for me to focus and retain the information. But I have to agree with puncho, it's awesome for quick-referencing.

 

[gryffindor]

Well, for PBL handouts we read a bit of it, then we got lazy and just used the internet (read: wikipedia). But for pathology, we did skim through it which isn't bad. However, when you have to study anatomy on the computer (our slides were horrible and un-readable), it is much easier, imo, to use a textbook due to the amount of illustrations you have to flip back and forth to.

Well if you're using internet searches and wikipeia to do your PBL handouts, I would think that at least searching and reading textbooks on VitalSource would be more credible.

 

[puncho]

Well if you're using internet searches and wikipeia to do your PBL handouts, I would think that at least searching and reading textbooks on VitalSource would be more credible.

Oh, I do. But sometimes vitalsource is too detailed and it sucks having to sift through it. Wikipedia gives a good general overview and then you can go back to Vitalsource to refine your search and read up on what's pertinent/expected to be known.

 

[Dutchboy]

Another thing that sucks about vitalsource is that it's a package deal. You get all the books or you get none. In my opinion it's nice to be able to choose which books you need to buy and save your money by not buying the ones you don't really need.

 

[dreaming2k5]

At BU dental, I'd recommend real textbooks because you can sell them back to the bookstore (and this is the only deciding factor... none of the 'I study better with books bs'). Here, unless you want to get top 5% ranking, you don't need to read books. At first, I was reading the assigned readings like a good boy ~ but after a few weeks, I stopped and ... sure, my grades dropped a bit ~ but...

I went with VitalSource in 1st year, I'm switching to textbook for 2nd.

 

[Cold Front]

At first, I was reading the assigned readings like a good boy ~ but after a few weeks, I stopped and ... sure, my grades dropped...

I wonder why!

It wouldn't have to do with watching "Death Note" series all the time. 😀

 

[dreaming2k5]

I wonder why!

It wouldn't have to do with watching "Death Note" series all the time. 😀

No, instead of studying, I kept praying for the python swing phenomenon to happen.

 

[UCFpremed]

At BU dental, I'd recommend real textbooks because you can sell them back to the bookstore (and this is the only deciding factor... none of the 'I study better with books bs').

Dreaming, did you mean you can sell the books back after the first year of using them?

Cold Front, do you use the Vitalbooks or the text?

 

[I'mFillingFine]

At Buffalo we don't have a choice - only Vital Source. Here are my opinions:

Pros:
~Searching and referencing all your textbooks at once. Sometimes you're surprised at which textbooks give you the info you need, and you may not have thought of looking at the hard copies of those books

~Carrying your computer to the library and having 50 textbooks at your disposal (saves your back and you don't forget anything)

~You can turn the books to a "browser view" (up and down instead of left to right), so it's sort of like reading an article on the internet, as well as highlight, pull out sections and they are already cited for you, search by page numbers (good when profs reference specific pages or tables in their powerpoints)

~Not as bad as it sounds to read the textbooks on your laptop, though I know there are varying opinions on this (there were maybe 1-2 classes per semester that I actually read the reading, since I got more out of the text in those courses than in the powerpoints...all the others were just supplementary information or looking at diagrams or anatomy atlases)

Cons:

~We have to renew the VERY expensive licence every year for all 4 years of books. So as a freshman you're paying for senior books and vice versa. Also, you cannot renew the license after you graduate so you're stuck with whatever edition was the most advanced when you leave dental school

~Some people don't like reading off the computer, though the few times I actually read a whole chapter it didn't take long and I was okay

~For courses like anatomy, it may be helpful to have an atlas or hard copy to flip through. A lot of my classmates bought maybe a total of 3 real books if they got sick of the laptop

 

[jim85213]

At Buffalo we don't have a choice - only Vital Source. Here are my opinions:

Pros:
~Searching and referencing all your textbooks at once. Sometimes you're surprised at which textbooks give you the info you need, and you may not have thought of looking at the hard copies of those books

~Carrying your computer to the library and having 50 textbooks at your disposal (saves your back and you don't forget anything)

~You can turn the books to a "browser view" (up and down instead of left to right), so it's sort of like reading an article on the internet, as well as highlight, pull out sections and they are already cited for you, search by page numbers (good when profs reference specific pages or tables in their powerpoints)

~Not as bad as it sounds to read the textbooks on your laptop, though I know there are varying opinions on this (there were maybe 1-2 classes per semester that I actually read the reading, since I got more out of the text in those courses than in the powerpoints...all the others were just supplementary information or looking at diagrams or anatomy atlases)

Cons:

~We have to renew the VERY expensive licence every year for all 4 years of books. So as a freshman you're paying for senior books and vice versa. Also, you cannot renew the license after you graduate so you're stuck with whatever edition was the most advanced when you leave dental school

~Some people don't like reading off the computer, though the few times I actually read a whole chapter it didn't take long and I was okay

~For courses like anatomy, it may be helpful to have an atlas or hard copy to flip through. A lot of my classmates bought maybe a total of 3 real books if they got sick of the laptop

Great review, thanks.

 

[Cold Front]

Cold Front, do you use the Vitalbooks or the text?

Like my buddy dreaming, I used the DVD option for my 1st year, then switched to books in my 2nd year.

DVD (or the VitalSource) is great for quick searches and the fact you can carry all your books on your notebook wherever you go. But as it turned out, I never really made a good use out of it.

It's really upto what you want out of both options, most people in my class said they hardly used the books, so don't count on doing a lot of readings as a freshman, as all the materials you will need will be given to you by professors on powerpoints.

Good luck

 

[Cold Front]

No, instead of studying, I kept praying for the python swing phenomenon to happen.

Man, you really know how to compliment! 😀