New options for cheaper textbooks available
As a selected participant in a nationwide experiment
the UO Bookstore makes digital textbooks available
BY EVA SYLWESTER
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
On the University campus, two
new computer-related methods are
being used to help students
get cheaper textbooks: digital text
books and a student-created search
engine that compares prices of text
books throughout the English-speak
ing world.
This year, the University of Oregon
Bookstore was selected as one of 10
college bookstores across the country
to offer Universal Digital Textbooks.
Digital textbooks come in the form
of a card with two code numbers on
it. To activate the course book, a stu
dent goes to the Universal Digital
Textbooks Web site at www.digital
textbooks, net and enters the two
codes as well as a code from the
bookstore receipt. The textbook then
downloads from the Web site to the
student’s computer.
Digital textbooks work on any
computer that has high-speed Inter
net access and Adobe Reader 6.0 or
above, according to the bookstore’s
Web site. They use five to 100
megabytes on a computer hard drive
and cannot be burned onto compact
discs or other removable media.
Fifteen course books in various de
partments are currently offered in
this format.
Some digital textbooks have limits
on how many months they are valid,
or how many pages can be printed at
a time; but bookstore book-division
manager Chris Standish said he ev
pects those policies to be phased out.
Standish said the bookstore be
came a pilot customer in part be
cause MBS Textbook Exchange, the
company that makes digital text
books, makes other software that the
bookstore is already using.
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The University Book
store now offers digi
tal textbooks in addi
tion to regular books.
Most are offered at a
lower price than their
paper counterparts.
But many other universities use
MBS Textbook Exchange products,
and not all were selected for the ex
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periment. Standish said he thinks the
bookstore was selected because it is
unusually student-oriented, with stu
dent ownership and a 10-percent dis
count for students on all books.
Digital textbooks are typically
cheaper than their paper equivalents.
For example, at the bookstore, “Con
sumer Behavior,” the text for Market
ing 435, costs $129.50 new, $97.15
used, and $92 in the digital format.
Journalism professor Duncan Mc
Donald, who is using a digital text
book for his Journalism 101 class,
said they are a good resource for stu
dents who have the necessary tech
nology and who can handle staring at
a screen for long periods of time.
“Certainly the price is right,” Mc
Donald said.
He added that the digital textbooks
are not necessarily affordable
for everyone.
“Unless a student is financially
equipped to have his or her own per
sonal computer, it just creates anoth
er issue,” McDonald said.
Another possible concern is the
fallibility of technology.
“If you’ve lost your computer,
you’ve lost your book, too,” McDon
ald said.
It’s too soon to say how well
the digital textbooks are selling, Stan
dish said, but the bookstore could
stock as many as 150 titles in digital
format winter term if the experiment
goes well.
New search engine
One week ago, philosophy major
senior Trevor Sehrer created his own
Internet search engine, www.text
bookhunt.com, for finding cheap text
books. A user can type the desired
book’s serial number, or ISBN, into
www.textbookhunt.com and a list of
the book’s prices at six online retailers
in the United States, the United King
dom and Canada will pop up.
“I’d just read an article in the Christ
ian Science Monitor about how text
book prices are typically lower outside
of the U.S., did a little research to vali
date this claim and then wrote the
site,” Sehrer said in an e-mail.
For example, “Public Administra
tion: An Action Orientation,” the text
for Planning, Public Policy and Man
agement 201:, retails new for $84.50
at the bookstore. According to
www.textbookhunt.com, the book is
available for $48.58 at The Book
Pl@ce, an online retailer based in the
United Kingdom.
“I’m sure it happens from time to
time,” Sehrer wrote, adding that the
bookstore’s 10-percent discount can
help beat competition. “However, I’ve
seen discounts upwards of 50 percent
for books purchased from outside the
U.S. For a $100 book at that kind of
discount, even with international ship
ping, you can save $30 or $40.”
The shelves at the bookstore now
include lists of the prices of selected
textbooks at five U.S. online retailers:
Barnes & Noble, www.amazon.com,
eCampus.com, Powell’s Books and
www.half.ebay.com so students can
compare prices.
“We started doing that because we
were in the stacks listening and stu
dents were saying, ‘Go online, it’s
cheaper!’ ” Standish said.
Bookstore staff checked the Web
sites and found this to be inaccurate,
Standish said.
“In 85 percent of the cases, we
were either the lowest priced
provider or within $2 of the lowest
priced provider,” Standish said.
“We’re proud of the pricing we have,
and we’re willing to put it out there.”
Standish cautioned against the use
of foreign textbooks because they are
designed differently from their
U.S. equivalents and are made with
less care. Sometimes the books
are in black and white instead of
color or are paperback instead of
hardcover. They may also have differ
ent pagination.
“The international edition is really
sketchy if you’re going to follow
along side-by-side with your profes
sor’s assignments out of the U.S. edi
tion,” Standish said.
It is illegal to import foreign text
books in large quantities for resale,
Standish said, though single-copy
sales are allowed.
Contact the business, science
and technology reporter
at esylwester@dailyemerald.com
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