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First time around I majored in English and minored in Spanish. There were no alternatives in those days for buying textbooks.
But I have a lovely and ancient set of classic English, American and Spanish literature on my shelves which I still use today. And many of them I have annotated in the margins. It probably makes them less valuable to others but certainly of value to me.
The study of other things changes so fast that the textbook is nearly out of date before it is read.
What our daughter is running into is the software associated with the textbook. She was able to buy some textbooks cheaply but ....
...Oh, you need the key for the software because the professor is using that for homework. CHA CHING same as the price for the new textbook.
Another thing they are doing a lot is just scrambling the chapters and problem sets and reissuing the textbook. Took a class a couple years ago. We discovered a problem with the first homework assignment. Everyone is asking "what did you get for problem ...?" But none of our answers even made sense to each other. So we began comparing problems, same chapter and problem number but the problems were all different. A little bit of comparing and found we had editions 4, 5, 6, and 7 in the class and the professor was teaching out of edition 3. There was little difference between them other than chapters moved around, sections rearranged between chapters and problems moved between chapters and renumbered. Basically made it impossible for the professor to assign meaning full homework.
Yep, my daughter is running into the same. A fee for online access to something that is required for the course on top of the textbook fee, seems like double jeopardy to me.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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This has been going on for many years. I actually got an F in one class in college (1974) because I argued with the professor over something in the book that I disagreed with. . .and she was the author. Conflict of interest? I had to take it over again, with another instructor and got an A. We had used books for sale in the bookstore as well as new but it was rare to have the same one used more than a year or two.
Yep, my daughter is running into the same. A fee for online access to something that is required for the course on top of the textbook fee, seems like double jeopardy to me.
The publishers are using these online access codes as a way to cram more products down the student's throat to counter declining print sales. All it is doing is ticking students off and encouraging them to find alternatives at little or no cost.
It is out of control. It can fluctuate wildly depending on the courses you take also. This previous fall semester I spent over $1,200 on my books because nearly every course had a required access code to complete the course work. This semester? $150 but renting them all. I suppose the average isn't awful...
I use Amazon and Chegg and luckily my geography and social studies classes' books are relatively affordable ($25-75). However, I once dropped a class because the first required book/software thing was $250 and I don't remember the price of the second book, but I didn't feel like spending that much for an elective class (accounting intro). I don't think I've ever spend more than $300 on books/software for a semester.
Your suppose to read these books even after graduating. You might feel the need to test your knowledge or use it for later. Do not throw away the books. Take care of them, buy the hardcover, and shelf them. Only toss them once your old or retired and ready to sail away.
In my field, the texts are mainly commonly used resources in the field. That's one reason I rarely rent or borrow texts. But, I don't necessarily need them to be hardbound.
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