Ebooks

[BBB<3]

There is an older ebook thread on here from a few years ago and I decided that since technology changes so quick the old thread isn't really useful anymore.

I'm debating buying ebooks this fall semester. I am always on the computer or my iPhone and would consider myself a tech savy person. I hate lugging around big books and love the idea of having my books with me at all times and can whip it out at any given opportunity.

Anyone have any bad or good experience with ebooks? I know at least one of my books uses pageburst vitalsource bookshelf. The App Store reviews for vitalsource bookshelf aren't that good but I want to know what nursing students think of it since after all no other major is like nursing!

[BBB<3]

I plan on using kno on an ipad. I have the older edition of the book already in hardcover so if ever I feel I "need" the hard copy I have it basically. I haven't looked much at the note sharing. Do they have to have the exact same book or as long as you have added them to the list would you get their notes even without having that book??

[ArrowRN, BSN, RN]

with note sharing both persons need to purchase the SAME ebook edition from kno then you send a request to share notes using their email, and both your highlights and sticky notes shows up on each others ebook. download the free kno app to the ipad, try the sample books that comes with it and update us on how it works, if it's buggy etc. . I'm curious.

[BBB<3]

The sample books were great IMO for a bio book. I love the embedded links and the generated flash cards. I couldn't figure out how to use a table or diagram as a self quiz thingy (only available on ipad version) but im sure its simple and i was just having a blonde moment. It never froze up on me while I was using it but not to say it never will. I think overall for me I'm sold. :)

[MommaTy]

I have no choice, all my books will be on our iPads. I'm happy that I don't have to carry 20 lbs of 1 book :)

[chyna016]

I tried the ebook using pageburst for one class on the recommendation of the professor, and I HATED it. The search function sounded great, but it would often give me to many results, and I would have to wade through them all to find what I really needed. Charts came through looking strange and hard to read. Sometimes the chapter would just cut off before the end also. That being said I love my kindle for just reading, but for studying the hard copy worked much better for me.

[MommaTy]

I start nursing school in the fall, and will be buying all ebooks (requirement) soon. My program uses Pageburst. Apparently there are plenty of "exciting" features like being able to search across all your books, highlighting, note-taking, and being able to attach documents or journal articles to relating sections of the text. (Wow, I can do that with a real book too.) It doesn't sound too bad, though I haven't looked up any reviews.

We will be using pageburst as well at HCC :) I'm happy to only have to carry my iPad.

[Katsmeow]

I have the option of getting textbooks in hardcopy or ebook or both. The seniors in my program have recommended getting both since it is easier to lookup things in the ebooks and the hardcopies are better for reading/studying. I am more of a hands on person so I think I will just get the hardcopies.

[BBB<3]

Just looking at the aesthetics of pageburst vs kno I would say kno wins hands down. I'm the kind of person who likes using things that are colorful and are very pleasing to the eyes. As much as I believe I will love the ebooks considering im always on my iPhone or ipad and am used to reading off of it there is always that slight chance I won't like it. Having the previous edition of the book already makes the decision a little easier since I have something to fall back on. Planning on buying my text book in a few weeks :)

[ArrowRN, BSN, RN]

Last week I found out from a class buddy who decided to go with pageburst.elsevier.com/, that there's some disadvantages to kno.com and some other competitors rather than getting ebooks directly from elsevier. The ebooks Kno.com let you buy are image prints and its an online perpetual licenses, searching is also limited, you cannot search by chapter using kno.com Kno claims that they let you download load the book but in reality its all locked into your sign in app and the ebook is not really yours. You cant find the ebook on your computer either.

Pageburst gives both an online license and a downloadable license perpetual license . Having a downloadable license has lots of advantages, mainly in that you can do what you want with the ebook. Of course you cant copy it and gives it away but from what I see pageburst seems to be the way to go. He also told me pageburst can search by chapter. Next semester,I think I will try my next med-surge book on pageburst and see if its any better cause I don't plan on carrying that book around.

I also went with kno, because I liked how it looked. Kno also has the same interactive features where you can highlight a word in the book and search directly from it to the website and of course the ability to share notes with classmates is an awesome feature as well.

People getting ebooks should research the differences between an online perpetual license and a downloadable license perpetual license before going with any eBook company, its a huge difference.

[pthelper777, BSN, RN]

Blue Felt Fedora (love the name by the way:) You should do some research. I will be using nursing ebooks via Evolve Elsivier's VitalSource Bookshelf, this coming fall 2013. I've been taking the time now to get used to the highlighting, notes and other features it has and I'm really impressed. It allows me to view all ebooks and functions via my Kindle Fire HD 8.9, Macbook, Android and online via any computer. I have not had any issues come up as of yet and I've now read, highlighted, created notes, etc the first chapter on 3 of my ebooks. My school (UNCW) does not require ebooks, but I am tire of lugging around massive texts and binders with notes in them. My Kindle Fire HD or Macbook are quite a bit more manageable. As I said, do some research and even get 1 ebook and give it a shot, you never know if you'll find a new passion, as I have

Best of luck to you, in all you do!

[pthelper777, BSN, RN]

@Chyna016 I'm wondering if you used an older version of Pageburst. Now, when you search a topic or phrase, it will (of course) give you all the different pages its mentions, but it will highlight it for you, so you don't have to search through the page to find where its mentioned. I have had no issues with charts, tables or chapters being cut off. Maybe it had some bugs in it that were corrected. This will be my first semester using ebooks via Pageburst (VitalSource).

Best wishes to ya!

[Exhaustipated, ADN, BSN]

I know this is an old post, but I thought I'd update my position on etextbooks. Not the way I feel about them; I haven't used them again yet, so I'm still undecided. However, we had our orientation yesterday and learned that if we buy the Elsevier textbooks in the new bundle from our bookstore, they come with both the dead tree books and the ebooks. The demonstration the Elsevier rep gave looked promising, so I bit the bullet. I now how some of my textbooks in ebook form on Pageburst (VitalSource). We'll see how it goes!