Real books vs ebooks

[Polly Peptide]

I am purchasing textbooks and am curious as to when a real textbook is more advantageous than electronic downloads. Actually, my real question is vice versa - when are e-textbooks more advantageous? I typically enjoy having a real book in my hand. I think I learn better by being able to read that way. But I was wondering if certain books might be nice to have on hand for easy reference - Foundations of Pharm, for example.

Thoughts?

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

I hate ebooks. You can see more information at once with a real book, you can mark on the pages in a real book, people will steal your ipad/laptop but wont steal a nursing book. You get to keep a real book forever. They are just so much easier to use and you dont need electric/batteries to view it.

Are there any books that you got in nursing school that you still use? I'm curious if there are some tried and true books I need physical copies of.

[nalie2, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, NP]

I like ebooks for the convenience of being able to search through the entire book for a word or topic, when I'm studying or writing a paper. I can get exactly where I need to be in seconds and be able to see extra information on the topic that I otherwise would have missed.

I used to buy physical books only, but it gets expensive. I LOVE being able to use that search function in ebooks especially when you're stuck on one particular topic and it isn't in the index. If the physical book comes with an ebook its even better. I like studying after class so it's great that I can access them through my flash drive and not have to carry around heavy books.

[jess.mont, ADN, RN]

You might try getting one ebook and test-driving it a bit. I did this with a med math book from Elsevier. Amazon often offers free seven-day trials, too. I don't mind reading for pleasure on a device, but I found that I didn't enjoy studying ebooks.

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

You might try getting one ebook and test-driving it a bit. I did this with a med math book from Elsevier. Amazon often offers free seven-day trials, too. I don't mind reading for pleasure on a device, but I found that I didn't enjoy studying ebooks.

For my school, the price difference in the packages is $200 (ebooks only is $450, ebooks and physical books is $650), so I'm really trying to figure out which one to go with. I have two days to make up my mind.

[HarleyGrandma, RN, EMT-B]

If you can afford it, I like having both versions of the books. It's nice to have the real books when sitting down to study or write a paper, I can have them all open and spread out. But the eBook version is great for focused review or extra study when I'm out somewhere. I can take my dogs to the river and let them play for awhile and read without having to lug books. Now that its cold I can crawl under a blanket on the sofa and read my tablet, don't have to worry about light.

Good luck!

[Apple-Core, ASN, BSN, RN]

If you can afford it, I like having both versions of the books. It's nice to have the real books when sitting down to study or write a paper, I can have them all open and spread out. But the eBook version is great for focused review or extra study when I'm out somewhere. I can take my dogs to the river and let them play for awhile and read without having to lug books. Now that its cold I can crawl under a blanket on the sofa and read my tablet, don't have to worry about light.

Good luck!

I would suggest this too - and what I did to save $$ was buy the previous edition of the "real" book. There is hardly any difference, but tons cheaper.

[jess.mont, ADN, RN]

What did you end up deciding to do, Jen?