renting vs buying ebooks & online access texts

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · May 20, 2015

I prefer having the hard copy of books. Reading on a screen for long periods of time tends to strain my eyes more so than just a regular textbook. The textbooks, when purchasing an E-book, should indicate whether if there is a time limit on the access of it. I would think that most textbooks would offer the unlimited access though.

Dranger · May 20, 2015

Rent or e-book theory texts. I would buy your M/S and patho books.

Elevense · May 20, 2015

Most textbooks would offer unlimited access. I did rent an ebook through Amazon for my CNA class though, which was far more affordable (at the time anyway - some ebook rental prices have really gone through the roof). Things are pretty clear if they are a limited time only, like I think sometimes Evolve sells online resources that are finite.

Personally, from my experiences (that CNA book rental and initially I got a couple of nursing books in physical and digital format to try both out), I am not a fan. Being able to search very specifically for certain text was handy but I find I do better with the physical book if it's something I might need to put in more work to get the most out of, like med surg. The disadvantage to etexts is that they sometimes take forever to load, search, move around especially if it's a big book. I know I've been in a study group and we're all reaching for our stuff to find the answer, but by the time the book is loaded and on the appropriate page, someone else has already found the answer. (This is less of an issue if you are looking them up on a computer instead of a tablet or e-reader.)

Sometimes image licensing is lacking for digital copies so some books might have grayed out/missing images, so might want to make sure no reviews talk about that.

Cut and paste can be nice though you may retain better if you are forced to write/type it out yourself.

I kinda thought if I had the digital copy, I would do things like read in bed til I fell asleep in a dark room. Yeah, I did that like once. (Though I do sometimes like to listen to lecture recordings as I fall asleep, which leads to weird dreams about classmates who ask a lot of questions.)

BertG77 · May 20, 2015

I actually find that ebooks are easier to search through that physical books. I am in the 2nd semester of my BSN program and I've only had ebooks and never relied on them prior to nursing school. I used to only try and buy used copies of the physical books for my pre-req's but then gradually made the switch. I think it depends on people's preferences as far as what they can handle. Some people can't stare at a screen for too long. I don't have that problem. Some of the advantages of buying a book bundle are: they're cheaper than new hardbound books, they often come with a proprietary e-reader software that enables you to sync and access notes and highlights you make when reading across various devices ( I read on my phone as well as my laptop), and you don't have to break your back carrying around tons of weight. I gradually them made the transition to note taking in the computer and just use Microsoft one note which has the same cloud based storage and syncing as I mentioned before. I am kinda a sucker for these new technologies and I truly think that once a person gets over the fear or bias against them, that they're very helpful.

Ryno · May 20, 2015

I am a proponent of ebooks and have been using them for years in my studies and personal reading.

That being said, research seems to indicate that retention is better when reading physical books VS ebooks. So you should take that into consideration as well when weighing your options. Here's one article about the phenomenon: Readers absorb less on Kindles than on paper, study finds | Books | The Guardian

NICUmiiki, DNP, NP · May 20, 2015

All of my books were online/ebooks (as required for the school). They all came from evolve, and I have permanent access to them. All of the ebooks that I saw that were for rent were pretty clear about how long you had access to them. We referenced almost all of our books throughout the program so a rental wouldn't have worked for me.

With evolve/pageburst, I could download the books onto whatever device (my tablet, my phone, my computer) or I could log on to the website and read them there.

NeoNatMom · May 28, 2015

I rented a book for a simple class for this summer to give it a shot. Hate it. I already exchanged it for a physical copy lol

Quiller · May 31, 2015

I'm an avid e-book reader... recreationally. I had some luck using the e-book that came with my statistics course access but was not passing History when I attempted to use an ebook with it. A lot of that is because 50-55% of my study strategy came from the post-it note website. Post-it notes and e-books aren't quite friends yet. I do, rather ironically, use a tablet for handwriting lecture and supplementary textbook notes.

Due to the fact that I have Scribd and Kindle Unlimited accounts, some of my supplementary texts are ebooks and since I can just screenshot something and put it into onenote have caused some delays in comprehension that I'm not fond of.

I've accepted ebooks and love reading them when I have a few spare moments to curl up with Stephen King but I much more prefer physical textbooks.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · May 31, 2015

When you buy the hard copy of the book, most publishers give you access to the ecopy. There are a lot if online resources that go with each book that you can utilize. I personally don't use a computer during class so having the ebook is kind of useless. I have yet to see one person bring a laptop to class and use it in nursing school. Each program is different though. We just kind of all got in the rhythm of power points and taking notes from the lecture on the power points. You will find a groove.

It also depends on the space you have in your computer to store these large books. I keep my books so I can reference them, especially with care plans. I don't want to take up space I don't need, so the hard copies work for me.

NeoNatMom · Jun 11, 2015

Our class mostly has either their textbook notebook or laptop or a combination of the 3 out for notes. We can't go off of ppts for study though they are available they don't scratch the surface. I only found one book that also came with the ebook access and it what's for humanities class :/ I'm a book lover, so I gave the ebook a try and don't like it at all. But you're right every program and instructor does things differently.

Note taking:

I youtubed heyrona, and she uses her physical textbook as a study guide. So what I did was used the electronic study guide for fundies and pasted the teachers ppt objectives and the study guides for each chapter and made those my study guides. It was a breeze. pharm our teacher voice record what to highlight in our book on the ppts. We don't use them for Le ture though. My study group and I all contribute in a different way. One of use does a basic quizlet, I do extensive, catered to the teacher highlights quizlet and brain mapping drug classes, and the other makes drug charts. Nice to have different ways to look at something :) sorry for the ranting and steering off the main topic, but I'm just so glad my studying is working well now. It was a self discovery for sure haha