Unbinding books?

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I've almost finished accumulating the books that I'm going to need for nursing school this fall (I start my ADN program on August 19th), and even though there are a couple books that haven't been delivered yet I already have almost fifty pounds of books! :yikes: My cousin told me that what he did in pharmacy school was to get his books unbound and then just take the chapters he needed to class with him (he kept the unbound books in sheet protectors in three-ring binders). Personally I think that this is a great idea and am heavily leaning toward doing that with my nursing texts, but I was wondering if anyone else has done this and how well it worked? I'm a bit worried that I'm going to unbind all my books and then discover that it really doesn't work well.

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This is something I have done in the past (before nursing school), but I would hold off until you start school. You may not need to bring every book to class every day, and even if they want you to bring your book, the might tell you which ones. My school tells us ahead of time if we need to bring a book, most days we don't bring one at all.

The problem I had with unbinding them is staying organized. With so many nursing books, you would need to come up with a system to keep them straight. Plus when you start studing, I spent too much time flipping through copies looking for what I needed. For example, one "packet" for the index... then I had to search through my packets for the one I needed. It became a hassle.

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I wouldn't do it. What if you wanted to sell them? It's not very practical to have unbound books. Although its a hassle to bring heavy books to class, it will be more organized to just keep the books the way they are. You don't want to have a bunch of loose-leaf papers to keep up with, even if you did put them in sheet protectors. If you decide to do it though, make sure that your decision is final. There's no going back after you unbind them! Lol. Good luck. :) :)

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I am strongly considering this too, but as ebailey1218 suggests, I'm going to wait until the first week of classes or so and see how manageable it is to just bring the texts along, or if that will even be necessary.

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Specializes in critcal care, CRNA.

I didn't unbind any books but I did get the smaller books I carried everyday cut and ringed so they stayed opened without propping.

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I frequently tore out the chapters I needed and left the rest of the book at home. I didn't even bother putting the pages in a notebook. Occasionally, I read the assignment wrong and tore out the wrong pages. Other than that- no complications.

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

I wouldn't unbind my books because that would destroy their resale value. I ended up having to exchange an expensive nursing text when the bookstore accidently put the wrong one in my book package. Where would I have been if I'd unbound that book?

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Specializes in critcal care, CRNA.

You can also see when the new version is due. I couldn't sell half of my books because they were out of date.

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Buy the ebook access and you can do the same thing by printing it? Maybe not worth the extra expense? I use to unbind because ebooks were not available and scan the books so I could carry a small ebook reader intead of a huge book. I'm so careful with my books. I like to be able to resell them. I don't write in them at all. If I have the printing capability I sometimes print the end of the chapter questions so I can look at them and skim thru the book to find the answers.

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I never used one my self, but this is why rolling bags are so popular in nursing school. Just a thought. :oldman:

I think I once estimated that my nursing books equated to something like 6000 pages...now you got me wanting to tally up the pages. Not counting tables and appendixes

Fundamentals 1672 (I think this book was wrapped with a thinner book filled with skill ckeck offs. But our teachers made thier own so it never got used.)

Manual of Diagnostics 1193

Pharmacology 904

Dosage Calculations 611

Med surg split in two volumes (thank god)2208

Atlas of Pathophysiology 428

Medical Dictionary (never actually used this) 1998

Photo Atlas of Medication Administration (another book I never used) 83

Maternal Child Nursing Care 1742

Nursing Diagnosis Book 1032

Little Nursing Diagnosis Book( I lost this one but found it on amazon) 816

Drug Guide 1379

Gerontological Nursing 496

ATI Books I believe there are 8 of these 3000+

Plus later on I would buy other books that either were supplemental or just better versions.

We actually had to buy our books in a bundle so we didn't know what we where getting until we opened the box with most of these books inside. I think Mental health, Gerontological Nursing and the ATI (had their own smaller box) were the only books not in that box. I thought I was going to die caring that box to my car and I am not a small guy. :dead:

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative Care.

I did this to all of my books in nursing school... I had the binding of them cut, holes punched, and kept them in 3 ring binders. The main problems I ran into were:

#1: finding a place that would unbind or cut the seam for me (something about if they cut the words it's against copyright laws??)

#2: the pages were so flimsy I had to be super careful with them.

#3: it was very easy to accidentally get them out of order... Spent one afternoon flipping through 500 pgs to find one I had misplaced... Boo.

I was still able I re-sell every one I wanted to on eBay, even though some were last edition. I bought them all used on amazon or eBay in the first place, so I was able to get within $10 of what I paid for all of them.

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I assume that book binders are the place to go for this, I found one in Nashville...

How much does it cost to have a book unbound and three-hole punched?

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