Wow. That's a lot of books....

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 27, 2007

That's pretty common. I have boxes and boxes of books that I have "collected" over the years. Also, at the graduate level, you often want to have your own copy of the most important books so you can highlight, write notes in them, etc. That makes it difficult to buy used textbooks and to sell the ones you have used.

Sometimes, your professor can tell you that only certain chapters will be used for the class and not the whole book. In that case, you might just want to get it from the library and Xerox the important chapters. You can also do that with small books. You and your friends can also buy 1 copy of a book and Xerox the important chapters. It takes time, but it is sometimes cheaper than buying the whole book.

7starbuck7 · Dec 27, 2007

I bought them all. Someone told me to borrow them from the med library at work, but that would put highlighting out. So I forked over the dough:)

D

insuelin · Dec 29, 2007

I just printed the syllabus for my two courses. Required text: 9 books!
I am having a heck of a time finding some of them. They are sold out!
Are there always this many books?
D

I feel you. I start my program in january and have to buy a buttload of books. yay for being broke!

yellow finch, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2007

Half.com is your best friend about half the time.

I use Barnes & Noble online... bought the membership to save an extra % on all my textbooks. It paid itself off the first semester. And I get brand spanking new books that I can keep or resell at the end of the semester.

Which reminds me... I need to list my Research textbook on half. With luck I'll never, ever have to open it again.

Music in My Heart · Dec 31, 2007

...you might just want to get it from the library and Xerox the important chapters. You can also do that with small books. You and your friends can also buy 1 copy of a book and Xerox the important chapters. It takes time, but it is sometimes cheaper than buying the whole book.

Keeping in mind, of course, that such activity is a violation of federal copyright laws.

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 31, 2007

Keeping in mind of course, that such activity is a violation of federal copyright laws.[/quote']
Xeroxing an individual chapter from a library book for personal use is not a violation of the law. The large scale copying and distribution is against the law -- but an individual making one copy of portions of a book in a library for personal use is standard practice. That's why libraries have copy machines.
There are some "grey areas" of course -- but as long as it is just 1 individual doing it for personal use, it's usually considered OK.

Music in My Heart · Jan 1, 2008

Xeroxing an individual chapter from a library book for personal use is not a violation of the law. The large scale copying and distribution is against the law -- but an individual making one copy of portions of a book in a library for personal use is standard practice. That's why libraries have copy machines.
There are some "grey areas" of course -- but as long as it is just 1 individual doing it for personal use, it's usually considered OK.

Not as far as I understand. If something is not in the public domain then the only exception to copyright law falls under the "fair use" rules for the greater public good. Wholesale copying of chapters by students in an effort to avoid paying the copyright holders their due doesn't seem to fit any categories of "fair use" that I can find.

Reading the following information from the Stanford University Law Library seems to bolster my belief.

http://www-sul.stanford.edu/cpyright.html

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter0/0-b.html#3

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 1, 2008

Wholesale copying of chapters by students in an effort to avoid paying the copyright holders their due doesn't seem to fit any categories of "fair use" that I can find.
QUOTE]
If you read my 2 previous posts, you'll see I wasn't talking about "wholesale copying." I was mostly talking about single individuals copying a chapter or two when that is the only portion of a text that will be used for a class or a project. At one point, I did mention copying an entire small book -- and your right that I probably should not have included that.
I'm not a law expert, so I am not going to get into a big debate about it -- but several librarians have told me that copying a couple of chapters out of a book for personal use is OK.

Music in My Heart · Jan 1, 2008

I agree -- there's not much point in the debate.

For anybody interested, review the materials from the Stanford Law Library. It seems pretty clear that copying chapters would not constitute "fair use" but, like the whole debate surrounding music downloads, it's up to each individual to decide for themselves what they're going to do with the technologies available.