The Internet has made many areas of life
unrecognizable from what they were a few decades ago. A good example of this is
the process of purchasing textbooks.
Previously, students used to rely exclusively
on university bookstores and large retail book show rooms. Many of the textbook
publishers had and many still have near monopoly in publishing the books needed
for college and university students. The monopoly almost always translates into
high prices, which, in turn, forces students to look for used books or sharing
a book. Earlier, even getting a used book was difficult. University bookstores contain
limited editions of good quality used books, which will always be grabbed by
the habitual early birds. However, the scenario changed drastically once the
Internet came along.
Bookstores On The Net
There are some online bookstores and auction
websites that have become household names. It is easy to log on these websites
and find the book one requires. However, a better way will be to purchase books
from websites that sell (and buy) used and new textbooks exclusively.
While online stores provide books at a lower
rate than other bookstores, particularly university bookstores, the prices vary
even among the online stores. The following are some of the tips to find the
exact book one wants on the Internet and to get them at the cheapest possible
rate.
Offline Preparation
The real work must start even before you
switch on the computer. First, get a list of books that you need. Check the
syllabus for the course, consult the professors, and visit the college or
university library. One has to get three basic details about the book, that is,
book title, author name, and ISBN, which is a 10- to 13-digit number that is
unique for each title.
It is not mandatory that one should get all
details. You might be able to get the other details if you have at least one.
Still, it is better to have all details. Before you start hunting online for
the textbooks, make sure that these are the ones you need by checking with the
professors or the academic coordinator.
Finding Websites
It is not very difficult to find websites that
sell textbooks. A simple search on any search engine will help. You will be
surprised by the number of websites that sell books. Not all websites will have
all titles students need. Many of the websites allow users to search for books
using book title, author name, or ISBN.
The best choice for search will be ISBN, as
the chances of misspelling are less while typing the number. Make sure that you
have typed the spelling right when you search using book title or author name.
Sometimes the web masters of these websites follow a different style of
spelling, or they themselves mistype the author name or book title. Therefore,
it is better to use ISBN for searching books.
It is always better to buy textbooks online that purchase used books. You can always recover at least part of the
expenses.
The Internet has made many areas of life
unrecognizable from what they were a few decades ago. A good example of this is
the process of purchasing textbooks.
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