Digital Bookbags
Last week, Elizabeth’s post about books that mattered in college was a poignant review of the lasting impression of books: both in our minds and in the groove cut into our shoulder from increasingly heavy over-the-shoulder book bags.
While nothing will ever replace the tactile sensation of thumbing through hundreds of highlighted pages, e-books are here to stay, whether librarians like it or not. Fortunately, physical book-loving culture is alive and well in the world, so the advent of digital texts doesn’t seem to be obliterating page-turning just yet.
A recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education discussed a new state law requiring that all post-secondary education textbooks be digitized by 2010. (Post-secondary education = all education after high school.) While not affecting the existence of tree-made textbooks, the law will force publishers to ensure that all of their material is available electronically.
College textbooks are expensive. In fact, textbooks are a huge factor when estimating education-related costs. E-books tend to run far cheaper than physical textbooks, and The Chronicle notes an example of an e-book costing nearly half of its physical counterpart. HALF!
A quick search on Amazon reveals that the top accounting college textbooks run between $140 and $200. Consider that the average college student purchases at least one textbook per 3-5 classes per semester, and we’re talking potentially thousands of dollars better spent on gas. Or Cheez-Its. In addition to a huge cost benefit to students, textbook companies are likely growing tired of the countless unsold books returned to them each semester. An e-book can’t be returned. At least not yet.
As an English major who took three literature review classes in one semester and a communications major who took another three comm. theory classes that same semester, I attest that my shoulders (and wallet) have yet to recover from tens of thousands of pages burdening me for those 14 straight weeks. (And, since I have a near-religious stigma against throwing away, reselling or abandoning books of any kind, my post-college bedroom walls are lined with thousands of dollars in stacked pages. I should take up flower-pressing.)
While this post may sound like a public service announcement championing the merits of the e-book, this campaign doesn’t need much support, as it’s already happening. In a world that’s growing more accustomed to paying bills, booking flights and finding love online, it’s no surprise that education is making the e-transition, too.
Perhaps next week we’ll discuss how the modern-day classroom is transforming… within your computer screen.
