Online resources for class content may be a solution for long lines and substantial price tags at campus-area bookstores, but returning students this semester have a wide variety of choices to fight textbook costs.
Factors for putting class resources online include the environment, lower cost and the convenience for both students and professors. The main reason the UW School of Veterinary Sciences Department of Surgical Sciences put most content online this semester was the economic benefits for students, Department Secretary Sue Genske said.
According to Genske, it is easier and more affordable for students to have things online because the resources can be detailed in color and the students can watch small informational movies.
""Student response [to online textbooks] has not been overwhelming, most students probably tolerate e-books,"" said University Bookstore Textbook Manager Steve Scheibl.
According to Scheibl online textbooks and regular textbooks ultimately cost the same because, although e-books are cheaper, you cannot sell them back.
For course readers, prices generally range from $15 to $20, depending on the number of pages, the binding method and whether there is color, according to Amy Pigott, Sales Manager for Bob's Copy shop on Randall Avenue.
If professors decide to put their class information on Learn@UW, ""we will probably get their course packet information in case the student wants the printed copy,"" Pigott said.
According to Pigott, professors try putting all of the class information online one semester and the next semester they have a course packet printed because students request it.
According to Scheibl, the bookstore tries to carry as many used books as possible, and between forty and fifty percent of their book sales are used.
The University Bookstore tries to alleviate the costs of textbooks by selling used books for 75 percent of the cost of new books, according to University Bookstore President Pat McGowan.
""There is increasing pressure on the used book market as material is being bundled with items that are available only with new books. In some cases the students don't get an option to buy used,"" McGowan said.
According to McGowan, a book from the University Bookstore costs five to seven percent less than books at other campuses.
The Underground Textbook Exchange carries about 80 percent used books and also offers course readers. ""We only make a couple bucks on a reader because teachers make that specifically to save the students money and we try to follow that,"" said Underground Textbook Exchange Textbook manager Ben Maggio.
According to Maggio, to get the most back from your purchased textbooks, it is better to sell them back early because prices decrease as more books are sold back.
Another alternative to bookstores is the Associated Students of Madison Textbook Swap. The event began because students wanted to provide an affordable option for purchasing textbooks that was accessible and run by students, ASM Academic Affairs Committee Chair Jonah Zinn said in an email.
""Since the program's start in the fall of 2008 ASM has recognized that the soaring cost of textbooks is an ever increasing problem for students and is one that needs to be addressed immediately,"" Zinn said.
The ASM Textbook Swap sells books at 65 percent of the University Bookstore's new prices, which is about 30 percent more than what the student would get back at other bookstores because all of the money from sold books goes directly to students, according to Zinn.
""All of the feedback has been positive. I think that the campus community acknowledges the problem of rising textbook costs and supports students helping other students to solve it,"" Zinn said.
According to Zinn, the textbook swap is part of ASM's Affordable Textbook Campaign to investigate rising textbook costs at their sources.
Last semester the campaign pushed both the faculty senate and the academic staff senate to pass resolutions to recommend to professors and instructors to put book lists out earlier, to investigate alternate sources of textbooks and to continue using older editions of textbooks for longer periods of time.
