Buying books can be one of the most stressful parts of the start of the semester. This year, however, bookstores around campus are offering more than regular, heavy textbooks.
They are also encouraging students to buy e-books.
In the past, bookstores have always sold new and used books to students and offered the buyback at the end of the semester. This year was different for not only the bookstores, but the students as well.
Aaron Kidder, senior political science and economics major, said that while he prefers having hard text, the good thing about e-books is that they offer online supplements.
"I normally buy all my books used because I like tangible copies," he said. "The prices to the e-books and used [textbooks] are comparable in price."
Kidder said that while the trend is not growing quickly, e-books might still catch on with a technologically inclined society.
Ron Sorrell, general manager of the Ball State Bookstore, said there were better e-book sales this year than in the past. While e-books were first offered at the Ball State Bookstore this semester, Barnes & Noble, which owns the Ball State Bookstore, has sold them since 2006. Still, they have not caught on completely.
"We are prepping for the future," Sorrell said. "We know when it takes off, we will need that long list of books."
Sorrell said he even ordered some for his kids for their fall classes and understands the opportunity to save money.
In a statement from Barnes & Noble released Tuesday, officials said that the sales for e-books are accelerating week-by-week, while the company continues to gain in the e-book market. They estimated that the digital books can deliver up to 50 percent of savings as compared to new textbooks.
Pam Suminski, general manager of T.I.S., said the store has had e-books for several years, but the interest at Ball State was minimal. When T.I.S. noticed students becoming more interested in e-books last fall, they added more titles and saw an increase in e-book sales, though not a very significant one.
Keeping up with the national trend and seeing the success of online textbook rental websites, T.I.S. began book rentals Spring Semester of 2010 and then began to expand on their e-book list, which Suminski said was a great time to test the waters.
While students do not receive buy back money at the end of the semester like when using e-books, students are still able to save a great deal of money.
T.I.S. and the Ball State Bookstore both offer e-books online and in store, where they are organized by course number, author and title.
As with any new technology, there are positives and negatives.
"Positives are students save money and you can still print pages, but the negatives are that the e-books expire and they can only go to one computer," Suminski said.
Another major difference that might sway students' opinions between e-books and new, used or rented texts is the possibility of making returns.
With e-books, there is no buyback at the end of the semester. In addition, e-books are not considered returnable once the student goes to his or her personal computer and activates the e-book card, which is not activated when purchased. If it is the wrong edition or if the student wants to have a hard copy, he or she can bring it back as long as it hasn't been activated, Suminski said.
T.I.S. is working on expanding its rental list as well as the availability of digital textbooks, while the Ball State Bookstore has completed the launch of its e-book program. However, both stores understand it's about saving money and offering choices.
Now, Ball State students can buy, rent or download from a large selection of texts, making college life cheaper and giving students more options.
For more information on book rentals, visit the Ball State Bookstore website at bsu.bkstore.com and T.I.S. at tisbookbsu.com. CBX declined to comment for this story.
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