CourseSmart | e-Textbooks, Part II

CourseSmart claims to have the largest collection of electronic textbooks. They currently have 11,919 titles available in 1,086 course areas, across 117 disciplines! Plus, this month's average savings per e-Book textbook is $67.48.

Simply search for your textbook. I entered the ISBN of a textbook I know I'll be needing this fall for an Introductory Astrology course. (The book costs about $80 to buy new... and it's a hefty 624 pages!)

I was happy to discover that my textbook, "The Cosmic Perspective: The solar System, 6th Edition," is available through CourseSmart for only $55.50 for a 180 subscription. From there, I get to choose if I want to buy the online version or buy the downloadable version.

What' the diff between online and downloadable?

Online Version: You must be connected to the internet to use the e-Textbook. You can access the book from any computer. No software installation is required. And it is refundable within 14 days of purchase as long as you haven't read or printed more than 20% of the book.

Downloadable Version: You don't need an internet connection to use the book. You can only access the e-Textbook on the computer you downloaded it to. Software installation is required. And it is non-refundable.

For both versions, you can take advantage of search feature, print up to 10 pages at a time, copy/past, add notes, and highlight important text.

Personally, I think the online version suits me best. I like that I'd be able to access the e-Textbook from any computer---be it my heavy 17'' laptop that sits permanently on my desk, my little light netbook that I carry with me to class, my bf's computer, or a computer in the library or any lab on campus. That's pretty convenient. Plus, I won't have to download software or anything else that takes up computer space.

Oh, and did I mention that you preview the inside of the textbook before buying?

I think CourseSmart is a great way to go and is #1 on my list when it comes to buying textbook for the fall.