Review: Electronic Textbooks (VitalSource Bookshelf)

With only a week left before school starts again, I thought I’d touch upon a topic that every student has to deal with: textbooks. We all know how heavy textbooks can be. It’s one thing if we can leave them at home, but some instructors want you to bring the books to classes or labs. Last term when my Hematology instructor said we needed to use the textbook in class, I thought I’d try out the electronic version so I could just bring my laptop or iPad to school instead of a 900-page hardcover book.

Warning: plenty of large images ahead!

This is what the program (VitalSource Bookshelf) looks like on my PC. There is a list of the textbooks available on your “bookshelf” that you can click to view. I bought my copy straight from their online store; it was cheaper than buying from the BCIT bookstore and other online retailers like Amazon and Chapters. After purchasing, they emailed me a link to download the book straight to the program. You also get an account with them, so you can log in from different computers/devices to access your books as long the program is installed.

Cover of the e-book

This is what the inside of the e-book looks like. The table of contents is on the left side of the screen, and as I indicated above there is a search field, as well as tabs to access figures and glossary terms. This is definitely one of the biggest advantages of e-textbooks! I do wish there is an option to jump directly to a certain page without browsing through chapter to save even more time.

You can also highlight the text using different colours (e.g. blue for exam materials, yellow for important information, etc.). These highlighted parts are saved automatically, but are removable when you no longer need them.

Another feature available in VitalSource Bookshelf is note-taking. This would be handy if you were in class and you need to jot down something important that the instructor said, like which pages to read.

My Verdict

Overall, I was pleased with my e-textbook experience. I mainly used it at home because even though it is portable, my laptop is pretty heavy to carry around. But towards the end of last term I found out that the company has apps available so you can use the program on your tablets or smartphones, and I was able to use the book on the iPad, which is more travel friendly. I didn’t get a chance to take screenshots of the iPad app, but the features are exactly the same as the desktop version. In fact, it was even easier to use the book on a touch screen device; the experience was less clunky and more like handling a real physical textbook.

I personally wouldn’t mind getting another e-textbook in the future, if the option is available. It’s more convenient to use, and it saves me from having piles of old textbooks sitting around at home; this way I get to keep my textbooks “forever”  and I can refer to them whenever needed. I also appreciated the option to print pages off the book; for example, there are certain tables and figures that I needed to study for the exams and it was easier with a hard copy in front of me.

For those of you considering trying electronic textbooks, here is my list of pros and cons to help you make the decision. Obviously they may not work for everyone, but if the pros outweigh the cons for you, I suggest giving e-books a try.

I hope this post was helpful to those interested in a different textbook experience. I won’t be posting again until next week, so have a Happy New Year everyone!