Coursework & Fieldwork Thoughts on eBooks?

[alliecatt]

Hey Everyone,

I am planning to begin OT school in the fall and I wanted to know if anyone has any opinions/thoughts regarding textbooks. I am the type of person who prefers to have a physical copy of books. That being said, I purchase a lot of eBooks (mostly for leisure reading, though I have purchased textbooks as well) because of the convenience. It's really nice to be able to carry a small tablet and have access to my books whenever I have some downtime.

Most of my textbooks for the upcoming semester have an eBook option. They are not a whole lot cheaper than the physical copies of the textbooks, but would be more convenient during the moving process (I'll be moving out of state of school) and during the school year (I won't have to carry around a bunch of books to class/the library).

I know that there have been discussions in the past about renting vs. buying for future reference as a professional and although this would be possible since I would be buying the eBook version, of course if technology changes I could lose access to the books. I'd love to hear if anyone has had experience or thoughts regarding this topic. Thanks in advance for your assistance!

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[alansda]

What kind of tablet do you have? I ask because I have a Surface tablet and it's really nice to have the active digitizer as the pen (as opposed to the clunky iPad stylus) since it results in natural handwriting that is identical to paper. That said, I only purchased some physical books last year, mostly the AOTA Press books that did not have a digital version, and everything else I have on my tablet. This is pretty convenient as two of our regularly-used books are 300+ pages.

The way I use my tablet and the digital books is that I highlight and write notes on the margins just as I would a regular textbook. The magic comes from being able to search through the book using Ctrl+F to instantly bring up results. Of course, I'll have to give it to the physical book when just browsing through the entire book as it's much easier to flip the pages and use your hands to manipulate through the different chapters. Search-->digital, browse-->physical.

I think the real advantage will come during fieldwork and the first year of work. Imagine how easy it will be to just open the relevant book and chapter during your lunch break, as opposed to bringing the book to the worksite or having to wait until the end of the day at home.

 

[deleted704821]

Be careful when buying the EBook. Sometimes they do come with an expiration date. You are typically buying an access code to the website which may expire after a year or two so do your research before hand if you plan to buy an access code. There is always the option to search the title of the book + PDF to see what pops up in your google search... Not advocating for it just saying the option is out there.

 

[alliecatt]

Thanks for your insight! @alansda I have a Motorola Xoom. It's kind of an older tablet but the battery life is AMAZING. I bought the books on Amazon and I use the Kindle app. I'm glad to hear that we have similar thinking in terms of easy accessibility to the textbooks. How do you like writing with the stylus on your surface? Can you write like a regular pen and paper (with your hand resting directly on the tablet) or do you have to make sure your hand is hovering over? I am considering purchasing the surface but I don't know too much about it yet.