Books

ultimatedingbat

The best advice I ever got:

Borrow your books from the library. If you find yourself borrowing it more than a few times, invest in it on Amazon Marketplace. I had to buy 2 books last year after borrowing them 3 times from the library in 2 months.

Mike1989

gerad_way wrote: »

daughter just started her 4 year teaching course. Needs lots of books where is the best place to get them from, any special web sites etc giving student discount
Thanks

I'm studying history so each module I take is a different subject. So what they provide us with is a book list. The advice they give is try to get your hands on the core text, or a general text that gives you the overview of the module. That way you can go down the more detailed reading list for the more specialised texts when you come to essays, presentations, and whatever else your assessments are.

I can't see her needing the whole list, rather I think she may need a core text or general text for the different areas of her course. Then for the more specific texts go to the library. Generally I find that Amazon is a good place to buy books from new, and if you look second hand they are ok and there should always be a second hand book shop near uni. There certainly is one for mine. I can't recommend anywhere else as I haven't used anywhere else.

The_One_Who wrote: »

The library. I don't understand why people buy books when they can get them from the library.

I buy the core/general text for each module to give me a brief overview. Generally in my subject you have a required chapter(s) to read so you can discuss and debate in the seminars, which is part of assessment. So a good core/general text for each module is actually quite useful. It is also good for assessments as you can gain some ground for your essays, presentations and other assessments.

I never go and buy the specific and more specialised texts as they are in the library, and are only needed for a more in depth knowledge that is required in essays. But my library at uni is good, but even the general texts they have perhaps 10 copies tops, and when your year wants them as well as other years, it can be hard to get your hands on them no matter how prepared you are. So a good general text is always handy to have at hand.

Absinthe_Fairy

I studied history and only bought 1 book during the whole 3 years of my course! :rotfl:

We never even had a core text for each module... the books changed every week.

Kit603

Hi,

I completed my first year of university last year and I saved a lot of money on books by using: http://www.booksprice.com/

Basically, you can search for a book by its Author, Title or unique IBSN and it then compares dozens of retailers including Play and Amazon to see who currently has it cheapest. Plus, you can enter an entire list of books and it can tell you where its cheapest to buy the complete list. Either:

a) Buy all 10 books from X retailer for the best price

OR

By these 3 from X retailer, these 2 from X retailer and these 5 five from X retailer for the best price

If that makes sense to everyone? Lol.

minerva_windsong

All my uni books (and I had a lot - I did English and there were several occasions when books would overlap, particularly in my 'medieval history as literature' module, so it wasn't an option not to invest in them) came from Amazon or Play, either full price or second hand. I'm now selling on those books and would say roughly three quarters of them have gone, particularly the more specialised ones such as obscure Renaissance plays and the big anthologies.

themole_2

Hi look at bookstores local to her Uni to see if they have second hand.

Check out Amazon and ebay.

Use NUS EXTRA Student Discount Card to buy them with discount and much much more....

http://www.nus.org.uk/en/NUS-Extra/

Borders are doing a discount with a voucher at the moment for £5 off when you spend £25...

Library is a great idea but you need to get in quick. If you have to buy the books you can always sell them on when you are finished so all is not lost!

swstudent

I buy core text books, usually from Amazon. I also ask lecturers if I should buy them and ask whether I can refer back to the book during my second and third years so I can get as much out of them as possible! You can always sell your books after you have finished with them and get some of your money back! Any book sales at uni will be worth attending. Best to look for books which cover a range of topics so that you can get plenty of use out of them. More specific books I'd advise getting out from the library, unless you are using it a lot! I have over 100 people on my course and there are usually about 3 copies of each book in the 24 hr loan section - it's a right nightmare so I've lost a few Ibs powerwalking to the library to be first in the queue!

fizzle2006

Usually my uni friends and I each buy one of the core texts and then pass it around us for days at a time. This way it spreads out the costs and means we all get access to the books we need

pinkneonmartini

Amazon marketplace, buy them second hand to keep it cheap.

I know alot of people are saying "use the library" but not all librarys are well eqipped, there was 350 people on my course and 10 copies of each core text! If you didn't buy them you didn't read them, simple as!

If your daughters campus has a Blackwells book store they sell second hand books which have been bought from them initially and then returned in acceptable condition, and even better, when she's done with them she can return them herself or exchange them for next years books, but make sure she keeps the receipts! They used to give 60% of the cost on the receipt for cash or exchange if the book was kept in good condition.

andyfff

Three websites I know
www.bookbrain.co.uk and www.bookkoob.co.uk which gives discounts on books if you know the ISBN
www.jsonline (slow) who offer do 15% discounts at the start of most term - delivery is slow for this one
good luck with your studies
Andyfff
:beer: