E-Books a Growing Trend at AACC Bookstore

When classes begin at this year, more students will be packing electronic books than ever before.

With the rise in popularity of devices such as the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle Fire, purchasing electronic versions of books, or e-books, has dominated online stores like Amazon.com. Now, a form of e-books designed for education are making a splash at AACC's bookstore.

Students who purchase an e-textbook instead of a traditional textbook stand to save up to 40 percent for certain courses. But to read these, they'll need to have a particular kind of device.

E-Textbooks can be read on:

• PC or Mac
• Apple iPad
• Apple iPhone
• Kindle Fire
• Android devices

AACC's bookstore is offering students more than 160 e-textbook titles this year, and when students begin buying books for classes, they'll be shown during the checkout process if there's a qualifying e-textbook they can buy instead.

Christopher Wirth, assistant manager at the community college's bookstore, said it's good for students to have choices when they're buying books.

"We just want people to realize that there are options out there now that weren't available before," he said, adding that the college has been selling e-textbooks since about 2008.

Most students still rely on physical textbooks, with reference to a laptop or a PC, Wirth said. But as more capable e-book readers, such as Apple's iPad, have become popular, the movement is growing.

Wirth said he's noticed more e-textbooks are sold to students of history or English, but math and science students have favored physical books, so far.

He said that trend could change in time, but he believes it's because of the constant back and forth in math and science books between chapters, or the back of the book, instead of the narrative flow of subjects like English or history.

However, e-books in all subjects benefit from having a search function.

"I think it's because they have to turn through pages quicker," he said. "It's also a comfort-level thing. But I think that may change over time."

Wirth said there is one thing physical textbooks have that current e-textbooks don't—autonomy. In the event of a power outage before a final exam, students won't need an Internet connection to complete their research with a physical textbooks. Some e-textbooks require Internet access, he said.

For more information on e-books, and the course offerings at AACC, check the school's online bookstore at aaccbooks.com. Classes begin at AACC on Aug. 27.