Textbooks

Trouble finding textbooks for your course?

A recent article in the Honolulu Advertiser stated that college texts have jumped 33 percent in price in the past five years. With the continuous rise in the cost of textbooks, students begin to look for various solutions to the problem of obtaining texts for their courses.

List of suggestions for alternative sources of textbooks:

1. Encourage your instructor to put a copy of the textbook "on reserve" in the library.
2. Try used bookstores in the area (Cheapo and Rainbow stores near the Manoa campus were mentioned in the article).
3. Try online booksellers, such as Amazon or Borders. Besides offering new books, these two sellers (and others) offer used copies for bargain prices.
4. Try Bookfinder, which searches many online booksellers at once and whose results page allows a one-page-view comparison of offerings' prices, edition, and condition.
5. Offer to share the cost of the book with classmates, and work out a schedule when you can each use it.
6. Try the library's NetLibrary account to see if the book you need is available electronically.
7. Photocopy parts of a book you need. As long as it is for your personal academic use, photocopying is permitted under copyright law; however, selling copied chapters or copies of entire books is strictly prohibited.
8. Try eBay. Great deals are often found, and you get to set the price.
9. Look for ads on bulletin boards for other students selling books.