Textbooks (1 Viewer)

[kaitoufion]

I went to check that UNSW Bookshop website about the textbooks I need for my courses and some of them are marked as "Prescribed" or "Recommended".

So do I need to buy all the "Prescribed" ones before next week??

 

[sunny]

[thread=59524]Stickied thread.[/thread]

 

[locu64]

There is no rush to buy textbooks, I bought one before the start of term and it was a piece of shit! (stupid fear of discrete maths..) Wait for a few weeks and see what's really essential. You can find most of the prescribed/recommended texts in the library for 2 hour loans also.

As is said in the stickied thread the textbookexchange.com.au is a good site for 2nd hand books. The textbooks aren't worth their retail $100+ price tags since most of what you need to know is taught during lectures/tutorials. I only used the ones I bought 2nd hand to help cram for exams.

 

[flip]

just another thing about textbooks

how much do they differ from year to year? (as in different editions)

because i was thinking of buying textbooks 2nd hand, went to the 2nd hand bookshop yesterday and started talking to the lady and she said it wasn't recommended since things do change.

was that just her way of trying to persuade me to buy new textbooks or was there truth in what she was saying. because the changes between different editions seem minimal to me while the cost difference seems extravagant.

 

[redslert]

if you log onto webct, www.webct.unsw.edu.au, and look at your course outline it should have the name of the prescribed textbook for your course and the recomend books
most of the time they will make you buy the latest edition and for example my Finance course this year released a new 2005 edition of the textbook and in the course outline the lecture in charge wrote

There are some minor but significant differences between the 3rd and 4th edition of the prescribed text book. Therefore it is advisable to purchase the 4th edition. If you opt to use the third edition, this will be at your own risk.

and in another course

... Note: Earlier editions are not acceptable.

my advice, buy the latest edition if you are going to use it....if you are not a textbook person and just want to rely on everything that comes out of the lecturer's mouth, then older books will do

btw, you will find that most first year course will have a new edition out every year because so many people do the course publishers can make a lot of money out of it

okie

 

[sunny]

just another thing about textbooks

how much do they differ from year to year? (as in different editions)

because i was thinking of buying textbooks 2nd hand, went to the 2nd hand bookshop yesterday and started talking to the lady and she said it wasn't recommended since things do change.

was that just her way of trying to persuade me to buy new textbooks or was there truth in what she was saying. because the changes between different editions seem minimal to me while the cost difference seems extravagant.

Thats why we all say wait till your lecturer says what he/she wants.