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Where to download text books?

post #1 of 68
5/10/10 at 3:55am
Thread Starter 
In theory, I'm looking to download a few text books. If I was it would be this one: Siegel's Constitutional Law: Essay and Multiple-Choice Questions and Answers.

Anyone have any idea where I could do such a thing?
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post #2 of 68
5/10/10 at 12:16pm
You basically can't download 95% of textbooks. Not enough people use them to have PDFs made and companies like amazon wouldn't provide electronic copies (they lose so much money).
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post #3 of 68
5/10/10 at 12:24pm
You can download many textbooks on Scribd.com.
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post #4 of 68
5/10/10 at 12:29pm
Nice. Stealing copyrighted material. A law book to boot. Awesome.
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post #5 of 68
5/10/10 at 12:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas View Post
Nice. Stealing copyrighted material. A law book to boot. Awesome.
It's not stealing, it's copyright infringement. Important difference for a lawyer.
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post #6 of 68
5/10/10 at 12:40pm
If you can wait a couple months, Google will be launching its ebook store this summer.
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post #7 of 68
5/10/10 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas View Post
Nice. Stealing copyrighted material. A law book to boot. Awesome.

This was my thought as well.
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post #8 of 68
5/10/10 at 3:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas View Post
Nice. Stealing copyrighted material. A law book to boot. Awesome.

Whatever. Maybe if the markup on textbooks was not fucking immoral people would not have to. The textbook industry is one of the biggest scams in this country.
It's also motivation for the market to adapt. If I could say pay for a two or three day license to access an Ecopy of this title I gladly would. That would actually make the copyright holder a few bucks more than the other options which are me downloading it, borrowing it from another student, or going in to school and checking it out of the library and reading there or making copies.
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post #9 of 68
5/10/10 at 4:43pm
I doubt textbooks will get digitized. Wouldn't make financial sense to convert them. Anyways you can probably find a dirt cheap paperback copy on Amazon.
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post #10 of 68
5/10/10 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hombre Secreto View Post
I doubt textbooks will get digitized. Wouldn't make financial sense to convert them. Anyways you can probably find a dirt cheap paperback copy on Amazon.

To the contrary, the short press runs probably make textbooks a more likely candidate for digitization than other books. Textbooks might be a killer app that will make things like the iPad the "gotta have" gadget.

Imagine reading a text and running across an unfamiliar term and simply clicking on it to bring up a host of online definitions, explanations and examples?

Making corrections or editing wouldn't require a new printing.
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post #11 of 68
5/10/10 at 7:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota rube View Post
To the contrary, the short press runs probably make textbooks a more likely candidate for digitization than other books. Textbooks might be a killer app that will make things like the iPad the "gotta have" gadget. Imagine reading a text and running across an unfamiliar term and simply clicking on it to bring up a host of online definitions, explanations and examples? Making corrections or editing wouldn't require a new printing.
Some of these textbooks cost more then a hundred easily. If your a publisher why would you risk making a digital file that can potentially be downloaded for free via Rapidshare? You don't think this is going to bring publishers the same problem the movie industry, and music industry have currently? These textbooks aren't Harry Potter books that can be had for like $10 bucks.
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post #12 of 68
5/10/10 at 7:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota rube View Post
To the contrary, the short press runs probably make textbooks a more likely candidate for digitization than other books. Textbooks might be a killer app that will make things like the iPad the "gotta have" gadget.

Imagine reading a text and running across an unfamiliar term and simply clicking on it to bring up a host of online definitions, explanations and examples?

Making corrections or editing wouldn't require a new printing.

This is a good point. Text books are revised periodically to keep them current -- and might be revised even more frequently if the cost of physically re-printing and distributing were eliminated. (In law school at least, one would frequently by the most recent edition of the primary casebook and a paperback supplement to that casebook focusing on important cases or legislation post-dating the printing of the hard-copy casebook.)
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post #13 of 68
5/10/10 at 7:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota rube View Post
To the contrary, the short press runs probably make textbooks a more likely candidate for digitization than other books. Textbooks might be a killer app that will make things like the iPad the "gotta have" gadget.

Imagine reading a text and running across an unfamiliar term and simply clicking on it to bring up a host of online definitions, explanations and examples?

Making corrections or editing wouldn't require a new printing.

I agree with this. I was over at Barnes and Nobel today looking for a textbook. they had their new Kindle type reader there and I would have considered buying it then and there had I been able to download the book I wanted. Of course I couldn't and ordering it takes a week so.... nobody gets my money and I don't get what I want. really a lose lose situation that so easily could be avoided with modern tech assuming the powers that be knew how to make better use of the tech now available.

Better yet would have been if I cold have purchased a license to use the book for a week or even a day.
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post #14 of 68
5/10/10 at 7:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hombre Secreto View Post
Some of these textbooks cost more then a hundred easily. If your a publisher why would you risk making a digital file that can potentially be downloaded for free via Rapidshare? You don't think this is going to bring publishers the same problem the movie industry, and music industry have? These textbooks aren't Harry Potter books that can be had for like $10 bucks.

I'm no expert, but at least in law, a lot of the leading casebooks are authored by profs and published by university presses. In those circumstances, there may be sentiment for making the materials more cheaply and easily available to students, even at the cost of lost profits to the authors/publishers, that would not be present in the movie industry or the music industry, or the Harry Potter publishing world for that matter.
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post #15 of 68
5/10/10 at 7:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawyerdad View Post
This is a good point. Text books are revised periodically to keep them current

I have to disagree here and it is one of the reason that I HATE the textbook industry.
The books aren't generally revised to keep them current in any meaningful way, rather the table of contents is mixed up, a few new digital photos are added and hey presto! a "new" edition that costs 150 and every poor sap of a college student thinks he has to buy.

There are exceptions and I don't feel the same about revisions that are meaningful.
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