Intoducing the eTextbook

College students have a new choice when it comes to buying textbooks. The NOOK study is a free new computer program introduced by Barnes and Noble to go along with its new line of eTextbooks. The program allows users to read, highlight and take notes on their digital books.

An eTexbooks is an exact digital copy of the printed book, including full color diagrams and charts. It allows students to easily flip between sections and to mark down important segments of the text. Some books are available for sale, while other are rented for a period of 180 days.

Once the software has been installed, any textbook can sampled free of charge for up to seven days. During this trial period, some functions, such as printing and copying, are not available. Purchases are downloaded directly to a user's computer and are available to read within seconds.

NOOK study has some very helpful features for students. Users can highlight, take notes, and tag and mark directly onto the text. These edits are then synced to an online server where they are safely stored. An eTextbook can be viewed on up to two computers. Changes made on one will automatically appear in the other.

It is also easy to import course materials, such as outlines and notes, which can be then neatly organized into course files. This function is currently limited to PDF and ePub formats. Other document types will have converted first.

Users can have several books open simultaneously, and the program allows for side by side views. NOOK study will also remember where you left off so you can easily continue when you come back.

Textbooks can be copied and printed, but only according to limits set by the publisher. A typical college calculus textbook for example, comes with 199 pages of printing and copying per month. Students can also easily look up terms on sites like google, wikipedia and wolfram alpha.

But there are some strings attached. If you are a mac user, you'll need to be running Snow Leopard, the latest mac OS. Students using OS version 10.5 will have to upgrade first if they want to use NOOK study.

Once you have the software installed, and you signed up for an account both with Barnes and Noble and Adobe, you may very well find out that the book you need is not available as eTextbook. Standard texts like "Biology" by Campbell and Reece, and "Chemistry: The Central Science" are currently not available.

Finally, even though the software carries the NOOK brand, the textbooks you buy are not compatible with any other NOOK products, such as the e-reader or iPod and android apps.

Another option you may want to consider is renting your textbooks. Barnes & Noble, our own campus bookstore and sites like chegg.com offer textbook rentals on a per semester basis. You will generally pay about half the price of the book or less for a rental.

Be sure to also check out sites like campusbook.com and bigwords.com. You may find out that textbooks are not that expensive after all.