Free or Inexpensive Textbooks
Distance learners are not usually immune from buying textbooks. While the course itself has been freed from the confines of the classroom the learning tools has remained the same. Still, there is hope to save some money in the world of academic textbooks.
Free
The following is a list from about.com of some of the websites that offer free (or just about free) reference material, literature, full-text books, magazines, newspapers, etc.:
- Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org)
- Bartleby (www.bartleby.com)
- Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)
- Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
Aside from these websites, this is another more low-tech method of saving money - the library. You can go to your local county library. The library should be a good place to do your studying anyway.
Good Deals
Now we go back to the online community. There are several sites that offer books, at the least, less than retail price. This way, you'll know you are saving money on books. Furthermore, some of these sites allow you to find other students or people selling the book from around the world. The thing to keep in mind here is that you need to shop around and don't forget to add the cost of shipping. When shopping online, you should give yourself time to find the best deal, bid on it if necessary, and finally receive it in the mail. The following sites can give you a good starting point to find the best deals on textbooks:
- CompareTextbook.com (www.comparetextbook.com)
- eBay (www.ebay.com)
- Half.com (www.half.com)
- Alibris (www.alibris.com)
- Amazon (www.amazon.com)
