Textbooks
Requesting course textbooks through Academic Affairs
The Academic Affairs team can request textbooks review copies of textbooks for you from publishers.
Please note that not all publishers may be willing to provide review copies.
Requesting reference textbooks through the library
Alternatively, you may wish to have access to a textbook as a reference material for a course. In this case, you can request that the library purchase a copy of the textbook which would then be held by you and returned to the library at the end of the semester. If you would like to do this, please speak with Dean Joshua Park or library manager Gleb Gadelshin for further information.
Textbook purchasing options for students
Students may mention that a chosen course textbook seems overly expensive.
Please remind students that they should be purchasing the "international student" editions of these books as they are often much cheaper than the 'original' prices.
Alternatively, many publishers now offer e-book rentals of their textbooks that last one semester. These rentals are often much less than the purchase cost of a new, physical copy.
Open textbooks
Open textbooks are textbooks that are made freely available to the public. Many are made as collaborations between faculty and are peer-reviewed. Many high quality open textbooks are now available across many disciplines. Open textbooks are free, but also easier to access as an easily downloadable and shareable PDF, or even fully readable online or through a dedicated app.
When choosing a textbook for a course, it's worth browsing the open textbooks available for your subject, not just traditionally published books.
Be sure to read the license for any textbook before using it. While they may be free in principle, some may not be allowed for commercial use or may require that you include citations or attributions for any materials used.
Where to find open textbooks
Search for "[subject] open textbook"
Other resource options
Instead of having a set course textbook, you may wish to use your slides or other self-created materials as the primary reference material for the course. Any reference textbooks you're using can then be suggested to students as optional additional resource rather than a required purchase.
Students may mention that a chosen course textbook seems overly expensive. It would be valuable to inform students that they should be purchasing the "international student" editions of these books as they are often much cheaper than the 'original' prices. Also, many publishers now offer e-book rentals of their textbooks that last one semester, and for much less than the purchase cost of a new, physical copy of that same book.